The Housewife, the Vigilante and the Cigarette‐Smoking Man: The CIA and Television, 1975–2001

Trevor Mccrisken

doi:10.1111/1468-229x.12100

Abstract

AbstractReeling from the revelations about its operations in the 1970s, the CIA set up an Office of Public Affairs to improve its public image. Among its activities was greater engagement with television producers, but it largely failed to lead to more US drama series portraying the CIA in a better light. This article, however, analyses those few TV dramas that did characterize the CIA in the 1980s and 1990s – Scarecrow and Mrs King, The Equalizer and The X‐Files. Each series gave a critique of the CIA and its practices while offering alternative pathways to redeeming the organization so that it could better serve US security and domestic safety. They are examples of how television dramas can ask questions, engage with critical issues in contemporary society, and push the boundaries of what we expect to see in our televisual entertainment. They may not have offered very much insight into what the CIA was actually doing globally, but their storylines did confront the public image of the CIA, question its ethos and its methods, and offer some alternative viewpoints on how the Agency might develop its role and approach. Each series attempted to push beyond stereotypes of the CIA and its agents, upset the usual balance between gender roles and refused to give the kind of closed, unambiguous viewpoints that so many US television dramas offered their audiences during the period. They contributed significantly to the cultural representation of the CIA as the Cold War drew to a close.

Highlights

The CIA has been a topic for popular culture almost since its inception, both reflecting and creating the public image of the Agency’s identity and meaning
Each series attempted to push beyond stereotypes of the CIA and its agents, upset the usual balance between gender roles and refused to give the kind of closed, unambiguous viewpoints that so many US television dramas offered their audiences during the period
The result is a contradictory mélange of images of the CIA and very little understanding of its real role in American government.[2]. In his history of US television spy dramas, Michael Kackman shows that even by the end of the 1960s ‘espionage was quickly waning on American television while the reputation of U.S intelligence agencies plummeted.’[3]. By the mid-1970s, that reputation was at an all-time low

Summary

Introduction

The CIA has been a topic for popular culture almost since its inception, both reflecting and creating the public image of the Agency’s identity and meaning.

Results

Conclusion