Not that it’s relevant to anything, but I went to see ‘Quantum of Solace’ this week. I was just thinking that it’s weird how every generation gets the Bond it deserves. Daniel Craig’s a great actor and is a good Bond, but the script can’t run to more than about twenty pages at the outside. Instead, what we get is a fetishisation of violence perpetrated on Criag’s body. Even the adverts have him being buffeted about by flying debris from explosions which seem to catch him even if they are not necessarily anything to do with him. This Bond is a symbol of how western democracy needs to perceive itself: smashed around but still standing and capable of maintaining a sense of purpose and commitment, despite the fact that the world is becoming increasingly set on its destruction. This Bond needs to be cut and bruised and suffering… er… for our sins?
It used to be said that Bond’s greatest victories were consistently over the Americans, but it turns out that the Americans now merely tolerate him. They’ve become more like another layer of complexity and duplicity than a friend to depend on when you need logistical expertise and a shed-load of cash (for the greater good of liberal capitalism, obviously.) They still have the decency to be beaten to the punch, though. The ‘real’ enemy now is some shadowy organisation which can hit you anywhere (erm, see ‘Casino Royale’…) and is the real power behind, amongst other things, the ecological movement – those well known evil people.
Smash the Greens! They’re the Russians/Chinese/North Koreans/Iranians/Libyans/Al Quaida in disguise… apparently. Let’s blow up those trees, deny the enemy a good hug and eliminate a possible base from which they could launch evil Green attacks on the surrounding area, arbitrarily reseeding ancient woodlands and cleaning the air without so much as a ‘by your leave’. I bet they nicked my floor slabs too – possibly they thought I was going to pave paradise and put up a parking lot. Dolphins are responsible for the coming global recession by controlling City computers. Ever noticed how the old ‘handshake’ on a dial up sounded uncannily like a dolphin’s voice that has been digitally altered to sound like a computer? Eh? Eh? And whales… Whales are submarines!
Hmm… It’s almost as if I’m putting off doing any proper writing myself. And what do you mean this blog’s supposed to be about music?
awesome