Was J.W. Pepper a Democrat? In 1974, yes
The first James Bond movie came out in 1962. Things change. As a result, there are dated references that modern audiences might not understand. Here are a few. What follows is by no means a comprehensive list.
Jamaica as a British colony: When Ian Fleming's Dr. No novel was published, Jamaica was a British colony. That was still the case when the Eon Productions film adaptation began filming in January 1962.
By the time the movie premiered in the U.K. in October 1962, Jamaica was an independent country. Jamaica gained its independence in August 1962.
J.W. Pepper's politics: In The Man With the Golden Gun, J.W. Pepper and his wife are doing sightseeing in Thailand. Mrs. Pepper takes a liking to a wooden statue of an elephant.
J.W. isn't impressed. "We're Democrats, Maybelle."
Today, some Bond fans might be skeptical that J.W. Pepper was a Democrat. But in the 1970s, there were many conservative Democrats in the southeastern United States. Things began to change in the 1980s as conservative Democrats switched to become Republicans. Presumably, an updated version of J.W. Pepper would reflect this.
The energy crisis: In the 1970s, energy was big news. Oil prices spiked and there were gasoline shortages at times.
All of this was incorporated into the film version of The Man With the Golden Gun in 1974. It was an attempt to update the movie to give it a modern feel.
In 1976 (after the movie came out), there were predictions that oil would run out by 1988. Petroleum is still being used in the 21st century but now the concern has shifted to greenhouse gases and climate change.
The McGuffin of The Man With the Golden Gun is the "solex agitator," which will make solar power practical and solve the energy crisis. Bond retrieves it after killing Scaramanga. But it would never be mentioned again in future films. In fact, The World Is Not Enough (1999) had an oil-driven plot.
1980s nuclear politics: In the 1980s, Europe saw protests calling for nuclear disarmament. This was written into 1983's Octopussy. General Orlov of the Soviet Union is plotting with Kamal Khan to smuggle an atomic bomb onto a U.S. military base in Germany.
The villains plan to detonate the bomb. In turn, that will cause demonstrations for disarmament to intensify. Orlov then will send his Soviet forces into Western Europe to take over the place.
The Soviet Union fell in 1991. It should be noted that current Russian leader Vladimir Putin is doing his best to put the Soviet Union back together, including an ongoing war with Ukraine, formerly a part of the Soviet Union.
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