Buried in the recesses of our soul is a quiet desperation for adventure, a hunger for more than our current experience. James Bond speaks to that “wild at heart” part of us and stirs and soothes those fantasies. Are those fantasies all bad? All things we need to eradicate or repress? Or are they mixed with the image-of-God stardust we find in our hearts?
In Bond movies, Victorian-era restrictions and elaborate, conventional appearances are traded in for something more streamlined for the twenty-first century. Mary Poppins, “practically perfect in every way” is transformed into Honey Ryder, the untamed, island girl.[1] The long woolen dress and protection of an umbrella are traded in for a bikini and a hunting knife. Is this only modesty being exchanged for immodesty? Or, again, is a deeper explanation needed? You see, for many, Bond movies speak to something that wants to be more than we are. A part of us that wants to experience life to its’ fullest—to live with passion and fire for… Who or what? Ah, that is a good question! For God? Mother England? Beauty? Sex? Family? You see, rather than simply being a Duggar-esque[2] temptation to trade modesty for immodesty, Bond movies can help us ask good questions and even awaken something good and wholesome inside of us. Indeed, they can be counter-intuitive reminders of holy and God-sized dreams, as well as what lies look like. What’s more, especially when God is seen as the Maker and Designer of the Forest, even a well-crafted spy thriller can be an invitation to switch from a closely guarded and inhibited life to an open-hearted and courageous one.
Having looked at the tree of this movie franchise, I would like to make a few observations using the lens of the Bond franchise about the larger forest of love, sex, relationships, as well as life well-lived:
- Love—In this area, the movies are a bit shaken and stirred together, with some being better than others. Acts of self-sacrifice and mutual concern are mixed in with a lot of objectification and lust.
- Sex– Throughout the franchise, beauty and sex are potentially transcendent experiences to be exploited or enjoyed, but it is almost always consistently delinked from marriage and parenting. Moreover, Bond’s heroic efforts of saving the world- SPOILER ALERT: are not tied to children in any way… except in the last movie.
- Relationships– As a whole, Bond is a loner but, as it turns out, his best work is done in collaboration with his friends like Money Penney, Felix, M, Q, or an occasional fellow field agent or double O.
- Life well-lived—OK, we all can agree that saving the world from annihilation and really bad villains is a good thing. But did you ever notice that although Bond is regularly in situations where he could use someone who is “a very present help in trouble,” God is consistently absent from 007’s world? For Bond, the holy grail is rather lots of beauty, gadgets, adrenaline, and getting the job done. An existence of “eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die” is the preferred world view—or in Bond’s case— “eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow” we never die!
Among other things, Bond helps us explore what it means to be fully human and alive, as well as what it means to save the world. In many ways, the best movies in the series are a fascinating contrast and comparison to what Christianity teaches about God as the source of all good things, including love and relationships.[3] And despite the spirit of our age that continues to aggressively delink marriage, sex, and parenting, God, the Maker and Designer of “the Forest” still intends for these components of loving family relationships to be connected in such a way that we find joy, as well as a knowledge of who He is.
[1] I’m referencing an iconic scene from the first Bond movie from 1962 Dr. No.
[2] I’m alluding here to the Duggar family from the conservative TV reality show 19 Kids and Counting.
[3] James 1:17.