Austin Powers

Sir Austin Danger Powers, KBE, is a fictional character portrayed by Mike Myers in the Austin Powers movie series parodying 1960s spy-films. He first appears in Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, released in 1997.

[edit] Fictional character biography

The character known as Austin Powers was born on November 12, 1939. In a 1958 flashback in Goldmember he is clearly in his late teens. His parents' holiday in Belgium during his infancy would have predated the German invasion on May 10, 1940. He is the son of Nigel Powers (played by Michael Caine), a respected Ministry of Defence agent, and the twin brother of Dougie Powers(yet only Nigel Powers knows this till Goldmember), otherwise known as Doctor Evil. While attending boarding school, he was awarded the title of "International Man of Mystery" - much to the dismay of his brother, who believed himself to be more deserving. This would play a prominent role in their future relationship, having turned Dr. Evil against Austin.

Following his schooling, Powers joined the Ministry of Defence and, partnered with Mrs. Kensington, faithfully protected Queen and country from Dr. Evil and his diabolical schemes while working under the cover of a fashion photographer. To avoid capture, Dr. Evil had himself cryopreserved in 1967; Powers had himself frozen in turn, to be brought back should the world ever require protection from Dr. Evil again. They were subsequently unfrozen in 1997, and continued their adversarial relationship while attempting to adjust to the culture shock of losing 30 years' worth of time.

Powers has been married once, to Vanessa Kensington (daughter of Mrs. Kensington). The marriage ended in Vanessa's self-destruction, when she was revealed to be a kamikaze Fembot sent by Dr. Evil to assassinate Austin.

[edit] Personal characteristics

Apart from being a satire of James Bond, and bearing a distinct resemblance to Manfred Mann, Austin Powers also represents the archetypal 1960s mod, with his constant advocacy for free love, his use of obscure expressions and his outrageously out-of-date clothes, though the womanizing side of him could be said to neatly combine his 1960s side with his James Bond template in itself. With his flamboyant ways and never-changing dress-sense, he is deliberately made to stick out from his surroundings (though invariably escaping detection when disguised)- particularly when he talks about things that would have had no place in the 1990s, or when he tries to play a CD on a record player.

In the many instances he takes off his clothes, he is revealed to have a very hairy body, with his chest hair in the shape of a heart (perhaps an exaggerated version of Sean Connery's as seen in his shirtless scenes). Much of his attitude toward relationships could be a parody of Bond's lack of reflection with regard to the loss of a girl. For example, when Vanessa explodes, after a second or two of mourning, Austin joyously exclaims "Wait a tick... that means I'm single again!" and proceeds to party on.

Some of his abilities include a kind of hypnosis he learned in India from Guru Shastri, "a chaste man, who died from a disease that had all the hallmarks of Syphilis."

[edit] In Popular Culture

Austin Powers, played by Richard Halpern, appeared in the movie Monster Night.

When registering for hotel stays, Ruben Sierra used the alias "Austin Powers" to avoid unwanted fan attention^[1].

Austin Powers appears in the music video for Beautiful Stranger by Madonna, which was released alongside the second film.

In the movie Never Been Kissed, during the costume party you can see a person in the background dressed as Powers.

Austin Powers appears in the Boys music video by Britney Spears.

In the movie Dhoom, one of the members of the gang introduces himself as an IT specialist named "Austin Powers" to create a diversion.

Moe Szyslak impersonates Austin Powers in The Simpsons episode Gump Roast.

Roger Ebert, in a review of the film Beowulf, argued that it was a satire of the poem, stating that, "This leads to a great deal of well-timed "Austinpowerism", which translates as 'putting things in the foreground to keep us from seeing the family jewels.'"^[2]

In the song Buy U A Drank by T-pain, he says, "Shawy's got class, Oh Behave"

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Austin Powers at the Internet Movie Database

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