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I see what you did there.
Ahh, a real fan! ;)
It's out of topic, but you're making an oversimplification and I think there's a huge confirmation bias here (ie you're conservative therefore James Bond must be too). He may be a capitalist, but so would be someone slightly left leaning (as per Fleming's own description). James Bond is also a civil servant, so he must see the state in a generally more positive light than a right wing person. He's into pre marital and extra marital sex, something a right wing person would not be openly (privately that is a different matter), and his pleasure seeking attitude would be frown upon at best in many conservative circles. I'm not even so sure he'd be pro Brexit. His mother is Swiss French, for one, and many of his tastes are far more continental than they are British. While I'll argue that SP is a pro-Brexit movie, I don't think James Bond as a character would be if he existed.
Two very pertinent matters here that I have emboldened for clarity. What @Ludovico refers to as a "confirmation bias" is very much at play in this discussion. Additionally, Fleming never had to even consider the notion of an EU, much less a Brexit. Which version of a fictional apolitical character are we talking about? Fleming's? Connery's? Moore's, Dalton's Brosnan's? Certainly not Lazenby's! Cubby's -- or Barbara's? At a certain point, I think this discussion becomes pointless. If you want to talk about YOUR favorite president -- which is the topic thread here, let us not forget -- then have at it! If you want to insist that Clinton or Bush or (M help us!) Trump would have been BOND's favorite president then I think you're taking an unprovable position. JFK is the only president to take a publicly pro-Bond stance during Fleming's lifetime, and Fleming and JFK shared dinner together once. This led to a brief correspondence. For that reason I think Kennedy is the only US president that Bond would have held any personal regard for. Sorry if that doesn't agree with your own political preference, it does at least fall in line with the facts.
"Today we are fighting Communism. Okay. If I'd been alive fifty years ago, the brand of Conservatism we have today would have been damn near called Communism and we should have been told to go and fight that. History is moving pretty quickly these days."
I think it's clear that Bond is not an ideologue and that his politics are neither far left or far right. Saying what he would have thought of Brexit is a fool's errand, since Fleming had a love/hate relation with Germany, which he called "the most gifted nation in Europe." Fleming's own attitudes were anarcho-Tory, which makes them hard to map along conventional party lines, as you can see from his article "If I Were Prime Minister."
Exactly. Fleming was very open in his admiration of Kennedy, as in the dialogue between Vivienne and Bond from The Spy Who Loved Me:
And Fleming also went out of his way to give a posthumous shout-out to JFK in The Man With the Golden Gun:
And for the record, I limited my choices to presidents in my life time, simply because I am more aware of what was going on at the time. But from what I read, there are several presidents on both sides of the aisle that sound like they'd make any recent president look embarrassingly unworthy, yes, including Trump.
I believe @peter has a far more accurate assessment of Bond than does @ringfire. You want to know how Bond would respond to DJT? Go read "The Hildebrand Rarity"...and mentally substitute DJT for Milton Krest. Crude, classless, bullying; rich, arrogant and willing to cut any corner that presents itself to get his way...cheating the charity he claims to support, beating women just because he can get away with it...this description fits both Krest and Trump to a "T." I think I'll start calling him President Krest if I have to refer to this oaf one more time on this topic thread...
He's a loner so party politics and tribalism would repel him. He was a racist and sexist in his own time, but so were most white males at that time. I suspect his attitudes in these areas would have evolved by now as indeed they have with the screen character.
Didn't Fleming intend him to be rather bland and anonymous in many respects. I think that would be reflected in a generally tolerant live and let live attitude. He travels the world, meets people from across the globe, some of whom he likes and some of whom he doesn't and has a balanced, non ideological perspective that reflects this.
And yes, @BeatlesSansEarmuffs , I had exactly the same idea about Trump being just like Milton Krest. Great minds think alike, and all that.
Really? Thinking alike equals great minds these days?
There's a difference between bucking at authority and being an anarchist. Bond is still an agent of the state, he was in the army, he is certainly comfortable enough to work in a structured organisation, with and authority above him and a chain of command to respect. An anarchist is anti state. That's not the case of Bond.
No more guarantee of that than there is of original thinking actually being correct.
But to lay aside the snark and get down to the gist of this thread: Bond has a great deal of respect for the chain of command, even if he does sometimes need to skip a link or two to get the job done. Fleming is quite clear that Bond's feelings for M include a genuine affection as well as a significant amount of respect.
"...if he fires me, I'll thank him for it."
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/08/16/william-mcraven-security-clearance-request-779989
...and just for good measure (and to keep the political discussion going) how about Johnny Cash with "The One On the Right is On the Left"
I could not agree more. Most people say ah Abe is the best because he abolished slavery. And while that’s true, it’s not why he’s the best. When one studies his administration and his strategies during the darkest time in American history, it really shows his masterful nature at government control. He successfully kept the pro slave border states which ultimately lies the key to beating the confederates. If that wasn’t pure political genius then I don’t know what is
I do too. And I love it.
Trump's the most sensitive little whiner in the world though, do you really see Bond tweeting every time he doesn't get his way? Even shutting down the government because of it? Not reading important documents because there's "a lot of words"? Bragging that a woman isn't hot enough to sexually harrass or assault? Stealing a seat at a charity event for the photo opportunity? Demanding a military parade? Envying the public reception to a dictator? Cutting off medical care to his disabled nephew?
Sorry man, gotta go to my safe space.
What you said. People saying Bond would be pro-Trump make projection.