Was Bond a rebel?

General Bond discussion from Sean Connery to Pierce Brosnan
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nanolark
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Was Bond a rebel?

Post by nanolark »

I'd wish to prove that Bond, to some extent, reflected the rebelliousness of the 1960s generation but, unfortunately, I lack sufficient evidence. Did he rebel against M./ MI6 / government etc. or was he a "blunt tool" till the end?
The themes, presented in Fleming's works, which I believe would reflect the social and cultural changes of the swinging sixties were racial stereotyping, consumerism and sexuality. Would you agree?
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Kristatos
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Re: Was Bond a rebel?

Post by Kristatos »

I think he was fairly liberal for his day in some respects, such as his sexual mores and his speech on God in CR. But he never questioned his government or his job. Your best bet might be to look at his relationship with M. In some respects, he regarded M as an old fuddy-duddy, but he clearly had an enormous amount of respect for him nonetheless.
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Count_Lippe
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Re: Was Bond a rebel?

Post by Count_Lippe »

No Bond was definitely not a part of the rebellious youth movement of the 1960s.

The films (and maybe also the books) were daring for their times in terms of sex and violence, but that's another thing.

That didn't have anything to do with "the rebelliousness of the 1960s generation".

Then in the 1970s other action films became even more daring with sexual and violent content, but the Bond films went the other way and became more like family entertainment.
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commander0077again
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Re: Was Bond a rebel?

Post by commander0077again »

He was a mild rebel, if there is such a thing. He hated tea, deemed it 'mud.' He customized his Bentley to the grief of his mechanic. OHMSS was a send-up of the British royal/commoner system; he was even somewhat uncomfortable with his CMG, and OHMSS (novel) features Bond's hilarious nightmare on the virtues of married life, stuffed in tails with Tracy in jewels. In TB (novel) Bond opines that his cab driver is conforming to non-conformity. He hardly read books, but somehow acquired a wide vocabulary (probably more of the Fleming wit). He was a rebel in his drinking, smoking and eating. Fleming described him as being somewhat 'foreign' in the earlier books and finally in YOLT we find that Bond is Scot/Swiss, and possibly spent much of his youth in Switzerland and Austria (earning his Golden K). Bond was sort of a Raymond Chandler hero, a loner who would still put his life on the line for strangers. That said, he basically did M's bidding .... although the missions were fully drawn in Bad People were doing Bad Things. :cake:
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