Should James Bond be admired or avoided?

James Bond: Die Another Day Rating: PG-13 for action violence and sexuality

The infamous British secret agent is a layered combination of strength and weakness. For some, Bond is discarded as a trigger-happy agent who romances beautiful women. For others, he is an entertaining example of self-sacrifice and dedication as he travels around the world saving humankind from evil plots.

In Die Another Day, the twentieth Bond film in forty years, 007 (Pierce Brosnan) teams up with Jinx (Halle Berry) to determine the connection between North Korea and a wealthy diamond dealer. Their action-packed trail leads them to a mysterious ice palace where Bond uses his wit and Q’s ingenious inventions in an effort to uncover a devious secret. The result is another espionage thriller in a series that has intrigued generations the world over.

Although Bond has a license to kill, his violence is typically reactionary. Rarely do we see Bond as the instigator in a conflict. While a forceful response to aggression doesn’t sit well with a pacifistic worldview, Bond challenges viewers to see that the world is worth saving for the price of killing a number of bad people; and while few of us would actually want a job like Bond’s – and perhaps even fewer of us would condone such a profession – we would no doubt confess that real life covert operations (though not as incredible as the ones Bond carries out) are intrinsic to the survival of our world as we know it.

In an interview with Readers Digest, Brosnan comments on his personal life when he says, “I’ve managed to weather through when it has been tough, knowing that it would get better and having faith in myself that it would get better.” Ironically, his Bond character is much the same way.

Bond’s optimistic “tomorrow never dies” attitude is an admirable quality – so is his fierce honour where even the world is not enough to cause him to betray his country. He is, however, a compulsive womanizer and ruthless in dealing out revenge. This might cause us to reflect on the standard we use to determine whether or not this film, or others, are acceptable entertainment.

Dr. No, the first Bond film, is benign in comparison to Die Another Day. If the release dates of these films would have been reversed neither would have done well at the box office: one would have been considered too violent, the other not violent enough. Bill Gothard, founder and president of Institute of Basic Life Principles, once said something to the effect that TV/movie entertainment is, by and large, a negative experience because it forces us to accept bad things while enjoying some good things. While the literal interpretation of his point of view may be too constricting, he does, nonetheless, sound a very real alarm about the potential dangers of what we watch.

Can movies influence us negatively? Can they influence us positively? Does ongoing exposure to popular movies subtly desensitize us to the definition of right and wrong? What can movies teach us? These and other questions need to continue to challenge our thinking, especially as we are in the midst of a culture whose drug of choice has switched from materialism to entertainment.

Bond’s dedication, self-sacrifice and non-instigating violence make him a man to be respected, if not, perhaps, admired. His collapse of morality in his dealings with women, however, shows the weaker side of his humanity. The action, storyline and adventurous nature of the film will no doubt stir the emotions of James Bond fans. But the real question is whether or not it will shake their beliefs.

Paul H. Boge is a writer and an engineer. He attends North Kildonan MB Church in Winnipeg.