Final Rewrite- James Bond

James Bond is a man of action; His life consists of fast cars, beautiful women, and dangerous missions in which he must use his intelligence and physical abilities to overcome.  In fact, his character is often interpreted as the perfect man; Someone bold, charismatic, and dutiful who would have made a decent model for any man of the 50’s.

While Bond’s life may seem exciting and glamorous in the pages of Ian Fleming’s first novel in the series, Casino Royale, readers and viewers of the books and movies tend to focus only on the excitement and privilege of the spy life. If one looks past the highly lavish and romanticized descriptions of the Bond world and into the physiology of the man himself, some troubling truths are revealed: Underneath all of the excitement, we must never forget that James Bond is a trained killer, hunting for his prey with an almost animalistic sense of dedication and determination. In fact, his entire existence seems to be based around the idea of being nothing more than a privileged hunting dog, receiving whatever he wants and living a life of excitement, but when the time comes, he must kill without hesitation. He allows himself some creature comforts, such as spending time with his Bond girls, food, and his meticulous enjoyment of alcohol, and minor basic indulgences such as the love of his Bentley, which he cites as his “Personal hobby”, his enjoyment of gambling, and an occasional massage to calm his nerves, but the rest of his persona seems to be nothing more than an entirely self-aware robotic killer, out only to achieve his objectives at any means necessary.

Imagine living alone in a hotel room for months at a time with rarely a single soul to comfort you. Now imagine that your only living in said hotel room in order to hunt down and kill some sort of danger to the world. With the added pressure of saving the world or country and the constant need to watch one’s back for those who are trying to keep you from thwarting the evil mastermind’s plan. Underneath all of the gambling and women, this is the life of James Bond. His life is his job and everything else seems to be a nuisance, holding him back from his mechanical duty to fulfill his missions and get out alive. Even when it comes to the partner he is told he will be having, upon hearing it is a woman, he utters “Bitch” loudly without knowing anything about her. This cold disregard for anything that he finds unnecessary is evident through key phrases in his behavior, such as “cold showers”, “black coffee”, and “dreamless sleep,” all seem to suggest a mechanical perfection he has achieved, cutting out the need for anything unnecessary or time consuming. As idealized and James Bond’s life may seem, one must never forget while reading it that this man is a trained killer, but ultimately, this side of him also has its allure. His penchant for danger should remind us all to let lose our animalistic side from time to time, and perhaps achieve a little of that idealized life for ourselves.