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07/25/2007: "We need a "safe" hero who doesn't like violence"

Paul Greengrass, Damon's director on Universal's "Bourne Ultimatum" and its 2004 predecessor, "The Bourne Supremacy," agreed that Bond is a relic from a different era.

"He's an insider. He likes being a secret agent. He worships at the altar of technology. He loves his gadgets. And he embodies this whole set of misogynistic values," Greengrass said. "He likes violence. That's part of the appeal of the character. He has no guilt. He's essentially an imperial adventurer of a particularly English sort.

"Personally, I spit on those values. I think we've moved on a little bit from all that, the martini shaken, not stirred."

[ Those may be values in your culture, Mr. Greengrass, but not in ours. We like our warriors to be free from paradoxical good intentions that result in confusion and greater brutality. Go in, fight the bad, promote the good, and go home. I didn't like Bond's sexual habits either, but those were exaggerated by Hollywood, not the writer (Ian Fleming) who wrote Bond as a cold-blooded killer who believed he was helping people by keeping away sadistic evil. ]

http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/Movies/07/25/people.mattdamon.ap/index.html