Love is one of the strongest emotions. We do so many great things (and maybe some not so great ones) in the name of love. They inspire great art, literature and experiences. Love inspired many of the great sonnets of the great William Shakespeare, and many believe controversially many were about men…. Ooo Shakespeare you naughty scamp! It is a very powerful emotion and can inspire some of the best qualities of the human experience. The love that eclipses all in my humble opinion is a mothers love for her child. Specifically the love a lioness had for her baby cub.
At the tender age of around 9 or 10 I had recently seen my first James Bond film. I became instantly obsessed. The glamorous locales, the flash cars, the exotic women…… well maybe not the last one however they always had rather fetching footwear! I had my first 007 fix and was keen to have more. With a catalogue of over a dozen films I had my work cut out for me if I was to see them all. One day on a regular shopping trip to the local shopping centre myself and mother were passing an independent entertainment retailer. It sold mostly CD’s with a small selection of VHS (remember those??) Physical media was all the rage back then. With the internet in its infancy streaming was unimaginable. Dialup took at least 5 minutes to connect and you couldn’t block the phoneline either so no calls…. actually do people even have landlines anymore? I digress.
I seen in the window of the shop called ‘Caroline Music’ a VHS of the Man with the Golden Gun. I was ecstatic with excitement. I dragged mummy into the shop to look at the full selection. They had them all!!!! I opened my puppy dog eyes, pouted slightly and mummy just looked at me with those hazel eyes and grinned. She did spoil her children slightly but it always came with a caveat. Like life we wouldn’t get everything we wanted all at once. It was the delayed gratification principle. It also would make us appreciate it a lot more. If I was to be totally cynical it always enabled mummy to milk the appreciation for a longer span of time. She looked down at her baby boy and said to me, “Ok we can buy one today and we will come back and forth and gradually buy all the tapes”. I was elated. I rushed to the little bin that held the VHS tapes and selected the man with the golden gun. I couldn’t wait to get home.
I popped my VHS in the VCR and as the gun barrel sequence played along with the 007 theme I could feel my adrenaline rushing. I sat their for 125 minutes watching Roger Moore take on the villainous Christopher Lee. Once the credits started to roll I ran down to the kitchen as mummy was preparing the evenings dinner and started to yammer endlessly about the film. As always mummy was very patient even though I’m sure I was boring her to tears. “Do you know Christopher Lee mummy, he was the baddy?”, “yes son he was Dracula in the hammer films, he scares me to this day”. I watched that film over and over and probably to this day could recite every single word.
Over the next few weeks and months we would return to Caroline Music and gradually build up my collection until I had every single tape. Every time I got one I am unsure who was happier, myself or my mother? The thing about mummy was she rarely did anything for herself. She got a lot of pleasure in life through her children. She got so much joy in our happiness. Later in life the James Bond tapes would take a different form. She would buy me new clothes in the summer, she would help furnish my apartment, she would buy me washing powder and shampoo. She never asked for anything for herself. The only thing she loved was a nice card on her birthday. Who could deny her that?
I still love 007. Their is something about the thrill of the spy genre that always appealed to me. The charisma and charm of James Bond is undeniable. Be it Connery, Moore, Brosnan or Craig I don’t care. Its more about the character for me than the actor. The films have taken on a new meaning for me. They are a symbol of a mothers love.
A mother wanting to bring happiness to her baby boy.
Because she loved me.
A Grievers Guide to the Galaxy 