Once upon a time I owned a used furniture store called Big Mouth Office Furniture. How it got that name is another story for another time.
I dealt with lots of start up companies, some of which went on to become famous, others of which died the quick and painful death they rightfully deserved. I also became known for outfitting the offices of Hollywood movie productions who were temporarily in the Bay Area. Many films shot here had me behind the scenes putting producers behinds down where they belong. Usually the person who arranged for the furniture was the Location Scout and one scout in particular, let's call him Uncle Jim, used my store quite a bit.
One day Uncle Jim walked in and handed me a list of equipment he needed for his latest project. Very unusually for him, he told me he was going to rent a truck and pick everything up (we usually delivered the furniture). I had no problem with that, but I told him I'd be happy to deliver.
"Well not everything is going to one place on this shoot. In fact some of it has to be shipped over to Alcatraz.", he said.
"Oh man, not another 'how'd they escape from Alcatraz movie'", I grinned.
"No, no, this time it's going to be guys breaking into Alcatraz to stop some guy from destroying the world. It's called The Rock."
"Sounds like a James Bond movie" I laughed.
"Funny you should say that, it stars Sean Connery" he threw off as he headed down an aisle to look at chairs.
I stopped dead in my tracks. Uncle Jim continued to walk down the aisle.
"I will make you the deal of all time", I yelled down to him.
Uncle Jim turned around. The look on his face was priceless; a combination of intrigue and at the same time exasperation.
I was thinking I would give him everything he needed, for free, if only he could arrange for me to....
"Don't even say it if it involves you meeting Sean Connery. What is it with all you guys and Sean Connery? You're like the third supplier who'll make some great deal just to meet the guy."
What is it? It's simple. He's Bond. He's the coolest guy in the world EVER. Steve McQueen is the second coolest guy in the world and he's so far back you can't even see the dust his motorcycle is kicking up. Besides, he was dead at that point. Connery/Bond was THE hero of my childhood. As Sinatra was to an earlier generation, he was to my generation. I wanted to have his car, I wanted to wear his clothes, and most importantly I wanted to be as suave as him so I could get the ladies.
I grew up in Los Angeles. You couldn't walk ten feet without running into at least a semi-famous person. Meeting "stars" was, is, and always will be, no big deal to me. But this was different. Yeah, I'd be a little awestruck, but that's not really the thing here. This was a chance to say thank you. Thank you for being someone bigger than life. I know it's a movie and he's an actor just playing a part that many others would take on over the years (though until Daniel Craig, none better). But James Bond is more than a movie role.
He's a hero.
Since the dawn of civilization we've needed heroes. You could call him Lancelot or Gilgamesh or Henry V or Moses or anything else so long as his story was told and his story inspired us to be more than just what we are. Once it was epic poems told by nomadic reciters. Once it was five acts in iambic pentameter. Once it was radio waves through the stratosphere. When I was a kid it was flickering images up on the silver screen. How it's told doesn't matter, what matters is that the story is told and that that story inspires us to be more than we think we can be.
The Bond films taught me there was a world outside my narrowly defined experience and that that world was wondrous. They made me want to see that world and years later as I traveled, Istanbul was not totally unknown to me, or the Caribbean or many other places I had already visited, privy to the exploits of 007. And when I walked into the casino in Monte Carlo I looked over to see if at the baccarat table was a tuxedoed gentleman sipping a vodka martini with a beautiful woman whispering in his ear. Physically he wasn't there. Emotionally for me, he was.
So yeah given the opportunity I wanted to meet him. It turns out though that his contract to do the movie was very specific as to who could be on set. And when he was not on set he was to have a standing tee time at Pebble Beach and a private jet to fly him there, end of story. I guess he's been through this whole grown men becoming stammering school boys in front of him enough to be tired of it. That's okay. Looking back I'm glad I didn't meet him in person. Heroes need to stay just a little out of our reach.
No comments:
Post a Comment