This is a
great and in depth report that covers James Bond’s vices and the use of alcohol
and cigarettes. The report is very well documented and I find
it very interesting as to the things that James Bond can do after drinking
several cocktails.
Two of the
authors, NK, AT watched all 24 James Bond movies in the Eon Productions series
(1962–2015; online. Alcohol-related content was identified,
discussed, and recorded on a pre-printed form, and the details then transferred
to an Excel file. A third investigator, PS also watched selected segments when
there was uncertainty about coding decisions, with final decisions reached by
consensus.
When Bond
was seen drinking (the glass or bottle reaching his lips), this was deemed an
“observed alcohol use event”. If the alcohol brand or bottle label was not
visible, we assessed the beverage as being alcohol on the balance of
probabilities. We classified other events as “alcohol use assumed” if actual drinking
was not observed but alcohol was on the table in front of Bond and it was
likely he had consumed some in that setting. In contrast, we did not assume
that alcohol was consumed by Bond if alcohol was present but he was in a
dangerous situation, eg, when his drink could be spiked. Examples of inclusions
and exclusions are included to minimize the chance of missing drinking
episodes, we cross-checked our data with details in a publication on Bond’s
drinking.
The Women
in James Bond’s world were similarly classified the alcohol use by the lead
woman character in each movie — based on the order of the cast list. For the two greatest binge events observed,
we estimated units of alcohol consumed and Bond’s blood alcohol levels, based
on one standard measure of spirits being 25 mL. Blood alcohol concentrations
were computed with the routinely used Widmark formula, with Bond’s weight
assumed to be that of an average British man approx.. 84 kg.
Bond’s
activities after drinking were recorded for the period until he was presumed to
have gone to sleep for the night. Bond’s post-drinking activities included
fights, driving vehicles, gambling, sex, athletic extremes, and operating
complex machinery or devices. “Alcohol used as a weapon” described instances in
which alcoholic drinks were used as vehicles for drugs, or bottles were used in
fights or to start fires (eg, Molotov cocktails). Data on specific visible alcohol brands, eg,
on beverage containers, on advertisements in the background, were collected.
Evidence for product placement was cross-checked with a website devoted to
product placement in movies and with the names of alcohol companies listed
in the movie credits.
Bond had
a mean 4.5 drinking events per movie (median, 4; range, 2–9), with no
statistically significant trends over the six decades. Bond has consumed a diverse range of drink
types, indicating that he is happy to drink whatever is readily available. He
does, however, show a preference for cocktails and other spirits (55% of all
drinks). This class includes a cocktail he designed himself (the “vesper”), for
which he provided instructions to a barman in Casino Royale (2006). Also included in this
category is his fairly stable level of martini consumption. He was seen to
drink beer on only four occasions. One statistically significant change over
time has been the declining use of alcohol as a weapon by any character,
including Bond. Alcohol as a weapon mainly involved using
bottles in fights, but alcohol was also exploited as a vehicle for drug
delivery, eg, chloral hydrate in spiked drinks in From Russia with Love and The Living Daylights and, on two occasions, for
starting fires, Thunderball and A View to a Kill.
Both the
lead female characters and the random sample of Bond’s sexual partners had a
stable pattern of drinking across the six decades. In contrast to Bond, who has
not smoked while drinking since 2002, some of his sexual partners have
continued to do so, eg, Séverine in Skyfall, 2012.
After
drinking, Bond frequently engaged in a wide range of potentially high risk
activities. These included fights, driving vehicles, including chases,
operating complex machinery, eg, flying a helicopter, contact with dangerous
animals, and sex. The latter is noteworthy, as it sometimes involved enemies, eg,
Fiona Volpe in Thunderball,
Helga Brandt, No. 11 in You Only Live
Twice, or was undertaken with guns or knives in the bed, eg, Jinx
activated a flick knife in bed during a post-coital moment in Die Another Day, 2002. In other movies, Bond was under
the influence when escaping a komodo dragon, evading a tarantula, and playing a
drinking game with a scorpion on his hand. An example of the extreme complexity
of the mix of his post-drinking tasks include a series of contiguous events in Dr. No in 1962: Bond operated nuclear power plant
machinery, destroyed almost single-handedly Dr No’s nuclear/space complex,
killed Dr No, rescued Honey Ryder, and escaped the island. Similarly, on
another post-drinking occasion he successfully killed the “Man with the Golden
Gun”, accomplished the mission goal retrieving a solex unit, and escaped the
island before it was destroyed. On yet another occasion, after drinking at
lunch he chased May Day up the Eiffel Tower, jumped on top of a high speed
lift, drove a stolen taxi recklessly on footpaths and through the streets of
Paris “violating most of the Napoleonic code” in the process, then jumped about
10 meters from a bridge and through the roof of a barge. Performing these types
of activities after drinking has not declined over time, and high stakes gambling
by Bond after drinking has indeed significantly increased.
In
conclusion, there is strong and consistent evidence that James Bond has a
chronic alcohol consumption problem at the “severe” end of the spectrum. He
should seek professional help and try to find other strategies for managing
occupational stress. His workplace (MI6) needs to become a responsible employer
and to refer him to support services, and to change its own workplace drinking
culture.
