Live and Let Die: James Bond's Smoking Habits Over the Years

Within the sixth movie of the Bond sequence, agent 007 and the Japanese secret service ninja pressure work collectively to seek out the true perpetrator of a number of spacejackings, certainly one of which concerned an American house capsule that will get swallowed up by what's considered a Russian spaceship, almost triggering a nuclear World Warfare three. Bond finds the true evildoer and saves the day.

Credit score: © Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc.

On the subject of vices, James Bond could also be recognized for martinis, however a brand new examine finds that he is been fairly the smoker as effectively. And though 007 kicked the behavior in 2002, he nonetheless faces the scourge of secondhand smoke, the analysis discovered.

Within the examine, the researchers reviewed Bond's smoking habits, in addition to these of his mates, lovers and enemies, over the course of all 24 Bond movies.

Within the 1960s, Bond's smoking was at its peak; he lit up in 83 p.c of the movies in that decade, in response to the examine, revealed Jan. 16 within the journal Tobacco Management. And when he was smoking usually within the motion pictures, the primary cigarette was lit, on common, throughout the first 20 minutes of the movie. [The 5 Reasons We Still Love James Bond]

After the '60s, nonetheless, Bond's smoking declined — as did the American public's, CDC statistics present —and ended with the 2002 movie "Die One other Day," when the spy stubbed out his final cigarette, the researchers discovered.

Regardless of the downward tendencies in smoking within the Bond motion pictures, the smoking imagery "stays problematic from a public well being perspective, particularly given the recognition of this film sequence," the researchers, led by Dr. Nick Wilson, a professor of public well being on the College of Otago in New Zealand, wrote. For instance, the newest Bond film, 2015's ""Spectre," featured a number of minor characters smoking cigarettes, and created an estimated 261 million "tobacco impressions" for Individuals ages 10 to 29, the researchers wrote. "Tobacco impressions" consult with the variety of smoking incidents within the film, multiplied by the variety of in-theater views, the researchers stated.

Just one Bond film — 2006's "On line casino Royale" — incorporates no people who smoke, in response to the examine.

Furthermore, a lot of Bond's sexual companions smoked, typically whereas subsequent to him in mattress, which might have uncovered Bond to excessive ranges of secondhand smoke, the researchers stated. Within the 1960s, '70s and '80s, in addition to within the 2010s, round 20 p.c of Bond's sexual companions smoked, in response to the examine. And in a single incident, in 1971's "Diamonds Are Perpetually," love curiosity Tiffany Case used an ashtray positioned on Bond's naked chest. After all, given the sometimes transient nature of Bond's relationships, the overall quantity of secondhand smoke he was uncovered to would have remained low, the researchers added. And within the Bond motion pictures launched within the 1990s and 2000s, none of 007's companions smoked, the researchers famous.

As well as, the researchers discovered that, within the 1970s, using smoking-related spy devices — reminiscent of a "rocket in a cigarette" — peaked, with these units showing in 80 p.c of the films.

Although smoking was featured prominently within the Bond motion pictures of the '60s and '70s, references to the hazards of smoking additionally appeared within the movies from these a long time, in response to the examine.

The primary point out got here in 1967's "You Solely Reside Twice," when Mr. Osato finds Bond's cigarettes and tells him, "You must hand over smoking. Cigarettes are very dangerous on your chest." Later in the identical film, one other villain, Blofeld, tells him, "It will not be the nicotine that kills you, Mr. Bond." And by 1997's "Tomorrow By no means Dies," Bond describes smoking as a "filthy behavior," the researchers stated.

Bond's smoking appears to be "at odds together with his want for bodily health as a part of his job, his excessive stage of training and his huge information on many matters," the researchers wrote. "However it does match with a potential notion of a low life expectancy given a cumulative complete of 1000's of bullets being fired at him" and the growing ranges of extreme violence within the movies, they wrote. Plus, 15 p.c of Bond's sexual companions have tried to disable, seize or kill him, they added.

This isn't the primary examine to discover Bond's dangerous habits; earlier research have regarded into the spy's ingesting and violent conduct, the researchers famous.

Initially revealed on Reside Science.

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