‘Arrogance and self-awareness seldom go hand in hand, Bond.’ – Vesper
Hi there! For this week’s edition, I’ll be talking about a particular series of movies which I have been thinking of for awhile. Also known for its bombastic action scenes, seductive women and masculinity, the James Bond series have made its mark on the movie scene with a long list of successes and duds. It’s iconic as everyone knows about it but hasn’t done anything particularly well since 2005.
2005 was where Daniel Craig stepped in. Highly rough and hewn-looking, he was not well received as the new Bond. However, a solid performance by him, engaging characterization and revamped plot gave life into a largely panned movie and turned it up again. Of course, it felt right to talk about the movie not only because it kickstarted the fortunes of the franchise, but also because the story had a pretty sad moment which drives Bond’s motivation and is summed up in the end of the 2rd movie, Quantum of solace. I’ll be talking about spoilers from here on, so thumbs down on you if you haven’t seen it!
2005 was where Daniel Craig stepped in. Highly rough and hewn-looking, he was not well received as the new Bond. However, a solid performance by him, engaging characterization and revamped plot gave life into a largely panned movie and turned it up again. Of course, it felt right to talk about the movie not only because it kickstarted the fortunes of the franchise, but also because the story had a pretty sad moment which drives Bond’s motivation and is summed up in the end of the 2rd movie, Quantum of solace. I’ll be talking about spoilers from here on, so thumbs down on you if you haven’t seen it!
So our story in Casino Royale begins with Bond going on a massive hunt for a group of criminals, mainly headed by a guy named Le Chiffre. After taking down a series of henchmen to break into his chain of operations, Le Chiffre implements a high-stakes game of poker to recouple his losses. Bond is sent to join the game in order to place Chiffre in a losing position so that he would be forced to become an informant. In the process, he joins up with Vesper (played by an awesome eva green) who serves as his superior during the game. In the process of working together, eventually Bond turns from a cold ruthless murderer to feeling emotionally attached to Vesper. Unfortunately, Vesper betrays him in order to protect him without his knowledge, forcing him back to his emotionally turbulent, angry and betrayed self again. Throughout the entirely of Quantum of solace, he constantly thinks about her, being caught up between his love for her and her betrayal. Eventually, after realizing that she was forced to betray him and deciding that it is best to move on, leaving a necklace of her behind in the closing scene.
What we see here is a sad case where Bond places too much attachment to a single person due to his tendency to be aloof and lonely due to his line of work. Being in the shoes of an agent who has to kill, it can be incredibly difficult to maintain a strong emotional front. Which is largely why I really enjoy seeing Daniel Craig play as bond, he portrays a much more humanistic version of Bond while putting up a cold and dangerous front. This brings me back to my original point where Bond’s love and loss over Vesper feels much more impactful.
The loss of a beloved one, especially one whom we may be over dependent on may have its dangers. Having such an important clutch taken away suddenly may be extremely difficult to handle. However, it is not uncommon to see people being too attached to a single object. Be it a friend, partner, relative, family or object (or even a pet!).
This brings me back to one of Buddhism’s key tenets – the importance of having little attachment to material things, as they do not last forever. Being an object which is subject to change over time, it can be easy to realize that the object or person whom you have strong feelings towards in the past – have changed.
Of course, this is not to say that we should not have any emotions towards anyone like robots! On the contrary, it is better to enjoy the feelings and emotions that you have felt without placing too much stress on the particular object.
What we see here is a sad case where Bond places too much attachment to a single person due to his tendency to be aloof and lonely due to his line of work. Being in the shoes of an agent who has to kill, it can be incredibly difficult to maintain a strong emotional front. Which is largely why I really enjoy seeing Daniel Craig play as bond, he portrays a much more humanistic version of Bond while putting up a cold and dangerous front. This brings me back to my original point where Bond’s love and loss over Vesper feels much more impactful.
The loss of a beloved one, especially one whom we may be over dependent on may have its dangers. Having such an important clutch taken away suddenly may be extremely difficult to handle. However, it is not uncommon to see people being too attached to a single object. Be it a friend, partner, relative, family or object (or even a pet!).
This brings me back to one of Buddhism’s key tenets – the importance of having little attachment to material things, as they do not last forever. Being an object which is subject to change over time, it can be easy to realize that the object or person whom you have strong feelings towards in the past – have changed.
Of course, this is not to say that we should not have any emotions towards anyone like robots! On the contrary, it is better to enjoy the feelings and emotions that you have felt without placing too much stress on the particular object.
If we pick something up, we don’t necessarily have to attach to it or think that it is ours, in some absolute way. Once we think something is actually ours, there is possessiveness or “clinging” in Buddhist jargons, which causes tension. To let go of clinging to something we’ve picked up is merely to relax our hold. We don’t need to put it down, we just need to relax the grip. We don’t have to get rid of things, like getting rid of your wristwatch and your automobile and your house, or your apartment and your income. So, it’s not about picking things up, because you can pick something up and hold it, and then put it down. That’s a useful and very necessary part of life. The problems come with the clinging, the possessiveness, the idea that this is mine and i am going to have it and keep it….
It’s more about learning how to pick things up and put them down when we need to put them down, which is the whole purpose of developing mindfulness of time and place.The discernment that chooses how to act at any given time needs to be based on that fundamental acceptance. But we have to use wisdom and attentiveness to the situation to see what’s “right”.
In short, we can see that even the suave-ist of people like James Bond can fall into the trap of being overly attached and in turn becoming manipulated by the memory of his loved one. With focus and determination, we can do our best to avoid being betrayed by our attachment to become even better than the ‘heroes’ we see in media.
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