31 January 2009

JB

As some of my friends and colleagues have heard this before, I have a working theory, or at least pointing out a big coincidence, regarding the names of fictitious special operatives and spies. Consider the following:
  • James Bond - the legendary double-0 operative from MI-6 created by Ian Fleming.
  • Jason Bourne - the American special-ops agent who suffers a brain washing and must piece together his past in order to learn who he is and who from his own organization has wronged him.
  • Jack Bauer - The American special-ops agent on "24."
Apparently, if you have an idea for a movie or television show about espionage or an elite member risking life and limb for their country, and want the project to be successful, the first rule is to name the character with the initials, J. B.

2 comments:

leah said...

This makes me think of the REM song "It's the End of the World As We Know It," the bit that refers to Leonard Bernstein, Leonid Brezhnev, Lenny Bruce, and Lester Bangs.

Michael Stipe claimed that the "L.B." references came from a dream he had in which he found himself at a party surrounded by famous people who all shared these initials.

It always made me happy that I could have gone to that party.

OI said...

Maybe I should have included Joshua Bell in my list.