Why does James Bond prefer to call Max Denbigh "C"?
At the beginning of Spectre James Bond first meets Max Denbigh, the head of the new Joint Security Service that's supposed to merge MI5 and MI6 into one. He choses to call him "C", though:
Bond: Congratulations on your new appointment...I suppose we should call you C now.
Denbigh: No, no. "Max," please.
Bond: No, I think I'll call you C, C.
Denbigh: As you wish.
This is also the name with which Andrew Scott's character is credited and in line with the tradtion of single-letter designations as known from M and Q (and the real British secret services). But why is he called by that letter and why does James put so much emphasis on it? Now it could as well just be a name without much significance and simply the nickname Denbigh bears in the Joint Security Service, but it seemed like Bond decided to call him that way out of the blue and as if he had a specific reason to choose the letter C. So did Bond actually choose that name personally for him or is that really Max Denbigh's official designation. In any case, why? Is there anything more to the letter C as Max Denbigh's designation other than sheer randomness? And why did James Bond put so much emphasis onto it in that scene?
It was hinted in previous installments that M actually seems to relate to Judi Dench's character's real name (as well as to Gareth Mallory's). Likewise was C actually the sign of the real MI6's first head (as also based on his last name), who seemed to have started that tradition. Yet there doesn't seem to be any relation between Max Denbigh and the letter C.
Best Answer
C is an appropriate initial as Bond thinks of him as a C*nt (a slang word for a part of the female reproductive anatomy, and one of the few words you would have trouble saying on British TV).
It tends to be referred to as the "C word" so by calling him C he's using typical British understatement to be very rude to a man he intensely dislikes
So as you say, the heads have a random designated letter normally used instead of their name (In Flemings time the actual person's name would be a secret) Denbigh's is C (as was Flemings real boss when he was an agent, M was thought up for the books), but despite him being all modern and discarding it Bond keeps it to be insulting
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Why do they call Max C in Spectre?
Trivia. In real life, "C" is the codename of the head of MI6. MI6 started as the Foreign Section of the Secret Service Bureau. Its first director was Captain Sir George Mansfield Smith-Cumming, who, often dropping the "Smith", used his initial "C" as his codename, which was also used by all subsequent directors of SIS.What did C stand for in Spectre?
The Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) traditionally signs documents in green ink with the letter "C"; originating with the first Chief, Mansfield Smith-Cumming (1859-1923).What did C stand for in James Bond?
C now stands for Chief. K ... was the name MI5 gave to its head, after the first man in the role, Sir Vernon Kell. However, unlike C, this soubriquet fell by the wayside in the 1940s. M ... is the title Ian Fleming gave Bond's boss. Fleming eventually revealed his fictional full name as Vice Admiral Sir Miles Messervy.SPECTRE | M vs C
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Answer 2
According to IMDB and Wikipedia it's a long tradition that the Chief of the MI6 uses "C" to sign documents, so Bond just used that as Max's new nickname:
The Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) traditionally signs documents in green ink with the letter "C"; originating with the first Chief, Mansfield Smith-Cumming (1859-1923).
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