Spy vs. Spy

 

What is it about spies that intrigues us so? It’s a massive genre in movies, television, and novels, selling millions. And it’s not just men looking for high-action stunt scenes, either. Nor is it our need to root for the “good guy” because, let’s face it, some of the spies we admire most are not so nice, and many of them aren’t even on our (American) side.

I’ve loved spy themes since I was a kid. Chalk it up to my mom exposing me to British classic TV like The Avengers and the silly, but always successful Agent 86 of Get Smart. As a child of the Cold War, I grew up with a sort of respect for the men and women who were down in the trenches, doing what had to be done to protect democracy and our way of life. That fear was very real, but it leaked over into our everyday lives in some strange ways.

Take the Mad Magazine comic strip, “Spy vs. Spy,” which was the inspiration for this week’s episode title. The wordless cartoon featured two spies, one dressed in black and the other in white, who were always doing sneaky things to steal documents and other spy-related activities, but often inadvertently got blown up themselves in the same way that the Coyote always seems to lose to the Roadrunner. The idea eventually found life on Cartoon Network’s “Mad” series. Still, my favorite iteration is the Nintendo video game released in the late 80s, which featured split-screen, head-to-head play. Gameplay revolved around locating several items (a passport, a briefcase, and a document?) and escaping before the other spy could do the same, all while planting and avoiding various booby traps. It was a mad race to beat the clock and the other player, and it usually left us rolling on the floor, laughing.

Whatever your exposure or interest in spy thrillers, we hope you’ll enjoy our episode this week. Don’t forget to visit our MMC Chat Facebook group and tell us about your favorites.