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When does Bond ever interact with the general public?
TripAces
Universal Exports
Doing a little research on this, and before I get started I thought I'd ask our resident experts to post on this thread.
But when does Bond ever interact with the public? I am only speaking of people who are going about their personal business, not people in the hospitality or service industries. Bond has much to say to bartenders, servers, hosts, dealers, cab drivers, etc. (Of course, he also speaks to operatives, assets, suspects, and marks.) But when does he speak to/with every day people not in those positions?
I am sure there are several examples, but off the top of my head I can only think of four:
In TB: The woman (Diane Hartford) at the Kiss Kiss Club in the Bahamas
In DAF: Plenty O'Toole (unless one counts her as a prostitute, who's on the job)
In TMWTGG: The boy on the boat
In CR: At the Ocean Club, the man whose car he crashed (ironically that scene also includes Diane Hartford)
Thoughts?
But when does Bond ever interact with the public? I am only speaking of people who are going about their personal business, not people in the hospitality or service industries. Bond has much to say to bartenders, servers, hosts, dealers, cab drivers, etc. (Of course, he also speaks to operatives, assets, suspects, and marks.) But when does he speak to/with every day people not in those positions?
I am sure there are several examples, but off the top of my head I can only think of four:
In TB: The woman (Diane Hartford) at the Kiss Kiss Club in the Bahamas
In DAF: Plenty O'Toole (unless one counts her as a prostitute, who's on the job)
In TMWTGG: The boy on the boat
In CR: At the Ocean Club, the man whose car he crashed (ironically that scene also includes Diane Hartford)
Thoughts?
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Comments
And the Germans who give Bond a ride.
Also happens in AVTAK when Bond gatecrashes the wedding.
Mrs Bell in LALD
"Are you with our group?"
"No."
Also the stall-holder that he wins the teddy from, who asks him not to play again :)
Bond also steals 'normal people's cars in AVTAK and OP of course. Countless barmen.
Good one.
I don't remember if he speaks to anyone at the wedding party in AVTAK. I will have to watch it.
Another that comes to mind is the woman expecting flight lessons in LALD.
@TripAces re: AVTAK: Doesn't Bond pick up the cake he smashed on top of and offer congratulations to the bride and groom? I think so??...
Yes, I do believe you are right.
In SP: Bond says "Good evening" to the stranger in Rome, after landing the parachute, following the car chase with Hinx.
Plenty was a prostitute? I never got that impression. To me she was a woman who was looking for a sugar daddy. Even if she was a prostitute this makes her less human? Or less civilian. I hope I am reading you incorrectly.
Does Hawking from GF count? Or because he was working he's out? The guy before the golf match?
The women at Tiger's Bath House? I believe he quips about not getting soap in the eye.
Oh the woman in TB who he uses to get on the dance floor. "Thank you I'd love to.." ("You should have told me your wife was here! :) )
The man Bond says "good evening" to after landing on the bridge in Spectre (after putting the DB10 in the river) is a good example of what this thread is referring to, I believe.
Exactly.
@thedove I am not suggesting Plenty is less of a person. As @NickTwentyTwo says here, Plenty might not count as a member of the general public: is she in the general public or is she "on the clock" as someone in the service industry? This is very much a gray area.
What's interesting is that the very first words the cinematic Bond speaks, in DN of course, are toward a character of the general public: Sylvia. Her role was intended to be more of a contsant love interest, but Sylvia definitely counts, as she is neither a mark nor a server.
;)
That reminds me; I was thinking the other day that Plenty is that fairly rare Bond girl: someone who has nothing at all to do with the mission who he happens to pull. I expect there are probably loads, but off the top of my head I can only think of Margot's friend on the yacht at the beginning of TLD and Sylvia Trench.
Then why is Trench included? She gambles but she's different then other gamblers? What about the guy who leans into George and says "Dame can't pay up." Or because Bond doesn't say anything to him it doesn't count? I am getting a bit confused about this thread. LOL!
It is a nuanced subject.
To illustrate my thought, take for example the scene in Casino Royale in the Ocean Club when Bond wins the DB5 from Alex. When he speaks to the two golfers at the bar (guten aben, sorry, I don't speak German lol), that would be Bond interacting with the general public. But when he sits at the poker table and engages with the players, I wouldn't consider that interacting with the general public (and this would exclude Trench as well, for me). Gamblers, regardless of how big or small, become a part of the plot to me in a way that the general public does not.
Who's that? I can't place her.
From the beginning of Spectre. The woman he's with as he enters the hotel.
I suppose Sylvia Trench also counts?
And the gipsy leader in FRWL
Ah thanks! I didn't know she had a name. Yes, very true, she doesn't seem connected with anything.
Surely 'san'?
He inhabits the best restaurants, shags the most expensive women and consumes the best food.
That's Bond. If you want a working class hero, watch Selma.
I might argue that the woman carrying the water jug was working at the time Bond approached her to ask where Quarrel was.
One's that I can think that would qualify would be:
Your first two I can agree with, but the angels of death are clearly part of the plot! Same with Plenty, IMO.