Agent Cody Banks was an action spy series starring Frankie Muniz. It had comedy, adventure, and plot lines about saving the world. Anyone who knew and loved spy movies could see that Agent Cody Banks' misadventures were a fun, Young Adult tribute to the likes of James Bond. Basically, it was Kingsman before Kingsman was even a thing.

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As much as the two Cody Banks movies were charming for a 2000's family film series, there were some questionable aspects that stand out in viewers' minds. From stereotyping cultures and teenage behavior, to the sexualization of women, some things just don't meet the expectations and requirements of a timeless film.

The Special Ed Joke

A highly questionable and insensitive comment made several times in the first film was about special education. Cody can't talk to girls, leading to some nervous incoherent sentences. This prompts his fellow students from his old school and the girl he is trying to impress from his new school to ask him if he's in special ed.

The comment received backlash from audience members, and an apology was added to the DVDs.

"This Looks Revolting"

Derek Bowman is Cody's Handler in Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London (2005). He goes undercover in the Kenworth Estate as a chef and makes quite an impression with his chocolate surprise. Problem is, his main course wasn't such a big hit.

When he uncovers the closh over Duncan Kenworth's plate to reveal catfish and grits, Kenworth comments "This looks revolting." The comment wasn't even about the food's poor taste or quality, but rather its look. Offensive comments about other nationalities' cuisines don't fly very well in today's beautifully culturally diverse world.

The Oblivious Parents

Cody is a secret agent recruited by the CIA and no one knows about it. When Cody has to leave to save Natalie in the first film, his younger brother Alex covers for him. But Alex doesn't believe that his brother is a spy; he only does it because of the money. When their mother goes to check on Cody "in bed," Alex runs to hide under the covers.

He plays a recording of Cody saying "I guess," over and over in response to her questions. The parents are also unaware that an entire team of cleaners completed Cody's chores. In the second film, Cody's parents take him to summer camp with no clue as to what he's really doing. This level of obliviousness challenges the movie's already thin suspension of disbelief.

Cody Takes A Pickup Arts Class

Cody's entire mission relies on his ability to talk to girls, something he can't do very well. Once he admits this to the Director of the CIA and his handler, they assemble an entire team to teach him how to talk to girls. Basically, Cody gets a CIA-backed pickup arts class, and it's as cringe-inducing as it sounds.

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His various "teachers," proceed to give him various different pieces of advice: the overly assured male praising female body parts, complimenting, getting dirt on her, showering, smelling like a man; a wild animal, to think like a hyena, telling him he's a pathetic loser if he can't succeed. The scene ends with a hologram talking to Cody in a seductive pose while the other men in the room are mesmerized.

The Teenagers Are Stereotypically Horrible

The first film gives audiences a look into the stereotypical teenage mind, as is common with films of this era and genre. Here, teenagers are shown to have little to no mental capacity, who resolve everything through bullying and have fights in the schoolyard or even at parties. Why don't these kids have any restraint over their basest desires and instincts?

When Cody is shown fighting some bullies at Natalie's party, Natalie's interest in Cody peaks. She realizes he isn't the big nerd she thought he was. So does this mean fighting equates to being cooler? According to everyone's applause, it does.

The Treatment Of Trival & The Staff

Trival was the butler at the Kenworth Estate. He was forgetful, stumbling, and barely-there in mind. Or that's what the movie wanted audiences to think. In the end, it turned out that Trival was actually Agent Jenkins, a Handler and quite capable of fending for himself. Everything beforehand was a ruse.

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Lord Duncan, Trival's "employer," was rude and insensitive, treating his staff as inferiors, giving them no respect, and calling Trival an idiot. The staff also have far smaller quarters than the students. Even if Trival was only playing a part, Lord Duncan's treatment of him and the staff was anything but acceptable.

Natalie & Emily Are Practically Identical

The two main female characters in the two films are both fair-skinned blondes of the same physique. Despite the two being similar in looks, their personalities are distinct enough. Natalie was the average popular schoolgirl while Emily was a sophisticated and more mature character. Although Emily was never explicitly stated to be a love interest, the potential was there for audiences to see.

However, this doesn't mask the fact that the leading females aren't very diverse in appearance. The fact that both are teenagers who are depicted in a rather seductive way doesn't help matters, either. Either Cody just has a type, or the filmmakers were too fixated on a very specific look for the movies' leading ladies.

The Annoying Younger Brother

Cody's younger brother Alex is the typical movie younger brother. He's annoying, complains a lot, and he wants his brother's stuff because reasons. Their relationship isn't very fleshed out, and Alex thinks his brother is crazy when he tells him he's a secret agent.

In the second film, Alex is (thankfully) hardly in it; it's a spy movie named Agent Cody Banks after all. However, the scenes he makes an appearance in involve an apathetic Alex who doesn't care about where his brother has been or what he's been doing.

The Hypersexualization Of Women

Angie Harmon in Agent Cody Banks

One of the biggest problems with the first film was the sexualization of women. Cody is in his sports locker room when Ronica Miles enters. She's wearing a figure-hugging outfit with a low neckline. The boys react with catcalls and sleazy commentary, which she promptly shutdowns without a second thought. But that aside, why was the female agent tasked with recruiting Cody for the mission while he was in the locker room a part of the script? Her presence as a representative of Cody's new school also makes Cody's father act in an overwhelmed way in front of his wife. Making matters worse is how Cody looks at her later on.

A spy movie isn't a spy movie without some high-tech gadgets, and Cody is given a pair of x-ray glasses. This leads to a scene where Cody looks at Ronica and some women at the party he attends, while some male secret agents behind the screen take pleasure in their viewpoint. As a result, Ronica has to put the spy equipment on child lock.

The Many Cultural Stereotypes

In Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London, Cody has to go undercover as a musical prodigy who is a part of the Kenworth Estate orchestra. The whole film is set in London, so the British stereotypes come in as if on cue. As expected, these British characters exude haughtiness, eccentric mannerisms, and supposedly accurate verbal tics that are limited to "pip pip" and "tally-ho."

The students in the orchestra are also extremely basic interpretations of other cultures and nationalities, such as the cartoonishly thick accents or depicting the German kid as a punk or the Indian kid as an odd nerd. This can also be seen in the first film with the driving instructor, Mr. Yip, a stereotypical Asian man. Although the films had a beautifully diverse cast and are nowhere near as offensive as other movies of the time, they were let down by these cartoonishly flat depictions of their heritages.

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