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The theories of Bond films! How did Kananga run a country and a crime syndicate?

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  • CommanderRossCommanderRoss The bottom of a pitch lake in Eastern Trinidad, place called La Brea
    Posts: 8,809
    Kananga grew up on a farm on the island. He soon found growing poppies was bringing in the proper money. However, when he came to the states on a vacation, he saw the difference in price. Angered about how little he got compared to the end product, he vowed to get the whole distribution in his own hands. So, first, he ran for president, which didn't cost him too much monay. Now the export part was sealed, he just made his own customs look away.
    Taking on existing criminals would bring in liabilities. And as president of an Island, however small, his face was known. So, he created 'Mr Big', and with the help of his government's money, started selling drugs in the US. Thanks to holding the whole chain of production to export, it was quite easy to grow 'big', as he was selling under the market price. Seeing how this worked, he expanded his fields, buying more land on the island. With such cashflow it was easy to get everyone to walk in line.
    It is then he decided he could even better his current plan: and you've all seen that in the film.
  • QBranchQBranch Always have an escape plan. Mine is watching James Bond films.
    Posts: 15,223
    Black muscle.
  • AnotherZorinStoogeAnotherZorinStooge Bramhall (Irish)
    Posts: 757
    In real life, Mr Big and Kananga backed Trump
  • echoecho 007 in New York
    Posts: 6,840
    j_w_pepper wrote: »
    There is a number of authoritarians/dictators worldwide, including some "democratically" elected, who easily manage to run their government alongside, or in fact identical with, a crime syndicate. I'd rather not mention names to keep the peace here, but there is nothing remotely unreal about what Kananga does.

    You beat me to it.
  • DwayneDwayne New York City
    Posts: 3,009
    echo wrote: »
    j_w_pepper wrote: »
    There is a number of authoritarians/dictators worldwide, including some "democratically" elected, who easily manage to run their government alongside, or in fact identical with, a crime syndicate. I'd rather not mention names to keep the peace here, but there is nothing remotely unreal about what Kananga does.

    You beat me to it.

    Same here (I was too shy to post the obvious).
  • thedovethedove hiding in the Greek underworld
    Posts: 5,923
    Yeah I am not saying it is unreal, was curious how one would do it. Which one came first. Love how one of the theories is that he became PM first and then went to focus on crime. I do wonder who in his inner sanctum would be charged with keeping an eye on New York.

    Although not touched on in the movie do we suspect San Monique had a large gap between wealth and poverty. Seems like an opulent hotel that Bond stays in. Later during the bus chase it looks like people are living with modest means. Now that I think of it, is LALD saying more than we may realize?
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 24,730
    Dwayne wrote: »
    echo wrote: »
    j_w_pepper wrote: »
    There is a number of authoritarians/dictators worldwide, including some "democratically" elected, who easily manage to run their government alongside, or in fact identical with, a crime syndicate. I'd rather not mention names to keep the peace here, but there is nothing remotely unreal about what Kananga does.

    You beat me to it.

    Same here (I was too shy to post the obvious).

    I'm glad the common sense answer was dropped right away. Thanks, gents. ;-)
  • CommanderRossCommanderRoss The bottom of a pitch lake in Eastern Trinidad, place called La Brea
    Posts: 8,809
    thedove wrote: »
    Yeah I am not saying it is unreal, was curious how one would do it. Which one came first. Love how one of the theories is that he became PM first and then went to focus on crime. I do wonder who in his inner sanctum would be charged with keeping an eye on New York.

    Although not touched on in the movie do we suspect San Monique had a large gap between wealth and poverty. Seems like an opulent hotel that Bond stays in. Later during the bus chase it looks like people are living with modest means. Now that I think of it, is LALD saying more than we may realize?

    The original inhabitants are living off of a monthly allowance, as long as they keep Kananga in place. However, they need people to take care of their houses, gardens, etc. So the work is done by immigrants, mainly from India, who have no voting rights, and live in shacks.

    Any comparison to Quatar is strictly by accident.
  • LudovicoLudovico
    Posts: 15,833
    thedove wrote: »
    Yeah I am not saying it is unreal, was curious how one would do it. Which one came first. Love how one of the theories is that he became PM first and then went to focus on crime. I do wonder who in his inner sanctum would be charged with keeping an eye on New York.

    Although not touched on in the movie do we suspect San Monique had a large gap between wealth and poverty. Seems like an opulent hotel that Bond stays in. Later during the bus chase it looks like people are living with modest means. Now that I think of it, is LALD saying more than we may realize?

    Again: San Monique is a thinly disguised Haiti. Maybe the poorest country in America, yet apparently few people show obscene wealth.
  • mtmmtm United Kingdom
    edited July 4 Posts: 18,454
    It's kind of funny that it's sort of the only time Bond has veered into the world of getting involved in, technically, regime change of a foreign nation, although maybe QoS too to some extent. There's a version of LALD which is possible to write which is quite a serious spy story!
    Except of course, he pretty much decides to kill the leader of a foreign nation without consulting his superiors- I mean, does a licence to kill really extend that far?
  • Reflsin2bourbonsReflsin2bourbons
    Posts: 438
    mtm wrote: »
    Except of course, he pretty much decides to kill the leader of a foreign nation without consulting his superiors- I mean, does a licence to kill really extend that far?

    Yes that's true, I never really thought about that! My reflex was to say that Kananga wasn't head of San Monique; after all, no other world leaders were at the UN summit. But it is pretty clearly stated that Kananga is the leader of San Monique.

    As for the title question, Kananga would have to do very little actual country running. He could very easily leave power in the hands of bureaucrats or the politburo of his country and be free to run NY nightclubs and get involved in the whole entertainment business.

    San Monique, as an out of the way tourist destination, could probably make money on its own from rich travellers or fishing companies and the like, and with a small population (and some form of foreign support) could probably run itself.
  • LudovicoLudovico
    Posts: 15,833
    mtm wrote: »
    It's kind of funny that it's sort of the only time Bond has veered into the world of getting involved in, technically, regime change of a foreign nation, although maybe QoS too to some extent. There's a version of LALD which is possible to write which is quite a serious spy story!
    Except of course, he pretty much decides to kill the leader of a foreign nation without consulting his superiors- I mean, does a licence to kill really extend that far?

    I don't think it does, even for a dictator. And that's assuming Kananga is a dictator, officially or not. It's certainly never stated. So Bond killed a criminal and a drug lord, yes, but also a legitimate head of government of a sovereign state. Maybe he omitted it in his report. "I completed the mission by killing in self defence the criminal known as Mr Big."

    On a side note, there's a nice Jekyll and Hyde aspect to Kananga/Mr Big that was never used again for any other villain.
  • mtmmtm United Kingdom
    edited July 4 Posts: 18,454
    Ludovico wrote: »
    mtm wrote: »
    It's kind of funny that it's sort of the only time Bond has veered into the world of getting involved in, technically, regime change of a foreign nation, although maybe QoS too to some extent. There's a version of LALD which is possible to write which is quite a serious spy story!
    Except of course, he pretty much decides to kill the leader of a foreign nation without consulting his superiors- I mean, does a licence to kill really extend that far?

    I don't think it does, even for a dictator. And that's assuming Kananga is a dictator, officially or not. It's certainly never stated. So Bond killed a criminal and a drug lord, yes, but also a legitimate head of government of a sovereign state. Maybe he omitted it in his report. "I completed the mission by killing in self defence the criminal known as Mr Big."

    Yeah I'd never really thought about it before, but it's quite dodgy really isn't it? Killing the head of state of a fellow member of the UN, apparently without oversight, and in tandem with an agent of the CIA involved, also with no apparent supervision. Feels like Bond has gone quite far there. And I don't think there's any suggestion that he's even treating the inhabitants of San Monique particularly badly, is there?
    Obviously we know Kananga was a bad guy, but M and his superiors have an awful lot of explaining to do!
    Ludovico wrote: »
    On a side note, there's a nice Jekyll and Hyde aspect to Kananga/Mr Big that was never used again for any other villain.

    Yeah it is a fun idea, although I must admit I'm not sure it ever quite pays off enough somehow. It's not a massive surprise, maybe because Big and Kananga do seem to suspiciously hang out with exactly the same people.
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