The gap between real life and the world of film is narrowing. The James Bond franchise guided viewers through the Cold War with its over-the-top villains, and through the relatively peaceful time thereafter with more lukewarm enemies. Now, when a new soft reboot is in order, it is time to bring back tried and tested baddies: the Russians.
One of the main antagonists of the old James Bond era, both books and films, were agents of SMERSH, a Soviet agency tasked with killing spies. However, with the end of the Cold War, the villains were not countries anymore, but businessmen.
Even during the ongoing animosity between NATO and the Warsaw Pact, depending on the thawing of the conflict, the Soviets were sometimes depicted as opponents with whom James Bond could cooperate or put their adversities aside, yet the Soviets were present as enemies.
The last couple of installments of the original films included a media mogul and an oil tycoon as enemies. At the same time, after the soft reboot, the foes were a shadowy organization, SPECTRE, rather than a country. The low point was Quantum of Solace, where the focus was on the baddies wanting to get the water supply privatized, rather than the fact that a dictator was installed at the top of the country’s power system.
There is a marked difference between the Cold War movies and the films thereafter. In the former, there was always the threat of the Soviets, whether they were the main foes or not, but the newer movies gave viewers enemies from within.
This is not only due to the fall of the Soviet Union, as there were other adversarial countries galore. There is a new-found self-loathing in the West which focuses on the real or imagined faults of the US and Europe, mostly in the past. There is also the fact that producers are courting the new markets, such as China, and as such they are going over the top not to offend the woke crowds of the West, or the dictators of China, which will not allow criticism.
Yet, now, when fans are waiting for a new set of movies with the chance of another soft reboot, a new world order has crystallized which very much resembles the old Cold War, with a few variations. Instead of the Soviet Union, the name is now Russia, and no matter how large a market it might present, China is a country which uses its economic and soft power as well as its dark networks and cyber capabilities to undermine the West.
The truth is the main enemy of the West is not within but without. It is Russia and China and the regimes that want to destroy the Western civilizations which ironically stand for the freedom to criticize. The recent James Bond movies used this opportunity, but it is now time to reflect reality.
James Bond should dare to offend and dare to say the truth: totalitarian regimes are threatening the countries James Bond is supposed to protect.
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