Editor’s Note: In honor of Quantum of Solace being released today, AoM contributor Cameron Schaefer has put together this rundown of Bond’s most manly qualities.
Admit it, if you’re a man, you’ve thought about how cool it would be to spend a day in the shoes of 007 himself, “Bond, James Bond.” The cars, adventure, beautiful women, and all the ridiculous spy gadgets. Seriously, who wouldn’t enjoy sporting a wrist-mounted dart gun?
But, there’s something else that attracts us (in a manly way) to Bond. It’s not just the lifestyle and accessories, it’s how he embodies so many of the qualities that we admire in a man. Confidence, strength, self-control (with one glaring exception), independence, and charm mixed with a bit of brute force. He seems to hold the world in his hands, but he’d just as easily give it all away.
Starting with “Dr. No” in 1962, each incarnation of Bond, from Sean Connery to Daniel Craig, has given men a look at how to live the high life, one of sophistication and grace, but far from gentle. The following are some lessons that every man can take away from the life of James Bond.
1) Finish What You Start. A man can be counted on to complete the mission, whatever it may be. Anyone can start something, but very few can consistently finish. James Bond shows us that determination isn’t an optional part of manhood, it’s required.
Think of the men in your life you look up to. Chances are they are people you can trust to do what they say. These are the people we follow, model, and celebrate. For them, how one starts the race isn’t nearly as important as how one finishes. When things get hard and go wrong, it doesn’t cause them to throw in the towel, it only pushes them harder. In the same way, Bond is a closer, something for which all of us men should strive.
2) Dominate Technology. Bond is a man that keeps up with the times. He is a master of the current technology and gadgets, but never their slave. You won’t find Bond spending hours each day frivolously texting away or sporting a permanent bluetooth headset. Wherever Bond is, he is ALL there, not constantly sidetracked by his Blackberry. He uses technology when he needs it and chucks it when he doesn’t.
Technology can be a great asset, but like many things it can often warp into something we can’t live without. In doing so, it takes a place in our life that it has no business taking. Bond is the type of man that keeps tech in it’s proper place- a place of servitude.
3) Know Your Enemy – Like any good practitioner of war, Bond never enters a battle without knowing the intricate details of his enemy. Not just who he is, but how he thinks, what he desires, what he fears and how he can be exploited.
If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle. – Sun Tzu
For Bond, and for all men, sometimes the enemy is quite obvious, while at other times they cleverly hide their ulterior motives. Your enemy could be a business rival that is seeking your destruction or even some type of character assassin like an addiction, a weakness, or a character flaw. Regardless, knowledge is key to victory in any of these areas. Identifying the enemies in your life, learning their ins and outs, and defeating them at every turn is something Bond understands and all of us should as well.
4) Dress to Kill – For centuries, part of being a man meant dressing well for every occasion. Suits, hats, collared shirts and well-fitting trousers were a necessary part of living well. Somewhere along the line it became acceptable for a man to leave the house in baggy sweatpants, t-shirt, and a baseball cap.
You might be saying, “But I’m a man, only women care about how they dress.” To you Bond would reply, “You’re an idiot, kind sir, ” as he walked off with your girlfriend. How a man dresses says something about him and men who dress well exude and inspire confidence. So ditch your old, ill-fitting rags and invest in a quality wardrobe. After all, the first step towards being Bond is dressing like him.
5) Know How to Handle Your Weapon – Bond, understands the value of having a firearm and knowing how to use it. While he only discharges his weapon when absolutely necessary, 007 is well-equipped to defend himself and those around him when the situation arises.
Becoming a skilled firearms user doesn’t mean you need to turn your house into a one-stop armory. Simply stopping by the local gun range every once and awhile and/or taking a gun safety class can make a big difference. Also, a man should know how to properly clean his gun. After all, a quality weapon is a valuable tool, but it is only as good as the person operating it.
6) Stay Cool – Remember that one segment in the last 007 movie where Bond cracked under the intense pressure of his mission? Me neither. Bond shows us that being a man means staying cool under pressure. Life is tough for everyone; get over it. Great men have the inner fortitude to handle themselves with confidence and self-control even when the world around them is crumbling.
Part of dealing well with stressful situations is being prepared for them.
“On the fields of friendly strife are sown the seeds that on other days and other fields will bear the fruits of victory.” – General Douglas MacArthur (US WWII General and war hero)
Bond is able to remain calm because of his past training and experience. Apart from training, playing competitive sports is a wonderful way to learn how to handle stress and prepare for battle, whether it be against the “Man With the Golden Gun” or simply the young hot shot competing for your job.
Any other lessons men can take from James Bond? Drop a line in the comment box and add to the discussion. And just for fun, share your favorite Bond movie and favorite incarnation of Bond with us as well.
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Gotta throw in something that’s slightly off-topic: A suppressed Bond moment.
I was out with a girl at a restaurant. Our waitress was a hottie, dressed in black and showing a generous amount of cleavage. (I’m still in love.) She brought our food, looked at me and said, “Is there anything else I can do for you?”
Can you imagine how difficult it was to be a good boy and not do a Roger Moore voice, saying, “Yes, but we’ll discuss that later” or something? And no, I’m not silly enough to think that she was making offers like one of Bond’s women. Fun to imagine, though.
Let’s not forget the proper handling of your Astin Martin at exceptionally high speeds…
@Keith – Ooops! typo. Meant Aston
@Andrew White –
You, sir, are an idiot. If you would care to take the time, you can find areas on the web that show that the use of firearms in the U.S. for defensive purposes (by civilians) far exceeds the accidental deaths you cite.
@David Barnes –
Thou knowst not what ye speak.
A whip and a hat can’t make a man, and shooting a man twenty feet away who has a sword is one of the most cowardly actions ever filmed.
Don’t get me wrong, Harrison Ford is cool, but the atheist professor who argues with Nazis is no man.
And if you asked him, “Who’s yer Daddy?”, he’d have to tell you, “James Bond.”
@Duncan Rainey Hoopes Junior – @David Barnes –
Thou knowst not what ye speak.
In case there is ambiguity, I am speaking about Indiana Jones
I love James Bond…but most of you men, November 16th’s Victor excluded, and even the author, neglected this important point: HANDS DOWN Bond is the sexiest man on the planet because he is written as an awesome lover! Candlelight, adventure! and YES, the way you dress, men, is important! Own a good tuxedo! Dominate technology, but go away Blackberry addict! Live the high life, and do it independently with charm and strenghth. Indiana Jones was a professor, Bond is a friekin’ spy with a fascinating posse ready to die for him. Loved the article and comments. For a little humor from a woman’s perspective, visit my blog at http://www.divorcenetwork.com/profiles/blog/list?user=18w3csbt0xfl9
Sincerely, Veronica Dylan
Where are the Bond Men in this world?
I’m sad to see you didn’t add the sage words from Q in his final move:
Never let them see you bleed and always have an escape plan.
WOW …..
I can see there are a lot of “”"GIRLS”"” here who are afraid of GUNS.
Or, should we say “GIRLIE” men?
So many GIRLIE men (men, really???)…….
USA and European non-females are 99.999% girlie men anyway!
Sort of tragic for the unfortunate women who must resign themselves
to live with these wimps. I hear these women complaining all the
time about how wimpy guys are!
I am so glad there are so MANY girlie men. It helps
me have a LOT MORE than a fair share of beautiful
females — who, by the way, totally despise ‘girlie’ males.
I was thinking about writing a NEW book “How to be
a great GIRLIE men”. I can become a billionaire just
by selling that book since there are so many GIRLIE
males who would love to become even GIRLIER!
I can see I already have a LOT of potential buyers here!
Of course . . .
I just need to hide from them that I sleep with my gun under
the pillow. And the other gun “inside” my underwear. Both are
constantly being cleaned and kept ready for “action’.
ALWAYS BE PREPARED!
John.
Well put, 007.
To the article’s author: shame on you for mistaking firearm use for a manly trait. Violence is what you do when intelligence fails. Any brainless idiot can pull a trigger, as has been widely proven.
You think killing a living being by bending your index finger is manly? You’re just pathetic.
“Max” is being pathetic. 007 is trained in the use of firearms, and he doesn’t simply do the ” ’scuse me while I whip this out” and blast away technique. Intelligent, judicious use of firearms is not unmanly. Condemning someone for using them, however, *is* unmanly.
“Condemning someone for using firearms is unmanly”? Do you realize how unbelievably moronic such a statement is?
There’s nothing “intelligent” or “judicious” in killing somebody. Even a retarded child can do that with a firearm.
If even a retarded child can do it, it’s NOT MANLY — by definition. Man up, kid.
Sorry, Max, my deceased retarded brother did not know how to use a firearm. You’re justifying a bad argument based on emotion. Too bad you can’t answer with any semblance of logic the rest of the discussion. And don’t give me that “man up” shite as a dismissal, you’re on the losing end.
Dear Stormbringer: just because you don’t get the logic, it doesn’t mean it isn’t there.
Any retarded child can bend his index finger and kill someone with a gun, that’s a fact.
I’m “on the losing end”, you say? Why exactly? Because you say so? You’re getting more and more pathetic…
Change your name, “Max”. “Min” would be more becoming. Now it’s a personal attack flame war in a public forum? You started this thing by lashing out at participants because you cannot wrap your tiny little mind around a concept. I called you on it, and you keep sneaking back to the computer when your mother isn’t looking so you can keep on lashing, and yet I’m the one with the problem? Post all you want, Cupcake, I am not going to waste another sentence on you.
Nice job on resorting to juvenile insults, thereby proving your lack of reasoning skills.
Wow, has this degenerated! The “guns are evil” weenies have their fits, and then Mad Max: Beyond Emptydome manages to prove Storm’s point with “waaa waaa waaa”. Most people who disagree will drop it after they’ve been pimp slapped but Maxie Pad has to keep coming back for more. Amazing, and he pretends he has balls enough to tell people to “man up” after his unmanly outbursts. Sorry, gang, but this just pissed me off too much and I had to let the crybaby have it. I hope a moderator will zap his lame ass comments. Back to lurking now.
As the gun owners are “eloquently” showing, my hinting at retarded children was fully appropriate.
Hey, Maxie! When have you ever shown a grain of truth? All you have is a snotty attitude, you didn’t show anything useful, and you claim ‘victory’ in your comments. Grow three things and come back. The first is a brain and then maybe you can figure out what the other two things are that you need to grow. God, what a loser.
You forgot to add “nyah nyah nyah”, Mark. That would be in tune with your “manly” attitude.
I’m with Hazard and Stormbringer. Max is a troll who just wanted to start something. He’s a turdball with nothing to say, never made a point, then claims he won some kind of argument. He should grow up before he plays with the big boys. Good thing the big boys caught on and stopped feeding the troll.
PS I saw Stormbringer’s site. After what SB’s been dealing with lately, little boy Max is lucky he didn’t get his liver handed to him on a stick and should be happy he got off easy.
New nickname, same old cowardly idiot. Not only you don’t have a point: you also have no dignity and no honour. You simply are not a man.
New nickname, same old cowardly idiot.
You are too ashamed of yourself to post under the same identity, and rightly so: you have been publicly humiliated and you even did most of the work yourself.
Not only you don’t have a point: you also have no dignity, no honour, and no testicles. You simply are not a man.
Alright guys, I appreciate the enthusiasm, but this argument isn’t going anywhere and the language being used is not what this blog is about. Please cease from any further comments unless they are adding something valuable to the discussion – personal attacks do not fall under this category.
Nicky, I see your impassioned posting was deleted, though it showed up in my e-mail follow-ups to this thread. While I appreciate your enthusiasm, you violated your own “feeding the troll” advice. And the original thread was about James Bond. Please keep in mind that our image of James Bond does not lose his cool, and that would have been another point that the author could have mentioned if he had wished to make the article longer. Yes, the loser Max has nothing to offer except wild accusations, no logic (and Bond uses reasoning abilities) and is nothing but a troll. I believe Bond would walk away, and that’s why I am no longer discussing anything with the troll. He is probably angry at me for praising the article earlier in this forum. If you wish to flay the troll, feel free to use the link in my profile to find the e-mail address and we can have a grand old time in private.
As I have commented elsewhere on this site, to respond to any kind of internet comment is to descend into a spiral of insanity…
By the by, though the films are fun they are a different animal entirely from the books, which are amazing (with the exception of Man with the Golden Gun). My favourites are Casino Royale and From Russia with Love.
And please, play nice, kids…
To the uninformed… Do reseach and educate yourself or remain clueless with an opinion.
FLORIDA CONCEALED CARRY PERMITS
Through 1997, only one permit holder out of the over 350,000 permits issued, was convicted of homicide. Through 1992, Florida’s murder rate decreased 23%, while the U.S. rate rose 9%
Since 1991, 23 states have adopted RTC (right to carry), the number of privately-owned guns has risen by nearly 70 million, and violent crime is down 38%. In 2007, the most recent year for which complete data are available, RTC states had lower violent crime rates, on average, compared to the rest of the country (total violent crime by 24%; murder, 28%; robbery, 50%; and aggravated assault, 11%).
UK CRIME
A new study suggests the use of handguns in crime rose by 40% in the two years after the weapons were banned.
The research, commissioned by the Countryside Alliance’s Campaign for Shooting, has concluded that existing laws are targeting legitimate users of firearms rather than criminals.
The Centre for Defence Studies at Kings College in London, which carried out the research, said the number of crimes in which a handgun was reported increased from 2,648 in 1997/98 to 3,685 in 1999/2000.
AUSTRAILIAN CRIME
Since Australia banned private ownership of most guns in 1996, crime has risen dramatically on that continent.
Though lawmakers responsible for passing the ban promised a safer country, the nation’s crime statistics tell a different story:
Countrywide, homicides are up 3.2 percent;
Assaults are up 8.6 percent;
Amazingly, armed robberies have climbed nearly 45 percent;
In the Australian state of Victoria, gun homicides have climbed 300 percent;
In the 25 years before the gun bans, crime in Australia had been dropping steadily;
There has been a reported “dramatic increase” in home burglaries and assaults on the elderly.
All mass shooting occur in “gun free” zones.
There will always be a black market for firearms. Criminals prefer to stay armed as it’s a few years for getting caught carrying a gun vs getting caught without a gun by rival gangs or an armed potential victum. They prefer thier victums to be unarmed. The black market will supply guns as long as there is profit.
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