Elliot Carver

Elliot Carver is a fictional character and the main antagonist in the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies. In the film, he is portrayed by Welsh actor Jonathan Pryce. Screenwriter Bruce Feirstein modelled the character on Robert Maxwell, but many viewers analysed Carver as a satirical take on George Soros.Carver's character also had basis in American newspaper magnate and leading newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst, whom Carver quotes towards the climax. Throughout the film, a number of subtle, if inadvertent homages to the classic George Orwell dystopian novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four occur from numerous, huge images of Carver's face staring out at the viewer (akin to Big Brother), to intentional manipulation/fabrication of news and endless cameras and video screens. The choice of a media mogul as the Bond arch-villain serves as a warning of the power of the media and its ability to manipulate, coerce, misinform, incense and even terrorise populations. This was demonstrated during Carver's ominous first scene as he writes the headline for the next issue of his global newspaper, 'Tomorrow'. At first, Carver types, "BRITISH SAILORS KILLED," only to alter it a few seconds later to read, "BRITISH SAILORS MURDERED." This slight change made the headline more incendiary, suggesting a deliberate, vicious act.

Biography

Elliot Carver was born in Hong Kong. Officially an orphan, he is the illegitimate son of a German woman who died in childbirth and Lord Roverman, a press tycoon. A Chinese family takes the boy for a one-time fee of 50 pounds. Thirty years later, Carver confronts and blackmails Roverman into suicide and takes over his media empire. This expanded background is found in the official novelisation of Tomorrow Never Dies, and it is also shown in a deleted extended scene in the Tomorrow Never Dies Ultimate collectors edition DVD.

In the novelisation, Elliot Carver went to college in Hong Kong and received a degree in the communication arts. He was hired as a meteorologist at a Hong Kong Television Station, a few years later, he became the anchorman of the station. He was not too nice to the women at the station, Carver would harass women sexually, he made one of women leave the station and Hong Kong completely due to his advances. This was before the term sexual harassment was being used.

Carver is a billionaire international media mogul of the German-based mass media company, the Carver Media Group. He frequently uses his influence to gain an advantage for his firm or wreak havoc on opponents. Moreover, CMG doesn't merely report the news – it CREATES it; CMGN is the first to report on scandals and disasters because it CAUSES them to happen. A scene of Carver's daily teleconference with the various heads of his divisions demonstrates this: News of the Day – "floods in Pakistan, riots in Paris and a plane crash in California"; Software – all current releases of software are loaded with bugs that will force consumers to upgrade for years, etc. To boost his viewership, he instructs his head of television to call the President of the United States and threaten to release scandalous photos of him with a cheerleader in a Chicago hotel room if he doesn't sign a bill lowering cable rates. This shows that the CMGN are a very corrupt media company. Then, Carver adds to release the photos anyway after the bill has been signed. During the CMG Satellite Network Inaugural Party, Carver denies a rumour to his guests that after British beef baron Sir Angus Black lost $10,000 pounds in a game of poker to him and refused to pay up, he exacted revenge by releasing stories on Mad Cow Disease. He further claimed there was even less truth to the rumour the French pay him 100 million francs to keep the stories running for another year.

In the film, he attempts to start a war between the British and Chinese, hoping to wipe out the existing Chinese leadership in Beijing so his cohort could take over. Beyond the massive publicity such a war would produce, a friendlier political atmosphere would allow his television network, the Carver Media Group Network, to secure exclusive broadcasting rights in China for the next century, something that the existing Chinese politicians have refused.

Elliott Carver first appears in the movie at the headquarters of his media empire in Hamburg, Germany, overseeing the sinking of the British warship HMS Devonshire in the South China Sea at the hands of his torpedo-like "SEA-VAC" drill. He then has his men steal a cruise missile from the sunken ship, which they have made impossible to be tracked by the British Government. He is later seen at the launch party for his new satellite network, where he gets unusually aggressive with his wife, Paris (Teri Hatcher). He develops an instant suspicion of James Bond (Pierce Brosnan) when the secret agent questions him regarding the sunken ship. He has his henchmen capture and attempt to interrogate Bond, but he escapes and cuts off power to Carver's live international broadcast.

When learning it was Bond who caused him and his network international embarrassment, Carver tells Paris to get information from him as to why he was at the party and what he knows. Carver believed that Bond is merely a former acquaintance; when he discovers that they are ex-lovers and that his wife was less than honest with him about her past relationship with 007, he has Paris killed by his henchman, assassin Dr. Kaufman (Vincent Schiavelli), who is skilled in the art of chakra torture. This establishes for Bond a personal motivation to complete his mission, although many Bond movies include the "sacrificial lamb" to spur the British secret agent along the way.

Carver runs his operations on a stealth boat that can move undetected by radar. Bond and Chinese People's External Security Force agent Wai Lin (Michelle Yeoh) infiltrate his boat and learn he's going to fire the missile at Beijing so as to wipe out the existing Chinese government and replace them with a government who will grant him his desired broadcasting rights.

Carver is ultimately killed by Bond at the film's climax. After Bond and Wai Lin have taken out most of his army, Carver attacks Bond and points his gun at him and delivers a rant about his master plan, which Bond uses to his advantage by secretly activating Carver's SEA-VAC drill. Carver quizzically looks around and is subsequently disarmed by Bond, who then pushes him into the path of the gigantic drill, informing Carver that he forgot that a crucial rule of the media is to give the people what they want. Carver screams in fright as the drill steadily approaches, and Bond stands by watching as the drill tears Carver to shreds.

M later releases a news story stating that Carver has drowned while onboard his luxury yacht in the South China Sea, while the authorities believed he committed suicide.

Henchmen

See List of James Bond henchmen in Tomorrow Never Dies

See also

William Randolph Hearst, American newspaper magnate / leading newspaper publisher who was the apparent inspiration for:

Charles Foster Kane, Orson Welles' lead role and character in his masterpiece, Citizen Kane.

Robert Maxwell, another reputedly corrupt media mogul reported missing from his luxury yacht and presumed a suicide.

Rupert Murdoch, CEO of Newscorp.

Weapons of Mass Distraction, 1997 HBO Original Film directed by Stephen Surjik about two media moguls – Lionel Powers (Gabriel Byrne) and Julian Messenger (Ben Kingsley) – who get into a nasty power struggle for the ownership of a pro-football team, which takes a drastic effect on their personal and professional lives. It also stars Mimi Rogers, Jeffrey Tambor, and an ensemble cast.

References

Category:Fictional media moguls Category:James Bond characters Category:Fictional socialites Category:Fictional mass murderers Category:Fictional orphans Category:Fictional adoptees Category:Fictional Hong Kong people Category:Tomorrow Never Dies Category:Fictional businesspeople