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October 5, 1962 is a special date in British pop culture. On this day, Love Me Do, the first single by “The Beatles”, the British band that would change the face of music, and also “Dr. No”, the first film in the James Bond film series, appeared in the world. In the sixty years that have passed since then, the influence and success of the two super brands The goddess has not diminished: in 2020 Apple Corps, the company that manages the Beatles’ business, owned by Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and the heirs of George Harrison and John Lennon, earned 60 million dollars a year. “No Time to Die”, the last film of C James Bond, grossed more than 700 million dollars in 2021.
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In his book Love and Let Die, the British journalist and author John Higgs not only analyzes the secret of the success of the Beatles and James Bond and places them in broad cultural, social, economic and political contexts, he also emphasizes the contrast between them. According to him, these are complementary opposites. They represent Eros and Tantus, passion and death, the two main engines behind human psychology according to Freud: The Beatles and their songs with their optimistic and emotional messages, such as All You Need is Love, Love me do, Here Comes the Sun, in front of James Bond, The calculated and cynical British intelligence agent, the one who has a license to coldly kill his enemies, in the service of Her Majesty of course.
According to Higgs, the main question that preoccupied post-imperialist and post-World War II Britain was whether it should stick to tradition and the past or march towards progress and innovation. Categorically, you can say that the Beatles symbolized the new world and James Bond the old world. But things are more complex. James Bond, for example, happily embraced technological progress – in all his films he often used sophisticated gadgets, while his social views were conservative; And as evidenced by his attitude towards women, sex, immigrants and the homeland – Bond was a patriot to the core. The Beatles, on the other hand, promoted a new and brazen way of thinking when it came to sex, drugs and religion, and were symbols of the social revolution in the sixties. If they returned to the past, it was for the needs of smiling nostalgia, Like for example the outdated uniform they wore in the famous photo that appears on the album “Sergeant Pepper”, which can be found mainly in flea markets.
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With the help of many fascinating biographical details, John Higgs compares these two cultural phenomena. For example the family background. Ian Fleming is a member of a wealthy banking family, who wrote the James Bond series while vacationing at Golden Eye, his luxurious summer home in Jamaica. John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison Ringo Starr, are members of the poor working class from Liverpool, who wrote their first songs on the street. Both Ian Fleming and John Lennon were steeped in bitterness, which often found its way into their works, and according to Higgs, it is related to the lack of parents they both suffered from. In fact, he states, the character traits of the Fantastic Four – Paul’s ambition and professionalism, John’s courage, brashness and honesty, George’s devotion to purpose and Ringo’s ability to enjoy life – are the sum total of James Bond’s character traits.
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In the movie “Goldfinger” from 1964, James Bond, played by Sean Connery, explains to a character named Posy Galore (played by Honor Blackman) why he brings a new bottle of champagne from the fridge: “There are things you just don’t do, for example drinking ‘Dom Perignon 53′ At a temperature above 4 degrees. It’s like listening to the Beatles without earplugs.” This sentence summarizes the central thesis in John Higgs’ book – where Britain is headed, past or present, and in addition it also echoes the contemptuous attitude of the conservative establishment towards the Beatles at that time. But very quickly the establishment realized that it is better to embrace both sides, both the one that heralds change (the Beatles) and the one that seeks to maintain the existing order (James Bond). And for reference: Queen Elizabeth awarded the insignia of the Order of the British Empire to both the Beatles and Sean Connery.
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Even today, James Bond is immensely popular: in 2021, he was voted the most beloved film character in Britain, more than the superheroes, Harry Potter and Sherlock Holmes. But Generation Z is already showing impatience towards him. It was recently announced that Ian Fleming’s James Bond books will be rewritten and have problematic references to women and foreigners removed from them. This is a direct continuation of the ending of the last film in the series “No Time to Die”. James Bond, the toxic man, acts in complete contrast to his conduct in the previous 24 films: he does not “use” women and throw them away as before, but chooses love, the ultimate Beatles message, while making a sacrifice that brings him his death. According to the end credits of the movie James Bond will return. This time in a more “Beatles” version that will adapt itself to the new generation.