A bond like no other

The openings of James Bond movies are, for lack of a better word, ridiculous. In the expanse of about five minutes, Mr. Bond generally manages to survive disasters on the scope of nuclear explosions, freak Alpine landslides and horrific jet-ski accidents. Any normal human being would be toast about 30 seconds into the film.

Because it’s clearly not the movies’ true-to-life sentiment or realism that drives our nation’s obsession with the character, what is it about Mr. Bond and his exploits that attracts us?

For 50 years, he’s been breaking hearts – and breaking bad guys’ faces – but not without some own personal casualties. When Daniel Craig wrapped shooting on “Quantum of Solace,” in theaters this week, he had been through a lot: eight stitches, a severed fingertip and several bruised ribs. Bringing us a new Bond episode is clearly not a simple task, yet for some reason these movies keep getting made.

When we look at the persona of James Bond and the market for memorabilia his movies have spawned, we have to look at it as a cultural phenomenon. Men want to be like him, and women tend to expect their significant others to be nothing short of the character himself.

Twenty-two films into the series, being Bond can propel an unknown actor to stardom. Incredibly, the mere fact that Sean Connery used to be young and attractive is enough to convince the current generation that he still is, even at the age of double-0-78. 

Ian Fleming’s character has always been at the forefront of societal change.
When you take a closer look, the character was born in the ’60s, during the sexual revolution – think Bond Girls. Bond’s gadgets have always been worthy of note – not to mention, pretty damn cool – but as the world has transitioned into the techno-age, his fetish has ballooned to sheer ludicrousness.

Still, the spy who screwed us out of 10 bucks at the movie theater seems to generate a fair amount of criticism every time a new film in the series comes out.
Censures of Bond films are generally as follows: The main personage is unrealistic, Bond girls promote a chauvinistic view of all females and the movies’ characters spread the stereotypes that Brits are boring, Americans wear Hawaiian shirts 24/7 and Eastern Europeans are crazy drunkards.

But by this logic, you might as well say the movie’s stunts promote reckless driving. Come on guys, it’s not PC, but it’s just a movie.

Imagine what the world would be if it knew nothing of Sean Connery’s tuxedo, Ursula Andress’ bikini, Oddjob’s bowler hat and Q’s gadgets.

I’m pretty sure that’s not the kind of world I’d like to live in.

Sure, it’s fluff. Yes, it helps perpetuate gender stereotypes. None of that is OK in day-to-day living, but if we can remind ourselves that we’re intelligent human beings who should be able to discern the difference between real life and a movie screen, the suave spy who occupies a special place in all of our hearts is all right by me.