Bond

I can’t remember a time in my life when I wasn’t a James Bond fan.  I was born and raised on those movies and for my father and I, they were bonding moments (No pun intended, but it does work).  The first movie I really remember seeing was Goldfinger.  I was way too young to have seen it in a theatre, so it must have been on TV.  Having spent a lot of time with my folks due to my siblings being much older than myself and me, not having very many friends to speak of, I watched lots of old movies on TV, but I didn’t realize that they were old movies.  Nope, I was going to marry Fred Astaire and go on adventures with James Bond. 

I knew I would never make the grade to be a Bond Girl, but I could hope to be his sidekick.  The clothes, the exotic locales, all the gadgets Q invented for Bond’s protection alone, were worth risking the danger in hopes of using them, but most importantly, the cars!  Just being near an Aston Martin is a thrill, I can’t even begin to imagine the excitement in driving one!  The main premise any Bond film goer needs to embrace is that James Bond can do anything and is willing to do so for his country.  I remember my dad, one of my brothers and I going to see a James Bond movie in a theater.  Some fantastical stunt had just been performed and someone in the theatre said out loud, “Oh come on!”  It was painful, but I did resist the urge to stand up and look them straight in the eye, all the while saying, “Get the hell out of here!”  James Bond can do anything, period, end of story.

I believe I have seen all of the Bond films at least once and recently; I watched a documentary on the music of these films.  Of course, me being a MCM freak, I believe that the musical scores of the earliest films are the best, especially the ones with a bossa nova flare.  Listening to these songs and learning about their history was spell binding and brought up so many memories for me.  Not so much, real life memories, but the memories of being on the journeys while watching the films.  I would become so immersed in them, especially the opening sequences, many that were works of art on their own.  All the sexual innuendos, the images that were laying out the story about to unfold, intoxicating.  Watching the documentary, took me back to a time when I felt safe, warm and comfortable.  Probably, because I knew, Bond would always make it and live to have another adventure.

However, in No Time to Die we say goodbye to my hero.  Even though I knew what the end was going to be, it was painful to watch.  I could no longer count on my hero to order another vodka martini, shaken, not stirred, or to survive some incredible chase scene.  James Bond would no longer beat the odds and save the world.  If I remember correctly, it wasn’t some brutal fight to the finish, it was a mere scratch in his armor that had protected from so many previous battles, but hidden in that scratch, was a lethal virus, something he couldn’t survive and didn’t dare risk spreading the ones he finally allowed to love him.  Bond had finally found someone who could love him, flaws and all, but he wasn’t allowed to finally live happily ever after.  Why?  Payment for all his sins?  The end of a generation of story tellers that dared to push the envelope of being “appropriate”? 

I personally think, all good things come to an end, no one lives forever, not even in fiction.  I think, truth be told, we need to learn how to be our own heroes.  This is a task I continue to work on.  Personally, if they decide to continue the franchise “appropriately”, they won’t be getting the price of a ticket out of me.  I liked Bond, being Bond and I do not want to experience a watered-down version of a man who wasn’t afraid to be himself, a sexy beast, in every way, shape and form.  A man who wasn’t corrupted by fame, fortune or power.  He was a man who wanted to find the strength to love and be loved in return.  In the end, isn’t that what we all hope for? 

#thelieswechoosetolivewith