One of the problems for my work on The Enemy Within is that it’s sometimes hard to tell where political paranoia begins.
Obviously the USSR had agents operating in this country, for instance; just as obviously, the entire Communist Party USA was not a trained cadre of Soviet spies. But at what point does a spy film go from “realistic” (well, by the standards of spy thrillers) to paranoid?
Sometimes it’s easy to tell: With I Led Three Lives, as I’ve noted before, there’s a huge difference between Herb Philbrick’s memoir (nine years of listening to Communists talk) and the same-name TV show (where Philbrick spent nine years stopping murders, blackmail, propaganda operations and more). Or take the 1930s Miyazaki case, in which a Japanese spy bribed a US seaman to gather information on ship design, movements, etc.; in the film based on the case, Betrayal From The East, Miyazaki is coordinating all-out attacks along the entire Pacific coast.
The toughest is writing about Islamic-terrorism films, since we’re a long way from knowing the full scope of radical Islam in America (or for that matter the full lack of scope). I find Showtime’s Sleeper Cell on the paranoid side: A terrorist cell with access to weapon-grade anthrax and drugs that can simulate a heart attack. Maybe it’ll turn out I’m wrong. On the other hand, The War Within, with it’s lone, largely solo suicide bomber, seems pretty realistic.
I wish I could lay down a firm line and say Here! This is where political paranoia starts! But I think I’m going to be winging it for a while longer.
