I do not ask the question rhetorically. I like both, see that many people like both and see them as quite similar. I am looking for what is so appreciated in both James Bond and Jack Bauer stories. It seems that they share a lot more than initials.
I am not interested in which one is better so I didn’t make this a poll. I will not initially list similarities because I’m aware that having an OP that lists similarities will skew the discussion.
I can see differences, however starting with:
Less glamourous: Bond is a martini-swilling British upper class womanizing cad with expensive tastes. Jack Bauer is a beer-drinking working class American dad who is very down to earth.
Grittier: James Bond almost never has to do something unsavory or morally questionable. Jack Bauer will fry your genitals if the clock’s ticking close enough.
Note that I said “James Bond and Jack Bauer stories”. This includes but is not limited to James Bond and Jack Bauer themselves but encompasses everything in their stories.
Finally, are there other franchises which are similar to James Bond and Jack Bauer?
Well, there’s Matt Helm, although he’s not a spy, he’s a government assassin. The four films with Dean Martin were done more or less like James Bond parodies, but the books are quite gritty.
He’s also not so much of a womanizer. In fact, Casino Royale specifically says that he doesn’t socialize with women when he’s on a mission, because it would be a dangerous distraction.
Jason Bourne and Jack Ryan come to mind. The appeal? The average man sees himself as being given a job and then having roadblocks put in his way. He’s denied resources, he constantly has to report in, he has to jump thru all sorts of hoops to accomplish the objectives, to the point something simple is made near impossible.
These guys are, for the most part, given an assignment and the freedom to accomplish as they see fit. Occasionally the bosses make a half-assed attempt to reign them in but it can be ignored because they know what really counts is results - meet the objectives and all will be forgiven. They live the middle-class fantasy of the empowered employee.
Look at the beginning of every early Bond film - he’s called in, told his assignment, given a crapload of expensive gear, a limitless budget and sent on his way. Meet with HR to discuss Maria getting to go home early when we close? Hell no - he’s licensed to kill Maria and her kids too, if need be. Argue with his team about the new edict on tele-commuting? Right - he’s renting a villa in Italy this week while undercover, but he’ll do a sat-conference on his watch, okay?
It’s funny really - he’s beaten, tortured, and betrayed all the time, but his life’s better than ours because no one’s stealing his lunch from the break room refrigerator or all the other petty frustrations that make working life a chore.
Interestingly, over time these fantasy figures, while no less empowered, are saddled with more and more of the audience’s frustrations - unsympathetic spouses, selfish kids, and no support from the bosses that gave them the job in the first place. Bond is shot and left for dead, Bauer’s left in a Chinese prison until they need him for a suicide mission, Bourne’s a fugitive in every country with a Telex machine. Even in our escapist fantasies, there’s no escape.
This is true. I’m currently working my way through the novels in order, having previously only read FRLW, CR and MWTGG. LALD was a bit rough going but I thoroughly enjoyed Moonraker which is nothing at all like the terrible film adaptation. But yeah, there’s really not a lot of womanizing. In fact, in Moonraker…
Bond and the female agent he was working with were given a month’s leave when it was all over. Poor James had fallen a bit for the girl (they’d been through hell together but no sex) and he was looking forward to an extended holiday with her only to learn that she was engaged to be married.
Actually it is fairly rare for Bond not to get laid in the course of a novel, or at least almost immediately upon the novel’s conclusion.
You are correct about Casino Royale - Bond does sleep with Vesper Lynde, but only after his mission to destroy Le Chiffre is completed. Also in Moonraker, but it is not (as you mention) for lack of trying - he just never gets a chance at Gala Brand until the end of the novel. It is also mentioned that he is carrying on affairs with three different married women at the time.
As for the rest -
[ul][li]*Live and Let Die *- he has a broken finger throughout, but it is pretty clear he gets to boink Solitaire at the end of the novel. [/li][li]From Russia with Love (my favorite) - he screws the heck out of Tatiana Romanova, in his hotel in Istambul and on the train. [/li][li]Diamonds are Forever - yup, he scores with Tiffany Case.[/li][li]Dr. No - Bond is about to do the deed with Honey Ryder when the novel ends.[/li][li]Goldfinger - He boinks Jill Masterson at the beginning of the novel, and Pussy Galore (:rolleyes:) at the end.[/li][li]For Your Eyes Only - only in From a View to a Kill does he get any. [/li][li]Thunderball is the first one where he seems promiscuous. Bond screws the masseuse whose name I can’t remember, and also Domino later on.[/li][li]The Spy Who Loved Me - which is an atrocious piece of dreck - he has sex with the protagonist. Gad, I hate this book.[/li][li]On Her Majesty’s Secret Service - also a bit promiscuous. He meets and beds Tracy, his future wife, and also one of the patients at Blofeld’s institution, which he infiltrates. [/li][li]You Only Live Twice - he has sex with a Japanese prostitute, and also with Kissy Suzuki (really - where did Fleming come up with these ridiculous names?). Kissy is actually pregnant by him at the end of the novel, but no mention is ever made again of the child or his mother. Fleming’s death apparently prevented him from doing so.[/li][li]The Man with the Golden Gun - back to the familiar pattern - Bond doesn’t get laid until the very end of the novel, where his secretary Mary Goodnight invites him to her cabin to “recover”. [/ul]Actually I would think the sexual aspect of the Bond novels is part of the attraction, at least for men - a world where beautiful albeit quirky/flawed women throw themselves at you. [/li]
Regards,
Shodan