Bond’s manipulation of Solitaire in Live and Let Die has always struck me as deeply unsettling, if not all out creepy. Stacking the deck so every card predicts romance doesn’t make him charming, it makes the situation feel deceptive and predatory. But it also strains credibility that Solitaire, whose entire identity revolves around her gift, wouldn’t notice that every card in the deck was identical. Instead, she passively accepts the illusion, loses her “powers,” and is left diminished.
In my opinion, Solitaire is one of the most naïve Bond girls, rivaled only by Mary Goodnight in The Man with the Golden Gun. That’s not to say naivete can’t be a positive in a Bond movie. It’s a compelling characteristic when it highlights innocence and Bond comes to the rescue, but there’s a fine line between endearing vulnerability and outright helplessness.