In this article I’m going to explore whether Bond James Bond is Emotionally intelligent. But first off, lets find out what Is Emotional Intelligence.
So what is Emotional Intelligence, according to Harvard Business School.
Emotional intelligence is the ability to understand and manage your emotions, as well as recognize and influence the emotions of those around you.
So Emotional Intelligence is a thing? Well not according to psychologist, author, and media commentator Jordan Peterson.
Peterson says: Its a term a journalist invented, doesn’t mean its a thing. What does it mean? I can infer what you’re feeling, isn’t that IQ? Maybe I can infer exactly what your feeling and I just don’t give a damn, is that emotional intelligence?
Well lets just play devils advocate here, and pretend for a moment that emotional intelligence does exist, I mean I’ve already done the YouTube video so may as well see this through.
Lets first have a look at the criteria of what makes someone Emotionally Intelligent, and we have 9 categories, bloody hell, thought it be less than that. Alright lets do one at a time,
1. Being Able To Accept Criticism And Responsibility
I’m going to vacillate now between cinematic Bond and literary bond, good word that, vacillate. I can think of one situation where literary Bond ruminates on getting caught by Le Chiffre, in the novel Casino Royale Bond. ‘Had M underestimated their resourcefulness? Bond stifled the desire to put the blame on London, it was he that should have known, he that should have been warned by small signs and taken infinitely more precautions, instead of getting wankered night after night on verve clique knowing the taxpayer would foot the bill ‘ last bit I’m paraphrasing.
And can he accept criticism?
I refer you to the scene in GoldenEye where Bond meets M for the first time in both Brosnan’s and Judi Dench’s inaugural portrayal of the characters.
M: I think you’re a misogynistic dinosaur. […]
BOND:Point taken.
2. Being able to move on after making a mistake
Does Bond make many mistakes?
Bond does admit to Vesper as much when he loses out to Le Chiffre in Casino Royale and requires a buy in.
BOND: Look I made a mistake.
Not only was he able to move on from the mistake, he went onto beat Le Chiffre, taking him to the cleaners. Bond also learns that allowing himself to be vulnerable and committing his all to someone, can compromise the quality of his decision making and cloud his judgment. As he finds out later when it was Vesper who betrayed him.
M: You don’t trust anyone do you James? […]
BOND: […] The bitch is dead.
Being able to Say no when you need to:
Look no one says no like Bond. Bond repeatedly tells Onatopp in GoldenEye, “No no no. No more foreplay.”
Bond can show restraint, most of the time. Like he does in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service when he tells Tracy to get dressed after she threatens him at gunpoint.
Tracy: Suppose I was to kill you for a thrill?
And almost certainly when there’s an age gap of 30 plus years, like there was between Moore and Lynn-Holly Johnson in For Your Eyes Only.
Although to pushback on my own evidence. I don’t recall Sean ever saying no in a Bond film. Even when most of his co-stars did. Molly Peters, Thunderball. Honor Blackman, Goldfinger.
But overall, Bond shows he is Emotionally Intelligent and is capable of restraint and can say no when needed.
Being able to share your feelings with others
Well again I’ll go back to the book and film Casino Royale, Bond falls for Vesper and tells her so. In the book he says he was willing to marry her had she not gotten all weird and paranoid. In the film he tells her she’s stripped him of his armour and that she’s going to have to be the breadwinner. Pierce’s Bond is also closed off emotionally, GoldenEye, he points out to Natalya being a cold hearted bastard is part of the territory.
It’s part of the job for Bond to be emotionally closed, as M well knows. She tells Bond in Casino Royale:
M: I would ask if you could remain emotionally detached. But that’s not your problem is it Bond?
In Bond’s case if being able to share your feelings with others makes you emotionally intelligent, then its a bit like having a licence to kill, it’s also a licence not to kill, and he shows his emotional intelligence by not sharing his emotions.
Being able to solve problems in a way that works for everyone
The best line in the entire series is when Bond tells Sanchez:
Sanchez: Problem solver.
BOND: More like a problem eliminator.
I think this is Bonds greatest attribute. And I think he knows it. As he tells Molly Peters who enquires about his line of work:
BOND: More like a licenced trouble shooter:
My favourite Bond problem solving comes in the first 100 pages of Moonraker when M enlists Bond to find out how Drax is cheating at cards and bringing The Blades Club in disrepute.
My worst Bond problem solving moment is when he suddenly starts going over his ski’s in Skyfall. When they’re trying to unlock Silva’s code he’s somehow able to decipher millions of jumbled up letters and figure out the key. Come on guys, he’s good but he’s not f**king Rain Man.
Have empathy for other people
What is Empathy? Lets be clear. According to the inter dot net. Empathy is:
The ability to understand and share the feelings of another.
I think Bond is capable of empathy, he recognizes the motives in others. Even if the audience doesn’t. In No Time To Die he picks away at Safin and says, ‘I think we are the same. We both know what it’s like to have something taken from us.’
Other times he sees himself in other people, in Roger’s case quite literally. He tells Octopussy, ‘you’re right, we are two of a kind.’
Sometimes Bond doesn’t need words, he can be empathic just by tossing his hat like he does to console Moneypenny at the end of Majesty’s. That is the epitome of being Emotionally Intelligent.
But whenever Bond uses empathy he usually does so to serve himself. He uses other peoples feelings to his own advantage like in Moonraker when he plays a subliminal trick on Jaws that people whom don’t marry up to the image of perfection in Draxs’ new world, will be discarded. So can empathy be true empathy if it’s got an agenda? Unsure on this one.
Have great listening skills
Bond listens when he has to. Even if he pretends that he doesn’t. As he jokes with Q in GoldenEye about the explosive pe,
BOND: [Clicks the pen several times] How long did you say the fuse was again?
He knows that one of the key ingredient to great espionage is to listen to what others have to say. As any piece of information could be crucial. Especially when Bond records Tania’s intel into a camera recording device in From Russia With Love.
But overall I don’t think he has the best listening skills. He doesn’t even like listening to The Beatles.
And he certainly doesn’t want to listen to people that love the sound of their own voice. As he tells Blofeld in Spectre, ‘Well get on with it then, nothing can be worse than hearing you talk.’
And when he listens he sometimes gives it the ‘I can’t be arsed to listen to this crap-look’. When Solitaire is telling him about the laws of telepathy and the High Priestess he looks sardonically confused.
So I’d argue that Bond could work on his listening skills, in order to boost his emotional intelligence.
Knowing why you do the things you do
Bond is very aware of why he does the things he does. Especially when it comes to killing. In The Man with the Golden Gun, James Bond says, “When I kill, it’s on the specific orders of my government, and those I kill are themselves killers,” a statement contrasting with Francisco Scaramanga’s view that Bond also enjoys killing.
In Casino Royale he affirms this by telling Vesper:
BOND: I wouldn’t be very good at my job if it did.
Referring to killing the African warlords in the stairwell.
And in Skyfall, he reminds Silva why is he doing it.
BOND: Don’t forget my pathetic love of country.
Not being judgmental of others
Bond has to be judgmental, he needs to profile and judge and analyse. It keeps him alive.
In the novel Casino Royale for example, Bond profiles two gentlemen that look out of place simply because they are wearing suits too hot for summer season. Consequently these two men attempt to assassinate Bond by throwing a bomb at him.
He likes to judge and undress villains with his words. He calls Blofeld in Spectre, ‘nothing more than a voyeur’. In Dr No he compares the titular villain with his own aquarium by saying,
BOND: Minnows pretending to be whales, a bit like you on this island Dr No.
When Bond casts aspersions on his counterparts, he does so wind them up and unsettle them My favourite example of this is how Bond characterises Scaramanga in The Man with the Golden Gun;
BOND: There is a four letter word and you’re full of it.
Summary
So after all this, have we got enough evidence is Bond Emotionally Intelligent? I would suggest that over the 25 films and novels, we have enough data to surmise that he does.
