The fascination with and demand for the genre is a byproduct of entertainment. As "action" entertainment has become more fantastical so have the influences in knives.
I've been deep into knives for over 35 years and I've watched the change in the interest in knives and the kinds of knives that are popular. We went from the pre WWII period to the post WWII period with significant changes in movies and TV. We also saw a large number of military knives blossom in WWII and those knives come home with returning troops. Those objects became relics of a sort. That signaled a big shift in how the public thought of knives. Follow this with the Cold War, Korea, Vietnam, spies and covert conflicts and you see film and TV and fiction change with it. You also see knives change. America becomes more urban and suburban and the shift from cowboy to war to spy entertainment follows. I remember boot knives like the Explorer copies of the Gerber MkI as well as the other Gerbers and "all the guys" wanted them. Heck, the first tactical folders from Terzuola and Emerson were made for covert and special operations reflecting the time and demands. I remember collectors and companies calling them "clunky" and "ugly" and asking who'd ever want them outside of a small group. Of course a few other custom knife makers got interested in making folders as tough as fixed blades and they began to expand the range of these new knives, but they were still pretty much the tactical ghetto. Once Seal Team Six came out mentioning the Emerson and covert and spec ops stories built up steam we see more public interest and more makers and more companies filling a growing demand. What was a few people making "sharpened pry bars" for a few exotic soldiers became companies making knives for guys fascinated with the covert war and warrior. Toss in "KungFu" movies and exotic weapons and SF films and TV shows with exotic looking ones. America develops a tasst for more realistic violent entertainment and the unrealistic violence in entertainment. We see more knives in response and more exotic ones and we see a demand with from the public who no longer have much in the way of farm/hunting/ranching utility uses for knives as that segment of the population becomes a minority. Once the interest develops the market responds. We now see "baboon butt" (love that) features and we see a fascination for the violent. Think about all the bowie knives that flooded the market in response to Bowie's myth. All the stories, self promotion, and "penny dreadfuls" made him famous and the knife became famous. It spawned an entire shift in the industry for many years and more "bowie" knives were produced than there were people in the U.S. "frontier". They were purchased for the cache' associated with Bowie and most never saw any use except to pass around and Ooooo and Ahhh over. No different today.
I don't think that there's anything more profound or complex than that. Fantasies sold and fulfilled to a hungry public.
I've been deep into knives for over 35 years and I've watched the change in the interest in knives and the kinds of knives that are popular. We went from the pre WWII period to the post WWII period with significant changes in movies and TV. We also saw a large number of military knives blossom in WWII and those knives come home with returning troops. Those objects became relics of a sort. That signaled a big shift in how the public thought of knives. Follow this with the Cold War, Korea, Vietnam, spies and covert conflicts and you see film and TV and fiction change with it. You also see knives change. America becomes more urban and suburban and the shift from cowboy to war to spy entertainment follows. I remember boot knives like the Explorer copies of the Gerber MkI as well as the other Gerbers and "all the guys" wanted them. Heck, the first tactical folders from Terzuola and Emerson were made for covert and special operations reflecting the time and demands. I remember collectors and companies calling them "clunky" and "ugly" and asking who'd ever want them outside of a small group. Of course a few other custom knife makers got interested in making folders as tough as fixed blades and they began to expand the range of these new knives, but they were still pretty much the tactical ghetto. Once Seal Team Six came out mentioning the Emerson and covert and spec ops stories built up steam we see more public interest and more makers and more companies filling a growing demand. What was a few people making "sharpened pry bars" for a few exotic soldiers became companies making knives for guys fascinated with the covert war and warrior. Toss in "KungFu" movies and exotic weapons and SF films and TV shows with exotic looking ones. America develops a tasst for more realistic violent entertainment and the unrealistic violence in entertainment. We see more knives in response and more exotic ones and we see a demand with from the public who no longer have much in the way of farm/hunting/ranching utility uses for knives as that segment of the population becomes a minority. Once the interest develops the market responds. We now see "baboon butt" (love that) features and we see a fascination for the violent. Think about all the bowie knives that flooded the market in response to Bowie's myth. All the stories, self promotion, and "penny dreadfuls" made him famous and the knife became famous. It spawned an entire shift in the industry for many years and more "bowie" knives were produced than there were people in the U.S. "frontier". They were purchased for the cache' associated with Bowie and most never saw any use except to pass around and Ooooo and Ahhh over. No different today.
I don't think that there's anything more profound or complex than that. Fantasies sold and fulfilled to a hungry public.