Bond narcissistic?

walther p99 · May 2009

I dont know if this has been discussed before but i think Bond has narcissistic qualities, was curious if anyone else thought so?

Loeffelholz · May 2009

It's an intriguing question; are you referring to Cinematic Bond, Literary Bond...or both?

walther p99 · May 2009

Both

Loeffelholz · May 2009

On film, I don't really think so---at least not currently. You could argue that the more 'tongue-in-cheek' entries all feature this aspect, to a limited degree, in that Bond is remarkably well known for a "secret agent,"

) and doesn't really seem to mind when he's told that his reputation proceeds him...I'm thinking, in particular of the (IMO classic) scene from DAD where Bond, looking like Robinson Crusoe, struts into that Hong Kong hotel with the same swagger he'd have sported if he'd been wearing the latest tailored Brioni

Such things are arguably a manifestation of his tremendous self-confidence, which opens the door to notions of narcissism.

In the original Fleming, possibly moreso---at least, inasmuch as Fleming so effectively used Bond's thoughts about how other people might view him as a literary device to convey certain less tangible elements of his character. An example is the passage from the Moonraker novel, where Bond attends the private club Blades with M, and imagines the patrons there thinking him a tough-looking character: "Not the usual chap one sees in Blades." Now, does this mean the Literary Bond is actually a narcissist? Not necessarily, but Fleming clearly wasn't averse to using Bond's image of himself as a reflector lens for the reader's imagination.

Don't know if this answers anything? ;%

Bond narcissistic?

Comments