I wrote that title to reflect the delay in posting this – it’s Monday evening and I haven’t provided you with any scintillating thoughts for the day yet (Don’t say it – what’s new?!) My excuse is entirely baby-related and therefore I won’t share it with you, except to say I never seen cuter passport photographs in my life. Mine make me look like a serial killer. No, really, they do. Anyway, having written that title, I’ve decided it sounds like a Roger Moore Bond movie, which has made my decision on what to ramble about in this post.
A friend of mine posted to Facebook this picture: http://i.imgur.com/oiTCZ.jpg The OmniBond. (I haven’t posted it because I don’t have copyright consent, so please click on the link.) It’s a fascinating piece of photographic collage, but I don’t know anything about photography or photoshop, so I can only appreciate it for its Bond-ness, and for the challenge he set me to use it as a short-story prompt.
I haven’t written a story yet, sorry Stuart, but it did get me thinking about that challenge. How would you do it? You’d need a Bond who was simultaneously Suave and Slimy, Rugged and Wet, Ridiculous and Ruthless*. His age, hair, eyes and build, not to mention his country of birth, would all have to change (for the quintessential Englishman, he’s been played by an awful lot of foreigners!), but it’s the personality and style that would really be a hardship.
And yet, there is something about him, in every one of the movies (not to mention the books, which are different again), which makes him unmistakably Bond, James Bond.
This is what fascinates me, not just as a fan, but also as a writer. What is it that makes this character so strong that he can carry through these complete reincarnations (not just recasting, like Superman)? And still appeal to a huge international fan base?
How I would love to write a character like that.
* In my opinion. Connery, Brosnan, Craig, Lazenby, Moore, Dalton.
elmowrites 
