The name is Bond, James Bond

Summary

The paper presents the beginning of an era, The Bond Era, that Ian Fleming created in the early 60s and managed to continue in the 21st century. "Style" was key to quickly communicating the character of Bond. Bond needed to be "well turned-out", a "fashion" plate for the modern "British" man. If he was to represent the best, the "Western powers" had to offer, he had to be surrounded by the best. 007 could not just drink vodka, it needed to be "Smirnoff's"; he could not just wear a watch, it needed to be a "Rolex". The champagne would be "Dom Perignon". This character managed to influence a lot of people, men want to be like him and women want to be with him. Connery's Bond was "elegant", but never "effete ". He was "rugged", but always "refined".

I. Introduction

It only makes sense to start this essay with where the appeal of James Bond comes from. As Pierce Brosnan so eloquently put it at the 2004 British Academy of Film and Television Awards, "James Bond has remained the same, it's just the world around him that has changed." I think that's true about us too. We have the same personalities we are born with, but we are affected and altered by our outside situations - be it in jobs, family or how others view us. The point is, the James Bond that crossed the North Korean demilitarized zone was the same one that frolicked along the beaches of Crab Key, just altered slightly because of his experiences.

Most people ask the question, "How has James Bond changed the world?" It may seem like a stretch to say that a fictional character has had any real impact on the tide of global affairs, yet Bond has been lurking as a cultural force for 50 years. He represented a new type of idol for the post-war era and changed the way we think about spies, gadgets and cinematic heroes. While James Bond neither started the Cold War nor ended it, he played a role in how both the West and the East perceived it. 007 gave us a context for understanding the shifting paradigms of global politics and undeclared wars. Bond has survived long enough to subtly shape the way the CIA, MI6 and other global intelligence services operate.

Bond helped redefine our understanding of villainy. He did not fight the street thugs or the spies of old who exposed, skittered like roaches looking for cover. Instead, Bond battled the giant figures of malevolence, the larger-than-life self-proclaimed geniuses and prophets who happily embrace their beliefs and obsessions. Whether they were well-funded delusional idealists or coldly calculating corporate puppetmasters, 007 gave us reason to distrust unbridled capitalism just as much as soulless Communism.

While our paranoia was stoked by the lurking evil within Bond's world, we have taken our comfort from his indulgences. James Bond did not ignite the sexual revolution, but he offered a primer in the art of seduction that was enticing for both sexes. Bond was the first popular hero who embraced uncomplicated sex a natural dividend of his life of danger. Within the novels and films, there is a universe of elegance, style and taste that is deeply engrained in our cultural aesthetic.

The unique nature of James Bond and the mythology that surrounds him has inspired an entire legacy that reaches far beyond the character. Bond's unmatched success has changed the way films are made and marketed, helping to usher in the big blockbuster and the action-hero franchise. The creativity behind the Bond novels has inspired countless authors. The movies have launched hundreds of films and television shows. Fashion designers and architects have used Bond's world as inspiration. In short, Bond's influence has propagated across the globe in strange and unforeseeable ways.

James Bond has placed an indelible stamp on our culture. There is a particular mix of ingredients which had never been sampled by cinemagoers until 007 hit movie screens. The recipe is like the secret mixture of ingredients in Coca-cola - very hard to duplicate yet very easy to distribute. Viewers know what they are getting every time they see the white dots move across the screen, opening to reveal the inside of a gun barrel. They like the taste, and they almost always return for more.

James Bond, however, is not a soft drink. He is closer to Bollinger '61 served with Royal Beluga, soft toast and sour cream. He is the cinematic equivalent of the Aston Martin, the hand-built, high-performance British sports car so deeply associated with 007. He is simply and consistently the best. Each Bond film is crafted with care, refined through a relentlessly collaborative process. Like Aston Martin, the Bond filmmakers do many things the old-fashioned way while also pushing for innovations. The key is always quality and value, extravagance without being profligacy.

II. The Birth of Bond

In almost every aspect of his life Fleming defined the odds and achieved success on his own terms. This includes his ability to escape the natural strictures of his career by leaving behind "the cold and grimy winters of England" for his own personal paradise. For Fleming, this paradise existed in Jamaica, then a British colony. Fleming fell in love with the island on a brief visit during the Second World War. He described Jamaica as a "tropical luxury", and the social as the sort that would "raise in you that moral eyebrow witch the heat might otherwise have drugged". Fleming later told an interviewer he thought Jamaica was wonderful, "as I suppose any Scotsman would".

After the war, Fleming purchased a large plot of land on the unspoiled North Shore. There, on a coral bluff next to the banana port of Oracabessa, Fleming built a low, modern house facing the Caribbean. He called it "Goldeneye", and was here that James Bond was born. Ian Fleming wrote a novel called Casino Royale in 1952 in which he introduced the fictional spy character. He wanted the secret agent to be a representation of Fleming himself. He stated that the name James Bond was very "dull" and "anonymous", but at the same time, he hoped his audience would be able to imagine an "interesting man to whom extraordinary things happen." Teaming up with producers Albert Broccoli & Harry Saltzman, Fleming was able to watch his work go from paperback to the big screen.

Before James arrived on the big screen, espionage thrillers had come in many flavours and colours. Spy films often sought to de-mythologize secret agents, to reduce them to human scale. The image of 007 could not be further removed from the first spy of the cinema.

"I am arrogant enough to claim that these films have made one of the greatest contributions to the cinema in 50 years." (Terence Young, page 31)

Although James Bond is not a real person, the movies based on his character portray a vivid image for the audience. Bond's skill at casino gambling and his knowledge of the best wines, exotic automobiles, and cigarettes make him an example of a man with "class." From Dom Perignon champagne to Aston Martin sports cars, James Bond has elegant taste. When ordering vodka at a restaurant, he prefers it to be "shaken, not stirred" because mixing the drink creates air bubbles which helps the beverage to taste better. Calling Bond an ordinary man is certainly an understatement. Deeming him the ideal gentleman suits his description perfectly.