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Who is James Bond?
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James Bond is a classic hero

Audiences admire James Bond for his courage, achievements, and skill. These are the qualities of a classic hero, which is why he is such an iconic character.

Context

James Bond, known as Agent 007, is a fictional spy character created by the British author Ian Fleming. He is a British icon, renowned for his escapades, peerless courage, and success with women. He is known for using the latest cutting edge spy technology and his skill in order to outwit his enemies. James Bond is also a movie franchise worth billions of dollars. James Bond is often named as a classic British hero due to his daring deeds.

The Argument

A hero is usually defined as someone who is admired for their courage and achievements. [1] By defending Britain and fending off villains such as Jaws and Dr. No, James Bond has proven his courageous attributes. James Bond is also clearly admired by many audiences as the evidence below illustrates. The fact that James Bond is a courageous and highly-skilled assassin and spy is indisputable. In every James Bond film, he emerges victorious, having defeated a myriad of opponents to defend Britain and the Crown. Whether it is pursuing criminal mastermind Blofeld through the mountains in On Her Majesty's Secret Service, or preventing a bomb from exploding in Goldfinger, James Bond continually puts himself in danger in order to defend his country. Moreover, it is obvious that many men admire James Bond. Men's magazines constantly publish articles on how to be as cool, suave, and successful as James Bond. [2] He has also been voted the third best movie hero of all time [3] All these accolades illustrate that the character of James Bond is obviously admired for his boldness and skill.

Counter arguments

Some of the reasons that James Bond is admired are dubious in the modern era. His womanising ways and his attitude to women have been highlighted in recent years as being highly problematic. His encounters with lesbian women such as Pussy Galore have been viewed as offensive to the LGBT community. Furthermore, there are serious questions regarding consent in some of his sexual encounters. All these factors mean that often he is wrongly idealized as the ideal smooth-talking man. He is therefore a much more problematic hero than he first appears.

Proponents

Premises

[P1] A hero is defined as someone who is admired and has the key qualities of bravery and courage. [P2] James Bond is clearly courageous shown by his defence of his Country. [P3] James Bond is also clearly admired by many audiences. [P4] Therefore James Bond is a true hero.

Rejecting the premises

References

  1. https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/hero
  2. https://www.thegentlemansjournal.com/being-as-cool-as-james-bond/
  3. https://web.archive.org/web/20110807135547/http://connect.afi.com/site/DocServer/handv100.pdf?docID=246
This page was last edited on Friday, 10 Jul 2020 at 15:39 UTC

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