Someone a couple months ago pointed me to a great article involving the hazards that James Bond experiences in his movies, particularly in terms of infectious diseases.
I thought it would be nice to talk about it. It’s got lots of little Easter Eggs for hardcore Bond fans.
Very droll. I like that the authors declare that there is no conflict of interest or scholarly value in the paper.
SNL had a sketch that addressed this (though I can’t find it on YouTube; guest host was Garth Brooks).
OMG I love it, I must share that with some colleagues!! " The man with the golden gut: food safety and infections"! Priceless!!
I have issues with 2 items - alcohol for wound sterilization - sorry, while the proof level of beverage booze is dilluted from the level found in a bottle of isoprop, it is better than nothing, and he basically only drinks alcohol, sorry as a Brit, he does drink tea [one surmises that he drinks a fair amount of tea. We only see him ‘on a case’ and not at home, I suppose 007 shuffling blearily around in the morning making his first cuppa is not thrilling theater]
In From Russia with Love, he orders “coffee, very black” for breakfast.
I remember that one - among the people he calls after seeing a doctor are Batman and Robin.
In Thunderball, he wakes up [at home!!] with a hangover after downing eleven whisky-and-sodas the previous night, cuts himself shaving, pops a couple of Aspirins and antacids, then is chewed out by M after his medical report shows he smokes three packs of extra-nicotine cigarettes a day, drinks half a bottle of spirits on average, eats no vegetables, fruits, nuts, yoghurt, or whole wheat, and has high blood pressure, frequent headaches, and muscle spasms.
His breakfast in FRwL (the movie) is stewed prunes, plain yogurt, and dry toast, in addition to “coffee, very black.”
He needs to learn to live a little.
But then, Sean Connery’s Bond is also the one who hates The Beatles.
Of course he does. Connery’s Bond is more into Hoagie Charmichael.
That was in Istanbul. Back in Britain (from the book version of Thunderball) he was a bacon-and-eggs guy. His stay at Shrublands briefly converted him to tea and health food, but once back on duty, he went back to coffee and cholesterol.
I should add that the earliest Bond novels were written in the 1950s when the UK had just ended food rationing from World War 2. To Fleming’s readers, the gourmet meals were as lurid a fantasy as the sports cars and the promiscuous women.
While this sounds at the very least anachronistic, it’s not as cringe-inducing as Travis McGee’s loathing of rock n 'roll combined with fondness for Eydie Gormé.*
*it’s hard to comprehend Travis having a top-rate stereo system and playing Eydie on it.
Per Wiki:
Fleming decided that Bond should resemble both American singer Hoagy Carmichael and himself[7] and in Casino Royale , Vesper Lynd remarks, “Bond reminds me rather of Hoagy Carmichael, but there is something cold and ruthless.” Likewise, in Moonraker , Special Branch officer Gala Brand thinks that Bond is “certainly good-looking … Rather like Hoagy Carmichael in a way. That black hair falling down over the right eyebrow. Much the same bones. But there was something a bit cruel in the mouth, and the eyes were cold.”[7]
At the very beginning of Casino Royale (the book), Bond is indeed breakfasting on bacon and eggs, (and orange juice, IIRC).
For those too young to remember, the Beatles did take some time to get accustomed to, and not just among the older set.