Ghost of a flea: An imperial adventurer of a particularly English sort

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July 27, 2007

An imperial adventurer of a particularly English sort

Let me first say I loved the Jason Bourne movies and look forward to the next one, if slightly less than I had. I particularly enjoyed the first one, whatever it was called, and especially the love interest who was later to play the daughter of an Armenian gangster on The Shield. Now that's some fine television. But my enthusiasm for the Bourne films is not unalloyed upon learning Matt Damon believes Jason Bourne is quite different from James Bond. You don't say.

Bond is "an imperialist and he's a misogynist. He kills people and laughs and sips martinis and wisecracks about it," Damon, 36, told The Associated Press in an interview.

"Bourne is this paranoid guy. He's on the run. He's not the government. The government is after him. He's a serial monogamist who's in love with his dead girlfriend and can't stop thinking about her," Damon said. "He's the opposite of James Bond."

I tend to agree. Yet Damon fails to grasp the consequences of his own observation. Babbling Brooks sums up the distinction neatly.

... let's simply look at the morality of the two characters: one uses his unique talents to benefit his country, and the other uses them to help himself. The distinction is important: Bond is to Bourne what the taxman is to the thief, what the policeman is to the vigilante, what the soldier is to the insurgent. Of course, if you don't subscribe to the idea that governments should have a monopoly on violence, that point won't sway you.

Quite right. But then Damon "spits on" Bond's values (and this the man billed to play James T. Kirk; the mind, it boggles). Damon goes on to describe Bond as "an imperial adventurer of a particularly English sort." I have had some opportunity to think along these lines recently as I learn from some of my Buddhist colleagues at work. They appear to have a genuine equanimity and the ability to face troubling situations with outward and - to all appearances - inward calm. This by contrast with my Protestant disposition, rarely arriving at breakfast before contemplating violence upon the person or persons of Toronto's great unwashed (and I mean unwashed) commuting public. Which is not only why Buddhists have a reputation for serenity but also why we are speaking English.

Related happy thoughts: Menwith Hill is to be incorporated into the missile defense system. Better yet, the Type-45 guided missile destroyer Daring is undergoing sea trials. Best of all is this animation of the forthcoming Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers. It remains to be seen if we have the spleen to use the kit. It sure looks pretty.

Enemy of Humanity Update: Do not get me started on the Geneva Conventions and the most basic principle of all human social relations, viz reciprocity: We abandon it at the risk of extinction. Let us instead celebrate the life of an "imperial adventurer". Captain 'Pug' Mather was a hero in the truest sense of the word; he lived, a free man.

Captain 'Pug' Mather, who has died aged 79, underwent brutal mistreatment over nine months as a prisoner during the Korean War, when he refused to renounce his allegiance to the Crown.

On January 5 1953 Mather was a member of 801 Naval Air Squadron, flying from the carrier Glory, when his Hawker Sea Fury was struck by flak and blew up. His wingman watched the aircraft go into a vertical spin without engine or tail, and saw Mather thrown from the cockpit, apparently lifeless.

But Mather recovered consciousness in freefall to pull his parachute ring and float downwards while the Koreans continued to shoot at him. He was so incensed that he fired back with his pistol.

Posted by Ghost of a flea at July 27, 2007 06:57 AM

Comments

All agreed with flea.

I did by chance try to read the first Bourne book after fully enjoying the first movie (though not contemplating the Damon observations that now sit like a piece of just discovered mouldy bread in my mouth)and found it to be poorly written drivel similar to a Mack Bolan "novel".

Sidenote: My wife is new reading my early to mid 60s edition copies of the original Bond books and is very impressed with the style of the prose.

Sidesidenote: Nice ship (The carrier) though at times the animation seems off scale. I swear the fellow said "ready by 2040" but I assume he meant 2014.

Posted by: Gorthos at July 27, 2007 08:43 AM

Egad I read Damon's interview again.. he is officially in my books, an a$$hat.

Posted by: Gorthos at July 27, 2007 08:47 AM

By 2040 I expect them to be named Al-Sharmoota or some such.

Posted by: Ghost of a flea at July 27, 2007 08:51 AM

And permanently docked in the independent Islamic state port city of Liverpool

Posted by: Gorthos at July 27, 2007 09:36 AM

I'd bet hard cash that Damon would not be able to give one example of Bond's "imperialism", unless you count a Union Jack parachute as "imperialistic".

"Imperialist" is the new "Fascist".

Posted by: dorkafork at July 27, 2007 10:03 PM

(*Overly broad generalization alert*) People like Damon constantly, and I mean constantly venerate anti-government types and spit on those who actually work for the government, and then get offended when people question their patriotism. Feh.

Posted by: dorkafork at July 27, 2007 10:16 PM

He says imperialist like that's a bad thing...

Posted by: Ben (The Tiger in Exile) at July 28, 2007 08:47 AM

That is it exactly. I had intended to write an apologia for imperialism but got sidetracked by events plus 1.5 hours sleep heading in to work Friday morning. I expect the issue will come up again.

Posted by: Ghost of a flea at July 28, 2007 08:53 AM

:) I can't wait to see the new Bourne tomorrow...i hate bond :P

Posted by: ibrahim123 at August 7, 2007 05:32 PM

Ghost of a flea

July 27, 2007

An imperial adventurer of a particularly English sort

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