So what is it about a BOND movie that makes it so compelling to watch? It is completely formula driven. The typical BOND movie opens up with James Bond usually in bed with a sexy naked woman and then he is interrupted by a call from MI6 to go on a secret mission which is then followed by a few amazing stunts then the beautifully directed credits roll, Bond is then summoned to M’s office where he is briefed on his mission which usually involves a beautiful woman who he sleeps with later on in the movie then there is the usual stop at Q’s to pick up some gadgets which are then followed by a series of stunts and the use of said gadgets, he then kills the bad guy in an elaborately gory way and then has sex with the woman he is with then the end credits roll. 

So if you watched one BOND movie you’ve pretty much watched them all so why the runaway success? 

The gadgets, the girls, the guns or the glitz? It would be easy to say it was one or all of these but it really can’t be these or the BOND franchise would have gone stale ages ago. So what has kept it going for over twenty years?

What is it about Bond, James Bond that men find so appealing? The typical James Bond fan is male and heterosexual so it couldn’t be to check the actor playing the role of James Bond. There are better ways of spending plus minus a hundred and twenty minutes of your life so why watch a BOND movie?

Could it be that on a deeper level James Bond represents what it is to be a man, not the ideal but the experience? Could it be because men are different from women in the sense that they are bound to this material world only by purpose? They leave no children behind; women have babies and leave children behind, men only leave their names behind. Men are disconnected from this world and to make a mark on this world means they have to be immortalised somehow and this usually entails doing something that will make them remembered but with women they leave a mark on this world with every life they bring into it. Life can carry on without men but existence would cease without women. All that is needed from a man to help the species survive can fill a small plastic cup.

The same is true for Commander James Bond. He has no life except to serve Queen and country. He leaves no one behind. He represents the isolation only a man can feel because he knows there is nothing for him except the experiences he will have and the purpose he serves. In ON HER MAJESTY’S SECRET SERVICE James Bond finds love for the first time in his life only to lose it. Is happiness only a fleeting moment to men in the schedule of duty and life?

This all boils down to a deeper level of social structure and history. The society we currently live in is a patriarchal western society however it was preceded by a matriarchal society. The UK/Great Britain/England has had such a vast impact on the world, one of the most commonly spoken languages in the world is English and the UK (before it was known as the UK) was a Celtic society, which was matriarchal, which of course had an impact on the society in the UK which in turn has had an impact on the rest of the world. In a matriarchal society men are a dime a dozen, absolutely disposable and used as a means to an end. In Celtic myths the hero usually dies and is always manipulated by a goddess into doing her bidding to the point that it makes hardcore feminism look like training wheels when compared to matriarchy. These social tree rings have undoubtedly left an impression on the human/masculine psyche and coupled with the resurgence of a matriarchal society (the rise of feminism has just been the outward sign) it would stand to reason that James Bond would have such appeal to men even though the reasons may be subconscious. If the process of physical evolution physically designed us couldn’t we then be mentally designed by the progression of social/cultural evolution?

What outwardly may seem like mindless fun in a JAMES BOND movie is actually the sum of experiences of what it means to be a man since the dawn of time. Men have always been disposable. In a war men are conscripted, even in everyday situations little boys are raised unconsciously to be selfless and have responsibility thrust upon them, if anything happens to the father the eldest son is the man in the house. If sacrifices need to be made to save the whole then the part to be sacrificed is a man, be it war or a sinking ship.

One of the positive messages in the BOND movies seems to be there is honour to be found in purpose and life should be seized every moment.

The complexity of the masculine psyche may seem outwardly simplistic but it is inwardly complex and the same applies to a BOND movie. Maybe watching a BOND movie isn’t just escapism but training and a reflection of what it means to be a man.

FIND JAMES BOND DVD'S RIGHT HERE ON AG.

by Punjabi_Goth

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