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Sympathy for the Devil: Do you have sympathy for any of the James Bond Villains or Henchmen?
Dragonpol
https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
This idea of having sympathy for the deaths or experiences of the James Bond villains and henchmen first came to me when my friend said he felt sorry for the villain dying when Octopussy was shown on TV back in the late 1990s. He was referring in particular to Prince Kamal Khan's death by plane crash. I was watching Live and Let Die again recently and I felt (not for the first time) a twinge of sadness and sympathy for Tee Hee, the jolly henchman who likes to laugh, as his claw is locked on to the train window handle. Although he is a ruthless henchman trying to kill Bond there is still a feeling of how pathetic his ending is, desperately trying to free himself and hoist by his own petard:
So are there any Bond villains or henchmen you feel any degree of sympathy for either in terms of their background, their choices in life or their deaths at the hands of Bond or someone else? Some other contenders in the sympathy stakes could be the likes of Raoul Silva or Lyutsifer Safin who were both affected by external factors and not really "born evil".
So are there any Bond villains or henchmen you feel any degree of sympathy for either in terms of their background, their choices in life or their deaths at the hands of Bond or someone else? Some other contenders in the sympathy stakes could be the likes of Raoul Silva or Lyutsifer Safin who were both affected by external factors and not really "born evil".
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Comments
Yes, that's a very good example from the novels and films both. Le Chiffre is down on his luck and over a barrel for the whole story so as a desparate man he's driven to do anything he can to recoup the money he's lost. It's a unique premise for a villain as in nearly every other Bond story they're almighty and powerful and Bond is the one on the back foot. Casino Royale is a nice change of pace in that sense.
I recall a film reviewer likely Danny Peary commenting on OHMSS, and the moment the escaping Blofeld looks back to see Piz Gloria and his plans explode on the mountaintop. That's pretty cooked into the formula, the fun of seeing the villain almost reach his goal. Not to root for the bad guy, but still bittersweet to see him fail.
I agree with the suggestion of Le Chiffre, but I’d also say, below the psychotic surface, I do feel for Silva. M used him like a hunk of meat. He gave everything to her, and she just traded him up.
I’d also say when Safin goes to kill Madeleine in the water and has a change of heart, under all that anger for what White did to his family, there was a good young man lurking (until he became twisted with getting his pound of flesh). I did feel bouts and increments of sympathy for this character.
Nice call... I agree. She looks like a child in that scene. All her bravado just melts away.
Thanks, @peter. The idea just came to me again today so I thought I'd write it up as a new topic.
I agree about Silva. He is given some good motivation in his backstory so there is a sympathetic element to his character.
I also agree about Safin - he did a good thing there in saving the young Madeleine as an innocent child caught up in the mess. I also feel sorry for how his family was poisoned and how he was too although he survived. There is something of the "avenging angel" in how he kills all the Spectre leadership. I recall wondering what sort of character he was when we first encounter him and whose side he was on when he effectively saved Bond's life at Blofeld's birthday party.
At any rate, no personal fate can justify you joining the, uhm, dark side of the force.
Yes, it is relative rather than absolute sympathy I am thinking of here. I suppose bad things often happen to bad people and we shouldn't be too upset when they do.
I might consider Silva, though he's taking his revenge much too far. It's all out of proportion with that one. He's essentially pulling a Kevin McClory. 😉 Same with Safin, Trevelyan and others.
I have zero sympathy for any of the villains and that's actually a good thing. I want Bond to take them down and feel good about that.
Le Chiffre is a murderer and torturer to boot who tries to make fortune out of other people's misery. So no sympathy there (goes for the book version too).
I've always felt a bit of sympathy for Dr. No. It seems he just did what he did to survive, and eventually trying to exsert revenge. Not that I want him to win, he's grown too cold, but I can follow his assertions. However, he too takes it too far with his torturing.
Silva’s similar I guess. We never see him in his past, so all we get is the twisted, vengeful man he’s become. It’s through Bond that we ‘sympathise’ with him (in the sense that both go through similar experiences at M’s hand). Even then I see him almost as a mirror image of Bond who’s chosen a much darker path.
Safin’s a weird case. I get the sense there’s a question deep in the film of whether he’s naturally ‘evil’ or if he’s been made so (a nurture vs nature type thing). On the one hand he wants vengeance which is understandable, and he even lets Madeline live. On the other hand he’s clearly a twisted lunatic who, even after getting revenge, decides he’s going to effectively destroy the world. Even his good deed of saving Madeline is marred by a one sided and rather controlling obsession with her. Plus his name is basically Lucifer Satan…. I’m willing to bet he was naturally quite twisted and dark deep down in spite of what happened to him.
It’s the same with pretty much every Bond villain. I think deep down there’s a sense that these people have an ‘evil’ within them. I don’t think any Bond story tries to imply that they’re victims of society or circumstance or anything like that. They’re often power hungry, or simply sadistic. Even if they’ve suffered in their lives they’re the sorts of characters who want to inflict more suffering onto others over anything else. It makes sense as Bond is effectively about ‘good vs evil’ (not to say it’s always black and white good and evils. Certainly the series embraces shades of light and dark on both those sides, but ultimately Bond defeats villains and our hero always does the right thing).
Ritter to Jack Ryan : You are such a Boy Scout! You see everything in black and white!
Jack Ryan to Ritter: Not black and white Ritter, right and wrong!
Punisher (a killer) tells Daredevil (who avoids killing): You're one bad day away from being me.
Debi Newberry: Where are all the good men dead. In the heart or in the head.
Nice. Love that passage from CR too.
Bond is an interesting character. Even in a lot of the modern films where he goes rogue he’s essentially a blunt instrument for MI6 rather than a vigilante trying to do anything in the name of a higher good (ie. Batman, Daredevil, The Saint, Jack Reacher). In the books he’s all too aware of the questionable ethics of his job (he hates killing, and more than once sees the shades of grey in his profession. His cynicism in CR is even quite subversive, although he always goes back to what is essentially his ‘duty’). It’s there in the films too. But there is something about Bond that ultimately drives him towards doing those virtuous things (ie. He’s not an anti hero, and he certainly can’t be corrupted) even if it means doing unvirtuous things.
But it’s always the villains that provide that contrast to Bond. I don’t think it’s possible to sympathise fully with any of the villains because the idea of basic morality in Bond stories are so clearly defined when it comes to the basics (ie. Trying to attain power or wealth is usually a trait seen in the villains and one taken to an extreme, causing suffering into others even in the midst of your own trauma is another villain trait etc).
Yes, a drug lord modeled on Escobar is such a character who drips sympathy.
Loyalty is more important to him than money. It's enough to make you weep.
Yes, he pays well too.
And let's not even mention Silva.
Another fine decision made by M. Just because she had the authority to do what she thought was right. No sympathy for her.
Also, Nick Nack to a degree. He lost his inheritance, and got trapped in the boiling sun for 8 hours. Sunburned beyond relief. He was probably arrested, with life in prison.
Also, Angelo in TB. He gave his life to copy someone in every way possible. Greed or not, after his successful mission, where could he honestly go? Go into hiding, and make himself his old self possible again? If he couldn’t do that, that would have been a fate worse than drowning.
Sympathizing with the Bond villains is common then you think.
In the context of the Bond films, I think Gobinda in OP holds some sympathy for me. Khan demands he go and out and he pauses and questions the command. He knows he's being sent to his death.
The secretary of Fakesh is another one I have sympathy for. She takes a bullet for a man she just met, was it her conscience? Did Bond use her as a shield? Either way I feel sorry for her.
Can we add Sister Rose and Lily from DN. They clearly know what the good doctor is up to, but try to make it more comfortable for the prisoners that come to Crab Key. Not sure if they perish in the explosion of the island or not.
As for the specific topic at hand, I'm not sure that I have any sympathy for any of the main villains, but I always feel sorry for those numerous and nameless "red-shirt" employees that they employ.