Bond was a character that people in his era could identify with:
Think about how that works in the post war era. The office dwelling accountant/lawyer/ad man/salesman has an expense account. This covers some lunches at counters with clients , or maybe a few nice dinners. He flirts with the secretaries and receptionists and sometimes sleeps with them. He travels on business, perhaps from his suburb into Chicago, or from Chicago to Cleveland, or San Francisco to LA. His office issues him a dictaphone (he canât type) or perhaps a rolling display case for his wares. He has a work car, maybe an Oldsmobile 88 if heâs lucky, or a Ford Falcon if heâs not. Heâs working his way up to the top, but isnât quite ready for a management slot. [âŚ]
Now look at Bond. He has an expense account, which covers extravagant dinners and breakfasts at the finest 4 star hotels and restaurants. He travels on business, to exotic places like Istanbul, Tokyo and Paris. He takes advantage of the sexual revolution (while continuing to serve his imperialist/nationalist masters) by sleeping with random women in foreign locations. He gets issued cool stuff by the officeâ instead of a big dictaphone that he keeps on his desk, Bond has a tiny dictaphone that he carries around with him in his pocket! He has a work car â but itâs an Aston Martin with machine guns! Heâs a star, with a license to kill, but not management. Management would be boring anyways, they stay in London while Bond gets to go abroad and sleep with beautiful women.[âŚ]
In todayâs world, that organization man who looked up to James Bond as a kind of avatar of his hopes and dreams, no longer exists.
Who is our generations James Bond? Jason Bourne. He canât trust his employer, who demanded ultimate loyalty and gave nothing in return. In fact, his employer is outsourcing his work to a bunch of foreign contractors who presumably work for less and ask fewer questions. Heâs given up his defined benefit pension (Bourne had a military one) for an individual retirement account (safe deposit box with gold/leeching off the gf in a country with a depressed currency). In fact his employer is going to use him up until heâs useless. He canât trust anyone, other than a few friends heâs made on the way while backpacking around. Medical care? Well thatâs DIY with stolen stuff, or he gets his friends to hook him up. [âŚ]Sure, work initially issued him a weapon, but after that heâs got to scrounge up whatever discount stuff he can find, even when itâs an antique. He has to do more with less. And finally, Bourne survives as a result of his high priced, specialized education. [âŚ] Oh, and like the modern, (sub)urban professional, Bourne had to mortgage his entire future to get that education. [âŚ]Weâre all Jason Bourne now.
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