Sean Connery was the best-looking Bond

The argument

The argument answers a question usually settled by taste with a measurement instead. A computer analysis using the Golden Ratio of Beauty Phi assessed the facial features of the actors who have played Bond, and determined that Sean Connery had the features most associated with attractiveness. The appeal of the method is that it removes the variables which normally make such comparisons unresolvable. Judgements about which Bond looked best are ordinarily inseparable from which films a person grew up with, which era's styling they prefer, and which performance they happen to admire. A ratio-based analysis of facial geometry is indifferent to all of that. It assesses proportion and symmetry against a standard formulated long before any of the films existed, which is what allows actors from different decades to be compared on the same terms. The finding was not marginal. The plastic surgeon Dr Julian De Silva, commenting on the analysis, said that Connery "has beautiful facial symmetry and gets closer than any other Bond to having what the Greeks considered the perfect face." Two claims are contained in that assessment: that Connery's symmetry is exceptional in itself, and that among the specific comparison set of Bond actors he is closest to the classical standard. The second is what the argument needs, and it is stated as a comparison rather than as praise. Why this bears on who was the best Bond is a matter of what the role requires. Bond is written and shot as a figure whose physical presence is part of the character's effect — the camera treats his appearance as an asset in the way it treats his composure. An actor scoring highest on the most systematic available measure of facial attractiveness is therefore better suited to the part on one of its actual requirements. On the one dimension that can be assessed without reference to personal preference, Connery ranks first.

Context

Bond's suave style and the famously changing female leads of the films made the character a global sex symbol.

Premises

Counter-arguments

Good looks are merely one component of the James Bond character. There are many other personality traits that make up Ian Fleming's character, and while Sean Connery may have the looks, he lacks in other areas. If we are going on pure looks alone, the study indicates Lazenby would appear above Daniel Criag, and few viewers would ever argue that Lazenby is a better James Bond than Daniel Craig.

Rejecting the premises

[Rejecting P3] Looks are not the only criteria for portraying James Bond.