In the wake of
disturbing revelations from Wikileaks and NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden
about widespread government spying, the British public appeared to be unruffled
by a controversy that sparked heated debate in the United States. Guardian columnist Jonathan Freedland says
“Americans are outraged to discover they are being spied on and watched. Britons
give a kind of polite shrug of the shoulders and say, ‘So what?’” What accounts
for this disparity of attitudes? Apparently the answer is Bond. James Bond.
To begin with, a recent article at Public Radio International argued, the British
are already much more accustomed than Americans to living under perpetual
government surveillance. Nick Pickles (can that really be his name?) of Big
Brother Watch estimates there are as many as four million surveillance cameras focusing
their unblinking eyes on a country of just over 60 million people.
Freedland points
out an even bigger difference between the two countries: unlike American
populists, British society “still bears the imprint of its monarchical origins,”
which means that power flows from the government to the people, not the other
way around. Britons, he says, are “subjects rather than citizens,” more inclined
to submit to being spied upon than Americans, who tend to strongly resent
government invasion of privacy.
Also unlike
Americans, the British by and large inherently trust their government and its spy
agencies. Why? Curiously, research shows that secret agent icon 007, fictional
though he may be, has deeply influenced that perception.
James Bond
is an unabashed patriot, essentially a civil servant (albeit one with a license
to kill) putting his life on the line on behalf of Queen and Country. He trusts
his government support team implicitly, from gadget master “Q” all the way up
to his superior “M.”
At one point in
the most recent Bond blockbuster movie Skyfall,
for example, Bond is a captive of the creepy Silva, once an agent like Bond but
who has turned on his former masters. “Just look at you,” Silva muses about Bond,
who is recovering from a gunshot wound. “Barely held together by your pills and
your drink –”
“Don’t forget my
pathetic love of country,” Bond finishes for him.
“You’re still
clinging to your faith in that old woman,” says Silva, referring to the
unwavering patriot M, who keeps on her desk a Union Jacked ceramic bulldog,
symbol of British fighting determination. That trust
in government authority has influenced British audiences over the decades since
Ian Fleming introduced Bond in the 1950s.
Now contrast Bond
with his American movie counterpart Jason Bourne, portrayed
by Matt Damon (in The Bourne Legacy,
the latest installment, Jeremy Renner takes over the lead from Damon, but as a
different character). The distinction between Britons’ and Americans’
worldviews quickly becomes apparent.
Bourne reflects the historical and philosophical strains of individualistic
spirit and anti-government distrust typical of Americans, that set us apart
from our former rulers across the Pond. We root for the lone wolf who exposes
government wrongdoing. Senator John
McCain made this connection back in August when he complained,
“There’s a young generation that believe [the NSA’s Edward Snowden is] some kind of Jason Bourne.”
But Americans identify with
Bourne only so far. There’s a central reason that his short-lived franchise is
failing and Bond’s is going stronger than ever after 23 films over 50 years. It’s impossible to imagine Bourne – this man without a
country, with a safety deposit box brimming with fake passports – proclaiming
his patriotism as Bond does in Skyfall.
His only mission, apart from seeking redemption for his past as a brainwashed
killing machine, is to be left alone. By contrast, James Bond is a morally
unconflicted hero who does believe in
the essential rightness of his country and in the existence of evil that must
be defeated – and that is a belief and a purpose that resonate with Britons and
Americans alike.
(This article originally appeared here on Acculturated, 12/10/13)
