I knew the day would come. After all, no one lives forever.
Not even James Bond.
Of course, Sean Connery was more than Bond, and was good in almost everything he did… Even Zardoz. But when the news of Connery’s passing broke this morning the stories didn’t feature images of Connery from The Hunt for Red October, or The Man Who Would be King. No, it was Connery as Bond. Connery leaning against the DB5 in Goldfinger. Connery staring at the camera with hand gun held at his cheek.
Connery as 007.
Connery as Legend.
When I was a boy, I didn’t have much of a father-figure in my life. Oh, I had a father, but he was remote and drunk and barely engaged with the act of parenting. Which was almost worse than if he had left our family. So I had no male role-model to learn from. The heroes of pop culture had to do. Captain Kirk, Sherlock Holmes, The Prisoner… And yes, of course, 007.
There are no words to express what I and countless others are feeling right now. A cynic may say he was “just an actor” and that he was a “misogynist dinosaur” who “treated women badly”… He may have been exactly that. But he was so much more than that as well. To a great many of us.
As long as we exist as a species, and as long as we consume entertainment, Sean Connery will still live through his work. He will entertain legions of people yet to be born. No matter how many more actors take on the mantle of agent 007, there will never be one who personified the part so well. So perfectly.
Sean Connery IS James Bond.
And James Bond is forever.
Goodbye, Sean.