Confessions of a Bond fan

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Comments

  • Posts: 19,339
    Yes ,that's a joke that clearly has back-fired as nobody ,even hardened Bond enthusiasts like us,can understand why 'C' was called 'C' ?
  • MrcogginsMrcoggins Following in the footsteps of Quentin Quigley.
    Posts: 3,144
    I wonder if you will find this helpfull I read about him a long time ago and had thought most of us were aware of the story anyway have at this.
    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mansfield_Smith-Cumming
  • Posts: 19,339
    Thanks for that @Mrcoggins ...that makes sense now regarding 'C' ...also I didn't realise that fleming chose 'M' from Cumming's first name....
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy My Secret Lair
    edited February 2017 Posts: 13,384
    I assume you don't watch QI barryt007. They did a big segment about it years ago.
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 18,282
    Birdleson wrote: »
    Then why was Bond smirking when he first mentioned it? I guess the joke is the double-meaning: the actual position in the service and the one we were all thinking when we first heard it.

    Yes, that's exactly it. It works on both levels.
  • Posts: 19,339
    I assume you don't watch QI barryt007. They did a big segment about it years ago.
    No,unfortunately I don't watch that.

  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy My Secret Lair
    Posts: 13,384
    He seemed to have been an amazing man.
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 18,282
    Ian Fleming also called his mother M too of course.
  • LeonardPineLeonardPine The Bar on the Beach
    Posts: 4,025
    I just thought it meant Bond thought he was a C U Next Tuesday..!!!

    As BMW with missiles pointed out, 'C' was the original codename for the head of MI6, but most people wouldn't get that connection. I certainly didn't.

    Bad writing.

  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 40,978
    The writers thought the general audience would get an obscure World War 2 joke, while also assuming they had forgotten about a character who appeared in the first two Craig installments (Mr. White). What an odd assumption.
  • BMW_with_missilesBMW_with_missiles All the usual refinements.
    edited February 2017 Posts: 3,000
    Creasy47 wrote: »
    The writers thought the general audience would get an obscure World War 2 joke, while also assuming they had forgotten about a character who appeared in the first two Craig installments (Mr. White). What an odd assumption.

    I remember the first time I saw SP, I enjoyed the reference and saw it as a neat way of Bond keeping things old-fashioned, but I doubted that the general audience would get it. I was surprised they bothered to make the joke and I still wonder if they really believed that the average cinema goer would know about that.
  • I just thought it meant Bond thought he was a C U Next Tuesday..!!!

    My first impression, too. But when everybody else in the film started referring to the character the same way—M even!—I quickly second-guessed that assumption.
  • Posts: 19,339
    I thought that as well...especially when M says : "And now you know what 'C' stands for ".....the audience laughed at that point,until he says "Careless" ,and ruined that moment.
  • barryt007 wrote: »
    I thought that as well...especially when M says : "And now you know what 'C' stands for ".....the audience laughed at that point,until he says "Careless" ,and ruined that moment.

    Haha, that was a bit of an odd, dampening add-on, as if Ralph Fiennes was directly admonishing the audience with, "Let's keep this PG, shall we?"
  • LeonardPineLeonardPine The Bar on the Beach
    Posts: 4,025
    barryt007 wrote: »
    I thought that as well...especially when M says : "And now you know what 'C' stands for ".....the audience laughed at that point,until he says "Careless" ,and ruined that moment.

    That was one of the funnier lines in the film.

    The joke being that everyone in the audience is thinking of the same rude word and he comes out with 'careless'..!!!!!
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    edited February 2017 Posts: 18,282
    barryt007 wrote: »
    I thought that as well...especially when M says : "And now you know what 'C' stands for ".....the audience laughed at that point,until he says "Careless" ,and ruined that moment.

    That was one of the funnier lines in the film.

    The joke being that everyone in the audience is thinking of the same rude word and he comes out with 'careless'..!!!!!

    Yes, that was rather amusing. It's an old humorous standby in fact. Having your audience think you are going to say one obvious word and then upending it all by saying something else entirely.
  • LeonardPineLeonardPine The Bar on the Beach
    Posts: 4,025
    Dragonpol wrote: »
    barryt007 wrote: »
    I thought that as well...especially when M says : "And now you know what 'C' stands for ".....the audience laughed at that point,until he says "Careless" ,and ruined that moment.

    That was one of the funnier lines in the film.

    The joke being that everyone in the audience is thinking of the same rude word and he comes out with 'careless'..!!!!!

    Yes, that was rather amusing. It's an old humorous standby in fact. Having your audience think you are going to say one obvious word and then upending it all by saying something else entirely.

    It certainly got a huge laugh at the cinema I saw it at....
  • JamesBondKenyaJamesBondKenya Danny Boyle laughs to himself
    Posts: 2,730
    Does it mean cu*t , that's what I thought when I saw it
  • MrcogginsMrcoggins Following in the footsteps of Quentin Quigley.
    Posts: 3,144
    Now we know what the C stands for Coggins !....
  • jake24jake24 Sitting at your desk, kissing your lover, eating supper with your familyModerator
    edited February 2017 Posts: 10,591
    It's implied that "C" is Denbigh's code name following is appointment. This is a nod to the real head of MI6, who is referred to by "C".

    When we first meet Denbigh, Bond insists that he called him by his codename as opposed to his real name, given that he was the man responsible for the distress put on MI6. This exchange is similar to the "My friends call me Dominic." "I'm sure they do." line from QoS.

    The c*nt implication when M says "Now we know what C stands for" is completely deliberate, and serves as a tease for the audience prior to M saying "careless."

    That's it, folks. It really isn't rocket science.
  • BMW_with_missilesBMW_with_missiles All the usual refinements.
    Posts: 3,000
    I always thought M said "callous" not "careless." I guess I'm remembering wrong.
  • It may not be rocket science, but whatever it was, as Birdleson says, it wasn't well executed.
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy My Secret Lair
    Posts: 13,384
    For a really good execution, you need Dr Kaufman.
  • royale65royale65 Caustic misanthrope reporting for duty.
    Posts: 4,423
    Dragonpol wrote: »
    Ian Fleming also called his mother M too of course.

    Just about to mention this Draggers. Not only did Fleming call "M" due to the Mansfield - Cummings connection, he also named "M" after his own mother, which has subtle similarities between the literary Bond and his Chief.

    I felt like such a douchebag explain that to my friends after we saw Spectre for the first time. (although during the scene I did have an "a-ha!" moment)
  • Posts: 4,044
    barryt007 wrote: »
    Yes ,that's a joke that clearly has back-fired as nobody ,even hardened Bond enthusiasts like us,can understand why 'C' was called 'C' ?

    I thought that this was really obvious at the time. Plus I thought this had already been discussed and decided on here already.
  • Posts: 19,339
    vzok wrote: »
    barryt007 wrote: »
    Yes ,that's a joke that clearly has back-fired as nobody ,even hardened Bond enthusiasts like us,can understand why 'C' was called 'C' ?

    I thought that this was really obvious at the time. Plus I thought this had already been discussed and decided on here already.

    And pardon me all over for making a comment....im surprised you are part of the PC police...but you live and learn.
  • Not to muddy the waters here... but in Roman numerals, C = 100 while M =1000. I always thought that this was Bond's way of saying that C is 1/10th the man that M is.
  • Not to muddy the waters here... but in Roman numerals, C = 100 while M =1000. I always thought that this was Bond's way of saying that C is 1/10th the man that M is.

    That would have been very obscure.
  • edited March 2017 Posts: 3,566
    I learned Roman numerals in elementary school. Are they really that obscure? In my first viewing, I certainly made the C, U, etc. conclusion as one possibility, and the Roman numeral conclusion as another. The controversy continues...
  • edited March 2017 Posts: 6,844
    Roman numerals themselves aren't that obscure. But for Bond to randomly address a new character as 'C' with a smirk on his face when we already have characters named 'M' and 'Q' and when a popular 4-letter word also begins with 'C,' yes, that would be very obscure to expect your audience to connect 'C' with the Roman numeral and deduce that Bond is implying 'C' is one tenth the man M is. Also, the accompanying 2 hrs, 30 min would suggest the filmmakers really aren't that clever. ;)
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