Ian Fleming dedicates dozens of pages throughout his books to developing James Bond’s particular, even autistic tastes in everything from the fabrics of his clothing to the blend of his cigarettes. The famous “shaken, not stirred” line is from the first novel, and is given to a barman among a longer list of instructions for exactly how to make the drink, including its spirits, garnish, and glass in which it is to be served.
These kinds of tastes/routines were very normal for Ian Fleming as an upper-class Englishman, just as they would be for any man like him in any part of Europe or America.
One of the many painful (and repulsive) lessons that the West is learning through globalization is that class and taste, like most things, is not communicable.
You see this here with the pile of cash and miscellaneous luxury watches.
But worse is the completely red leather interiors of exotic cars which do not at all match whichever neon color the exterior is painted.
The tacky and oversized “luxury” watches, which they can tell you nothing about but the brand and what they paid.
Building a McMansion-style home inspired by the castle from Magic Kingdom at Disney World. (Look it up, it’s the ugliest thing you’ll ever see.)
There was a photo going around the other day on here of a guy declaring that we should “Make America Dress Well Again!” His suit was ill-fitting and ridiculous, but he made sure to include the brand name in the tweet so that you would know that he was in fact, he was sure, dressed well.
These people come to our countries and think that buying the flashiest, largest, most expensive items assimilates them into our upper-classes. It is literally like a child trying to impersonate what they saw on television. “This is what big America Hollywood does!”
Exceptionalism means that the rest of the world can only iterate, not innovate.