The Appeal of Espionage Stories

I believe an underlying appeal of many espionage stories is their ability to validate hidden personal struggles faced by the audience.

On a constant basis everyone contends with various conflicts, either with themselves or with others, that are subtle, quiet, and are not easily shared with their peers. For instance you may engage in self-conflict as you cope with insecurity: you know yourself to be a worthy individual logically, but you struggle to truly feel worthy on an emotional level, thus creating a conflict within yourself -- and one that you can't easily discuss with most people around you. You can't tell someone standing next to you in line, "Boy, am I struggling with insecurity today!" That is one of many conflicts you undergo every day that you can't easily share. (In fact, one function of relationships is having someone with whom to share the struggles that are invisible to most people -- but even then, not every conflict is shareable: a conflict may feel too minor to be worth the effort of sharing so you keep it to yourself, or your struggle may actually be with the person with whom you have the relationship, etc.) The difficulty you face in being unable to share hidden struggles with others creates a sense of isolation, to some degree.

Espionage stories carry a distinct element unique from many other genres, which is that they often have the protagonists engaging in conflict while a civilian population is ignorant about what's going on. For example, Ethan Hunt in Mission: Impossible chases villains through streets and buildings populated with everyday citizens who cannot understand what he's doing; or on the series 24, Jack Bauer is always dealing with civilians ignorantly getting in the way of the urgent investigation; or in any espionage story, there appears to be a hidden battle between opposing forces taking place right below the veneer of mundane society. This is unconsciously relatable to the audience, who similarly engages in conflict that others don't see or understand.

The validation portion of this element is the fact that the battles being fought by the characters tend to be noble ones: protagonists in espionage fiction typically fight for national or international security -- the protection of innocent people. Being unsung heroes in this way, espionage protagonists validate the audience by showing that invisible battles are just as important as visible ones. Just because most people can't understand the struggle you're fighting doesn't mean it's not important. Your internal battle of conquering your insecurity is noble and valuable regardless of whether or not anyone sees it. For this reason I believe audience members may connect to espionage stories on an unconscious level -- and this element may even help the stories maintain an emotional connection with the audience when characterization within the story is minimal. We love to root for someone fighting a battle that is hard for others to understand, because it makes us more likely to champion ourselves in that same situation, which we find ourselves in constantly. Note that the superhero secret identity may reach the audience in a similar way.