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Pulling Rank: Works That Exemplify What a True Spy Hero Is from Smart Slob to Luminary

The spy thriller has been embraced by millions. The spies of this list represent a different side to espionage.

By Skyler SaundersPublished 6 years ago 10 min read
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The classic example of the spy taking aim.

Every agency from the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has been tasked with safeguarding the lives and property of Americans. Other internationals like the MI6 in the United Kingdom have been working like really smart pest control agents to knock out the hornets’ nests around the world. Individuals who sign up to fall in to the ranks must pass rigorous mental and physical tests, with emphasis placed on the former. Countless novels, plays, films, and songs have incorporated the functions of government bodies such as these. To understand properly just what an operative may function as, the author of works of fiction must rely on volumes of knowledge supplied by actual agents to get the scenes just right. It is helpful to get into the minds of the characters and depict just what a CIA agent would do once given top secret information about nuclear weapons being developed in Iran, or an National Security Agency (NSA) agent who halts another NSA employee who is planning to spy on the private messages of millions of Americans.

By observing the classic James Bond books and films, one can get a glimpse into the elegant, swift, strapping, and thoughtful idealism of the secret agent from the Motherland, the United Kingdom (UK). Now, there are examples of British writers like John le Carré and Charles Stross to name two, who interweave tales of action and suspense. While styles vary, the root of each man’s work is to project the protagonist caught up in a web of intrigue and must use his wits to claw his way back to normalcy. So, get your CIA briefing ready for, Pulling Rank: Works That Exemplify What a True Spy Hero Is from Smart Slob to Luminary.

3. The Atrocity Archives (2004) by Charles Stross

In a series called The Laundry Files, The Atrocity Archives comes at the reader with wit, action, and enough esoteric tidbits to fill a thriller encyclopedia. In the entire series of novels in the Laundry collection, this is the first. It stands as the open door to a world of “magic science.” This is expounded upon throughout the work.

The main character (not hero) Bob Howard (an assumed name) is a an office slouch who discovers that there is a seedy underbelly of various organizations out to commit terrible crimes. Now, the book presents this loser who could’ve been someone over heroic stature as just another Joe who encounters horrific scenes and is tasked to come up with solutions to save his life and his compatriots.

Unlike the ideal man, Bob plods along with no real ambition or design as to take his career further. His life is one of doldrums besides the adventure he embarks on during the course of the novel. His best weapon is his arcane amount of information that he draws from his years as an IT (Information Technology) person. His adventure is fraught with ample amounts of intrigue and humor. But at the core of the novel is the man’s lack of heroism. He’s brilliant at times but a slacker nonetheless.

Instead of just keeping the genre to a single thread, Stross takes strands from horror and science fiction and incorporates those notions with the thrust of a spy novel. The pacing is excellent. Stross pits his protagonist against foes by employing his intellect. However, there’s no swashbuckling, or deeper understanding of erudite philosophical terms. The school of Naturalism seeps into the narrative like blood through wooden floorboards. It saturates the entire story and lowers the reader’s engagement with the material.

In a tense scene, Bob is in a suit to protect him from the outer elements in an alternate universe. Instead of showing Bob as strong man of action, the author has Bob flatulate in his suit twice. This should not be committed to writing. To put your main character as a bumbling, farting wit with major problems at work means that Bob is an ogre. Never would Ian Fleming had present James Bond in this light. Though Bond may not possess the the deep intellectual material related to computing and a whole host of intelligence agencies, he would never stoop so low.

Bob represents the everyman office schlub who has a penchant for computer information and knowledge of cryptic agencies. He isn’t described with any heroic physical characteristics (sharp eyes, clean lines, and high cheekbones). Through fantastic events such as encounters with an alternate universe and observations of the effects that frost giants have on the Earth, Bob stumbles into action with no real direction. Stross is a master at inner monologue (the book is in first person) as well as dialogue. With a heavy coating of profanities, the du jour thing is now to be as base and foul while at the same time exhibiting great amounts of wit and intelligence.

In all, Atrocity stands as the example for the dichotomy of gutter trash with glittering troves of thought and putting that thought into action. Stross paints an ugly picture with beautiful lighting. The battle between the Romantic and the Natural play out in this novel. Bob is the prime instance where a brilliant mind is downgraded because he is relegated to a cubicle, a computer and a desk. A character of his intellectual caliber should be more ambitious. He holds onto some semblance of virtues albeit mixed and the other half of this split is rather dour. But Atrocity is a rollicking ride that should satisfy readers who seeks a thrill even if it means following an educated idiot.

Rank: Smart slob

2. Homeland (2012-present as of this writing) developed by Howard Gordon and Alexa Gansa

Carrie Mathison (Claire Danes) is the definition of Hollywood presenting a pristine character and damaging her in some way. She’s attractive, highly intelligent, but is afflicted with bipolar disorder. Now, as a documentary this would be fine. To showcase an agent of the CIA with a mental disorder fighting off “the demons” while battling actual nefarious figures would be apt fair for a nonfiction feature. This is not the case, developers Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa and originator Gideon Raff have demonstrated the worst case scenario. In a scripted dramatic series for television, the main character should be a heroine unencumbered by any physical or mental illness. She ought to possess moral perfection as well as being completely sane.

Mathison is far from perfect. She should be a principled individual who can faced down death and laugh. As opposed to this, she laughs out of nervousness. She’s ruled by her emotions yet still able to function in her position. The whole series is truly about her trying to prevent the next 9/11. Her every effort is directed towards this goal. In the meantime, she becomes manic and must be tempered by the understated and sobering Saul Berenson (Mandy Patinkin). In later seasons she resigns from her post as a CIA operative. As a private citizen, she still battles bipolar but her heroism appears to flicker and dim. She appears to enjoy her new job as an aid to Muslims targeted wrongfully for plotting terrorism. However, once given the opportunity to “suit up” again, she leaps at the opportunity. She knows that her first love is to defend the Constitution and bring to justice the real terrorists. Mathison makes it to higher places of influence but her rational faculty keeps her in check and for the most part, overrides her mania. To combat it, she uses cold, hard facts and utilizes her thinking skills to quash the baddies.

This series represents the idealism that a heroine cannot exist without being “dirtied” up somehow. She has to either be a harlot with golden heart, a doctor with a cocaine addiction, or a chemist who pops oxycodone. In this case, the “dirt” is a psychological disorder. In the framework of fictional history (as opposed to historical fiction) the main character should be more than a protagonist but a heroine. With the appearance of Dane’s character, Mathison brings down the role of the chief character in the series. She acts irrationally and her mania leads her to do some unscrupulous acts. This happens in real life but it has no place in scripted television. What makes the whole situation so low is the fact that Mathison is an unreliable narrator. This is the hallmark of the school of Naturalism. Rather than broadcasting a woman without any moral flaws or mental health issues, Homeland developers had the chance to project a woman of substance, of character.

Mathison is the typical, tortured genius. A long-time used trope in novels, films, and TV, the brilliant person is usually brooding, angry, or mentally unstable. Hollywood has trouble depicting geniuses without some sense of not being “all there.” They might be diagnosed with a psychological condition, they may suffer from writer’s block, or they might be murderers. The thoughtful person is often seen as gloomy and dour while the person of less intelligence is depicted as being happy (“ignorance is bliss”). How vicious is this? Can’t the genius, the man or woman of great mental might, be joyous and reserve quiet solace in their own mental exceptionalism? Mathison brings this idea to the fore with her unimaginable brain, fractured between brilliance and bipolar.

Rank: Unstable

1. The Night Manager (TV series 2016-2018) produced by Robert Bullock

John le Carré, the master of the spy thriller holds onto a sensibility that is similar to Stross. But unlike the aforementioned author, le Carré delves into a more James Bond effect just with a hero of modest stature. As a high-end hotel manager, Jonathan Pine (Tom Hiddleston) is pushed into the realm of espionage. With regards to a high-profile arms dealer, Pine becomes enmeshed in the underworld of shady figures. Ensconced among the worst of the worst, Pine employs his wits to be free from precarious situations. He is the closest a hero in this listicle.

Pine brings his own witticisms and sage actions to the series. By thinking ahead of everyone else, he is able to untangle himself and strive to preserve himself and his values. Though he may be a opulent hotel manager, he exhibits no mental or serious moral flaws. But this is still a recurring theme amongst creators. They find that James Bond is too romantic, too far-removed from reality, too clean. While a manager isn’t a dirty job the idea that Pine must rise above his humble position, it’s much like Bob in Atrocity. A lowly IT worker is spirited into an adventure to save the world. That’s where the comparison stops. Pine is quiet, thoughtful and a man of action. He never backs down on an issue of morality and safeguards the entire planet while saving his own life.

The Night Manager is a cool meditation on the role of the hero in semi-Romantic art. While Pine lacks the complete mental dexterity or the physical strength to challenge foes, he draws upon his mind to battle those enemies who seek to destroy the planet. In order for him to accept the position as an infiltrator, he must summon all of his moral fiber to fight against evildoers. It’s a credit to Robert Bullock for crafting a representation of le Carré’s character. The original author set out to feature a man of great ethics and enough wit to handle the unseemly world of arms dealing.

Bullock portrays Pine as a man of great mental means. When presented with the proposition to infiltrate the inner sanctum of the arms dealer Onslow Roper (Hugh Laurie) and his moll Jed (Elizabeth Debicki). His calm demeanor and ability to navigate through any situation, no matter how tense, affords him the chance to sit among some of the most diabolical figures in the world. As he uses stealth and undercover tactics, Pine pulls though in any situation. The chess moves that occur in this game of subterfuge bring home the notion that television can be thoughtful and suspenseful at the same time.

Rank: Luminary

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