James Bond and Ulysses: The Old Men
Two of my favorite works of art both express views of aging along the lines of the Dylan Thomas poem “do not go gentle into that good night” within the context of compelling dramas.
Age is my superpower, both Daniel Craig as James Bond and the seafaring warrior Ulysses might say.
Skyfall is by far my favorite James Bond movie (the previous favorite was Goldfinger with Sean Connery) with Daniel Craig giving the series a darker turn. Self-medicating, feeling abandoned by the Secret Service he dedicated his life to, his body failing, Bond yet embraces the “brave new world” he is consigned to. “Old dog, new tricks,” Miss Moneypenny says about him. And though he maintains his beloved luxury watch (Omega, not Rolex, this time around), his updated Walter PPK and his Aston Martin DB5, he is perfectly willing to destroy his childhood home. He meets his new youthful quartermaster with bemusement as well as many of the other features of contemporary life. “Latest thing from Q Branch,” he tells a villain, speaking of the tiny radio that is his lifeline to the outside world. And his old PPK is now “less of a random killing machine, more of a personal statement,” due to its technology upgrade from the young upstart Q.
The dramatic monolog Ulysses by Alfred, Lord Tennyson is much more directly a meditation on discontent with age and a desire to persevere. “Old age hath yet his honour and his toil; Death closes all; but something ere the end, Some work of noble note, may yet be done.” In a line often quoted by the doomed Robert F. Kennedy, Ulysses urges his team, “Come, my friends, ‘Tis not too late to seek a newer world.”
The two heroes (anti-heroes?) Bond and Ulysses both share fame and many other qualities. “I am become a name, “says Ulysses, noting he is honored wherever he goes. Bond is equally legendary, though largely within the confines of MI6 and its opponents. Ulysses notes he has enjoyed his travels and adventures whether the experiences are difficult or enjoyable, and whether he is alone or with his band of brothers. Both men persevere despite physical decline and emotional turmoil. Our bodies are weaker and ailing, but our inner selves are unchanged, Ulysses tells his men before setting sail on their last adventure. Of course, the famous last lines of the poem express this perfectly and might be motto for seniors and octogenarians everywhere:
Tho’ much is taken, much abides; and tho’
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.
Tellingly, it is these lines the beleaguered M recites to a committee of inquiry, noting her late husband’s fondness for the poem, and though she herself is under pressure to resign and is told to retire by the man who will become her successor, she refuses to surrender. In her will she leaves to Bond the cracked statue of an English bulldog that sat on desk.
“Maybe she’s telling you to take a desk job,” Miss Moneypenny says.
Bond replies: “Just the opposite.”