#x files analysis

[pennyserenade]

power dynamics and the way the x-files pilot subverts and meets our expectations of them

in the pilot, what we learn of mulder, we first learn through scully. she laughs, almost girlishly, about the reputation that precedes him, only concealing her joy when she realizes the others in the room are not in on the joke. these men are solemn, not because they don’t agree about the nature of agent mulder, but because mulder is no laughing matter to them; he is a threat and scully - notably religious, the cross on her neck, scientifically driven, and hopelessly young - is the weapon they hope to aim in his direction. on the outside, she is the perfect candidate: honest, intelligent, skeptical. this, they are sure, is the answer to their long standing problem.

from the beginning we get a sense that there is an imbalance placed between mulder and scully. in the next scene, it becomes visual: when mulder meets scully, he is hunched over photos, sitting in a chair. she is the taller one, the one with nothing to lose, and he is the man they’ve thrown in the basement, hidden away like the joke she’s preemptively laughed at. it is important that we meet him as a man leaning, almost protectively, over his vulnerabilities: his work.

but then he stands and he brings up her thesis. she has rewritten einstein, an act unfathomable and crazy in its own right. mulder does not wish to go down without a fight; he challenges her immediately, like he’s been waiting his entire life for this moment. he calls her “scully,” puts a professional distance between them, while also making the most of her medical and scientific advice. though he stands taller than her physically at this point, he doesn’t ever aim to reach above her. mulder is not interested in the ‘90s workplace misogyny, invalidating her simply because she’s been sent to debunk his own work. he only wants her to understand. for a moment, they become equals. he even makes a joke of himself, asking her if she believes in extraterrestrials bemusedly. whatever advantaged he has over her physically, he begins to concede in this initial meeting. he wants equality; he wants understanding. nothing more.

this visual imbalance is important, and we find ourselves returning to it in the airplane. as they travel to the plausible state of oregon, mulder lays on his back and scully sits across the aisle from him. again, she is sitting taller than he is. his vulnerabilities are still out in the open. a casefile - his work - sits in her lap, and he lies with his body turned away from her, his eyes closed. they don’t ever reach equal playing grounds in this scene, because they are ascending on his life’s work. he is operating on the belief that she’s been sent to debunk everything he believes in, and we as an audience can’t be too sure she’s not.

then the airplane shakes, tips, and, for a moment, provides us with a physical unbalance. it is the tilting of the scales. he turns to her with a wide grin after. she looks visibly disturbed. he is still lower than she is—but it seems he’s got the upper hand as he cracks a joke. we learn of mulder as a man confident in the face of his trials and tribulations. the lack of power does not rob him of him of his beliefs, but simply reinforces them. it is scully who is shaken. the power does not make her confident or certain. maybe, we begin to suspect, it isn’t meant to belong to her. maybe he is reading her wrong.

in the car, they are back on equal grounds. he is guiding her through the case details, making glib remarks, and she is asking him about the details. the radio goes wonky, they get out, and he paints the road orange. he doesn’t tell her why. he won’t. she looks almost girlish, standing there, clueless, with her hands on her hips. it is he who gains the power in this moment, taller, in the know. he is less concerned with equality than he is the protecting of his work and his beliefs. he doesn’t look to knock her down, but he’s not interested in lifting her up.

the next time the visual imbalances are most interesting is when she comes to his hotel room. perhaps this is the most notable of them all. initially, scully comes to his room because she is terrified about the marks on her back. he towers over her in the beginning of this scene, but it is not long before he is on his knees, inspecting her. she is so scared of something she claims she doesn’t believe in, and he has every right to stand back and laugh at her. but he doesn’t. he does laugh, but its not malicious; it’s kind. he tells her about his own bug bites and when he does stand back up, she crashes into his arms. he holds her. if he’s got the power in this scene, he is not interested in using it against her. he is taller and she is more vulnerable in every way, but he seems surprised by it. this is a beautiful segue into the next scene.

mulder sits on the ground and tells his barest truths. scully got naked and scared for him, and he sees fitting that he do the same. she sits on his bed, higher than he is, and he takes the ground. he talks about the sister he can’t find and how it ruined his family, and how he can’t get to the information he wants. he accuses her of being a spy, and she tells him that she isn’t.

in a moment of absolute trust, he rises to his knees. they become equal, seeing eye to eye. he tells her about the hypnosis, the drive he feels, how this is more important to him than anything. and it is so earnest and intense, so absolutely serious, that we must be saved by a ringing telephone to escape it. this sets the groundwork for the rest of the series, and the foundation for mulder and scully’s relatjonship as a whole. they become partners—he allows for this in this scene. he wants to believe her.

the power dynamics between them have been constantly challenged, and at times, have subverted our expectations. we watch as mulder, often times the taller one of the pair, seeks to bring he and scully to equal playing grounds. we watch as scully, the one who is offered many opportunities to have the upper hand and the power, stumble her way through it or put herself in a position where she loses it. mulder and scully, we learn, are best when they are equal, seeing eye to eye.

[trans-spidey]

Thanks so much for liking the Arcadia analyses! :DDDDDD That's why I do what I do~ ;))))

np! I saw you have some more on your acc I'm planning to check out when I have some time

[theswisscheeserag]

I love the costume work in the X Files. I love how detailed and intentional it all is despite it being technically an “unimportant” part of a low budget sci fi show. Like Scully always has the perfect balance of feminine style, professionalism, and practicality that feels so true to her character, Mulder’s character is perfectly captured in the impeccably fitting suits with the eccentric ties (and I’m pretty sure you’re meant to read him as a little vain about his clothes?). Generally they don’t Match but the colors in their clothes are complimentary and their accent colors often are the same so that they look perfectly natural in shots together. Scully’s shoes are always the perfect height to even an otherwise pretty dramatic, challenging to film height gap without being unrealistic for having to wear them all day, sometimes in very demanding circumstances. They’re of their time but not trendy, stylish but not Cool. It’s just so obvious every detail is so well thought out, like I was watching the Roland episode and was really upset that Scully was wearing a patterned blouse bc she’d never done it before and it didn’t seem to fit in with the rest of her wardrobe but then it ended up being used as a prop with the dialogue. Like you don’t make a decision like that unless you’re already paying attention to these things. It’s just all so perfect. And these days tv costumes look like they were ordered from Shein. This is what we lost

[randomfoggytiger]

An Evolution of Mulder and Scully's Forehead Kisses

Irresistible-- Mulder sows the seeds for a forehead kiss while opening his arms for the second time to Scully:

Memento Mori-- Mulder's first forehead kiss, a victorious celebration of Scully's determination and courage:

Redux II-- A forehead kiss of sorts-- Mulder changed to cheek kisses on Scully's death bed; but changed back after her recovery:

Fight the Future-- Scully gives Mulder his first forehead kiss after reassurance that he needs her; but more were put on pause after Diana Fowley, insecurities, and clashes over a "normal life."

Per Manum-- Mulder reinitiates their ritual after the IVF failure; and Scully, touched, almost makes a further move before deciding not to reshake their newly shifting relationship (a lot was still left unsaid):

Post Amor Fati-- Mulder tells Scully she belongs with him, always; and Scully finally gives him a second forehead kiss, secure with a place forever at his side:

And, as we know, Millennium happened; and the rest is history~.

(Note: Mulder's forehead kisses are directly correlated to his journey with more open physical affection--post here-- while Scully's are linked to her waxing and waning security in their relationship.)

[insextras]

So I'm sure this is just a cameo/where's waldo page but is jean actually pulling people from across space-time? Because we see characters wearing random costumes and some that aren't even from 616

Classic namor, X-Men forever rogue (in the middle), 80s Callisto (bottom right, could also be early krakoa with the white coat), sins of sinister jon ironfire (behind namor)

Uncanny x-men storm, classic firestar, what looks to be Nate grey next to her, alpha flight Northstar (at the bottom), possibly 90s gambit (to the right, above nate)

Maystorm (top left), nightcrawler-wolverine chimera (middle), what looks like academy x hellion (above chimera) classic havok (bottom left), fantomex (right of chimera, weird he hasn't shown up at all in this era)

What looks like phoenix five emma frost

Ultimate universe cyclops, what looks like robo-moira next to him, og new mutants dani and that one alt timeline illyana from dead x-men (bottom left)

Excalibur Rachel, x-force cannonball, cardinal chimera, house of m toad (under cardinal), raze darkholme (right of cardinal), 70s dazzler (under raze), age of apocalypse banshee (under Jean's arm), new x-men xorn (bottom right), 90s siryn (also bottom right) and 90s bishop (left of dazzler)

and a smattering of arrakoan mutants and other recognizable characters throughout the whole thing

[mulders-too-large-shirt]

question for academic discussion: when did mulder realize he was in love with scully? and when did scully realize she was in love with mulder?

[trash-and-trash-accessories]

Fox Mulder doesn't have the "I Want To Believe" poster there because he's crazy. He doesn't have it there to broadcast his beliefs or as a mantra or to remind him to always look for aliens.

Fox Mulder keeps that "I Want To Believe" sign above his desk to remind him of his own internal biases.

That sign hangs above Mulder's desk to remind him of his own shortcomings and flaws. He's aware that he's a hack with dangerous beliefs and prone to flights of fancy and maybe even delusions. He's aware that he's desperately searching for aliens and monsters where there are only men doing bad things. And he has to remind himself of that, constantly.

That's why he's thrilled when he meets Scully and she challenges his beliefs, says that logically aliens don't exist. He's thrilled when she tells him to cut the crap in the pilot episode. He needs someone to challenge him. He needs someone who won't take his shit and put up with his flights of fancy. And he knows it. He's been dealing with himself for years and he feels relief and joy when Scully comes in and says enough of your bullshit. We're doing this my way. With science and logic. He isn't smiling and teasing her because he thinks he's smarter and better than her. He's smiling because she's exactly the person he needs in his life.

That's why he tells her right away that he's a UFO freak with trauma about his sister and a true believer. Not because he's trying to convince her to believe, but because he needs her to understand where he's coming from and what's wrong with him. So she can understand that either he's a dangerous lunatic himself, or he's delving into a dangerous conspiracy and either way she could be collateral damage if she stays with him. He spends the pilot episode reckoning with the idea that either he's a maniac or he's pulling this young fresh detective into danger. When she starts agreeing with him he gets upset, talks her out of it.

Mulder keeps that sign above his desk to remind himself to look into the "reasonable logical" explanations. He keeps that sign on his desk because he knows he's flawed and biased and frankly, dangerous.

He tells Scully exactly what he thinks is happening and about all the crazy stuff he believes not because he's trying to convince her to believe too, but so she can be his sounding board. So she can throw his illogical bullshit back in his face and remind him to look past his own biases and paranoia and quasi-religious zealotry. Because he knows he needs that. He knows he's in a conspiracy brained echo chamber of his own making and having a slow-burn mental breakdown. And he sees Scully as salvation from himself. As another figure in his quasi-religious belief system. The savior.

As the series develops he relies on her more and more to reality check him. Literally reality check him and manage what he worries might all be a delusion.

Mulder pretends he's confident and all the constant criticism and sidelong glances don't get to him and that might be true because he doesn't respect those people but he respects Scully. And he needs someone he respects to tell him when he's wrong, when he's being biased or actively delusional. Scully is his salvation. She's compassionate about his trauma and the reasoning behind his beliefs, but confident and logical enough to tell him when it's all bullshit. She's his savior, his rock, and often his only real connection to material reality.

[nefertitisfjordd]

tell me I’m wrong and that they ain’t just been sharing spectacles this whole time

[sakuraswordly]

[observeroftheuniverse]

A few weeks ago I got pretty high and was absolutely struck by a realization. The reason Scully is always so eager to examine Mulder is yes, because she wants an excuse to touch him, but also because she just wants to take care of him. She jumps at the chance to assess injuries because she's looking for an excuse to take care of him. As I realized this, my high ass just kept thinking "She wants to take care of him! She JUST wants to take CARE OF HIM!! 🥺🥺🥺" like it was some ground breaking revelation and not a pretty obvious element of the dynamic between the two of them. Anyway, that's the post: high me was absolutely THRILLED at the thought that Mulder and Scully just want to take care of each other.

[bluestarjay]

I do not like cross-fandom fics or crossovers in general but,, BUT,, if it happened to be X files and Criminal Minds (and mayhaps Supernatural 👀👀), I would read it SO quick. And bc Mulder used to profile serial killers under the behavioral science unit at Quantico, it would be PERFECT BASIS FOR A CM CROSSOVER!!! Ex profiler teams up with current profilers for a case that involves and/or could count as an X file?? OHH unsolved serial killing case re-examined and discovered to fit with an X file so both teams called in?? And along the way they find brothers Sam and Dean suspicious and they seem fucking crazy but Mulder and Scully are like "no wait,, wait,, 🤨🤨🤨 they've got a point" and the bau just like ??? Cause these people seem batshit insane cause they're talking about monsters and aliens, but it works!!! And the criminal is under some other worldly influence, but that's just how it goes. Ohhhh, Mulder and Reid would love and hate each other bc they'd find the other so interesting and funny even, but they'd disagree on everything. Scully and JJ would be good friends, I think. Ahh this is turning kinda cringey I apologize but I've been thinking about this for a while hahah (I just started s2 of X files and s12(?) of CM)

[pennyserenade]

i'm being forced to read moby-dick, so i think its only right that i get to come on here and talk about it in relation to the x-files. the first order of business i want to bring up is the curious relationship first shared between the characters ahab and starbuck. after ahab announces to the whole crew that his motivations for this three year whale voyage is so he can find and defeat moby-dick, starbuck is a little perturbed. later, to himself, he muses, "my soul is more than matched; she's overmanned; and by a madman!…but [ahab] drilled deep down, and blasted all my reason out of me! i think i see his impious end; but feel that i must help him to it." starbuck is seemingly possessed by ahab's mission, though he can't entirely understand it and doesn't readily want to dedicate himself and all the ship to it. like dana scully, our life-long starbuck, we see starbuck become enraptured in a quest that is not entirely his own for a purpose he cannot express.

later still, we get an insight into ahab's thoughts on starbuck. melville writes, "starbuck's body and starkbuck's coerced will were ahab's, so long as ahab kept his magnet at starbuck's brain; still he knew that for all this the chief mate, in his soul, abhorred his captain's quest, and could he, would joyfully disintegrate himself from it, or even frustrate it." in episode one, dana scully and fox mulder share this relationship: she is presented to him as someone who could, if she'd like, effectively destroy him and his mission. he understands the importance of psychology and--dare i say it--manipulation the way ahab understands it with starbuck here. in order to continue his mission, ahab and mulder both know they must capture and hold the interest of their starbuck, lest their starbuck turn against them. while their white whales make sense to an ardent few, ahab and mulder know that it is starbuck alone who will make or break them. and starbuck, beyond all reason or doubt, commits.

[stellagibs0ns]

Depth & Desire: Anderson As DuBois

i finally finished it! above is my analysis-essay-review of gillian in streetcar. i had so much to say about it and figured i may as well try and put it all into words. i cover topics such as why she was such a solid choice, her characterisation, her approach to blanche’s mental illness & how other elements such as set and costume worked with her choices.

this was purely for fun but im SO happy to share my silly little thoughts. if anyone has feedback or simply just enjoyed it do let me know! 🩷

[foolishlyzephyrus]

trying to have intellectual thoughts about things but it’s fun to make jokes about my blorbos

[randomfoggytiger]

Disproving CSM's Conjecture in En Ami

CSM postulates that Scully and Mulder aren't together because she doesn't fully trust him; that, although she's drawn to powerful men, she is afraid to open herself up to them.

"You'd die for Mulder, but you won't allow yourself to love him."

The problem is, he's wrong.

Because CSM mixed up her fatal flaw with Mulder's.

Self-Denial and Self-Sacrifice

CSM's theory: Scully rules herself by denial, and Mulder offers himself up as the sacrificial lamb. How is he wrong?

Scully's flaw is self-sacrifice, putting everything she covets from life on hold to join Mulder on his quest (comedically summed up in Bad Blood's "I do it all for you, Mulder! All for you!") The Starbuck-Ahab complex she harbored since childhood-- expressing her love through devotion-- kept her in the car the first year; but the Truth soon became as much about her losses as it did Mulder's tragedies. Unlike Mulder, however, Scully strives to have a life uncomplicated by mess and trauma and the constant grind. So, she sits in the car, year after year, waiting for her partner to adapt to their changing dynamic (which he did not do for almost six of those years.) Her own fears and insecurities are placed under the bootheel of the work; but when life becomes too complicated or emotionally clouded, Scully strikes out in confused rebellion (e.g. Never Again, Milagro, and All Things.) Moreover, Scully is the one who sacrificed what she held dear-- stability, a family, something other than 24/7 monsters and conspiracies-- to bear the cross of Mulder's quest, not the other way 'round. (Her realization-- that she does want this life-- and shift does not occur until All Things, a few episodes after En Ami.)

Mulder's fatal flaw is self-denial (and self-punishment): he set aside a normal life out of a determination to find or avenge his sister. If Mulder was self-sacrificial, he would have let Scully walk out of his life a thousand times over and born that heartbreak silently, alone; instead, he stormed out after her and broke down his walls to convince her to stay. Furthermore, his self-denial is ever present even in tender moments, drawing away from emotional vulnerability once danger is past and shying away even faster if Scully draws attention to the present moment. Mulder is the one to deny himself love and a life with Scully (Home, Detour, Dreamland I, Arcadia, etc.), not the one who sacrificed everything he wanted to stay on his quest-- this is what he wants. (The change from obsessive pursuit to measured search begins in The Unnatural, changes wholly in Amor Fati and Millennium, and reaches its conclusion in Closure.)

CSM's Observations

The reality that CSM observed both agents for years and years and came to the exact opposite conclusion is baffling.

He concluded that Mulder sacrificed normalcy for the Almighty Mission, projecting his own Messiah complex onto his 'protege' and patting himself on the back whenever Mulder was, yet again, tossed to the jaws of Death for the "greater good." He also concluded that Scully stayed in the basement because of the raw power she smelled on Mulder, keeping a cold yet lustful distance because she was afraid to risk her womanly love on the all-consuming passion of his might.

How very dime store novel of Old Smokey.

Both assumptions are, of course, very wrong.

Mulder Dreaded "More" While Scully Hoped for It

Scully gave many unsubtle hints through the series that she was ready for more with Mulder: her willingness to go down with him in Tooms, her overt jealousy in Syzygy, her pointed inquiry about his family genetics in Home, her displacement and hurt in The Field Where I Died and Never Again and The End and The Beginning and One Son, her "we just keep driving" in Dreamland I, her unspoken 'secret' that was practically ripped from her chest in Milagro, her flirting in The Unnatural, her IVF request, and on and on.

Scully is by nature reticent with her emotions, fearful to fully open up lest she be hurt or become a burden; but in Mulder's case, she's reiterated over and over (Irresistible and Elegy) that their relationship falls into the latter, not former, category. In Emily she is, once again, "alone"; however, the context to her statement is vitally important. In the hospital, she hoped for Mulder to claim a place by her and her daughter's side as co-parent; but when he uncomfortably withdrew instead, it proved that he still wasn't ready for "more." Scully was alone in places Mulder couldn't fill; and so, she said goodbye to that hope, alone; then to her daughter, alone; and bore the little girl's death, alone. The burden of her fully opened heart was too heavy, she assumed, for Mulder... and in a way, she was right-- not until Fight the Future, when forced to confront "them", did Mulder finally acknowledge it. Until then, sacrificially tucking her heart back inside her chest-- for both their sakes-- was what Scully deemed the best course of action. She sticks around for her own reasons, as she says in Memento Mori; but those don't exclude the hope that Mulder will someday "settle down, live something approaching a normal life." (Her plans change in All Things-- but she's not there, yet.)

All those years, it was Mulder who was more emotionally distant. He was content with his life, happy to spin tires down the tarmac forever with his partner. Mulder was willing to deny himself into eternity if it meant not having to sacrifice an aspect of the life or career he was comfortable with and nervous to change for 'more.' It's why he was so afraid in Fight the Future and so proud of himself in The Unnatural (the warmup), Amor Fati (the big swing), and Millennium (the victorious homerun.) Scully is the only one-in-five billion he has: in the past, he could tease about passing genetic muster, about his boyish agility, about so much more, but to act on it? It took him four years to initiate a hug (post here) and seven years to approach a label of sorts for their relationship. Mulder's an overly cautious man, more pessimistic than optimistic when it comes to people sticking around; and any traditional, long-term relationship he'd witnessed had broken down or was held together by deadened respect and a few bratty kids.

Now it's Season 7, he's learned his lessons, and they're here, together.

Or were, until Scully dipped on a sketchy roadtrip with their enemy.

Conclusion

The most unrealistic part of this episode (amid a host of several others) was that Scully, despite hearing the drivel CSM peddled the entire drive, decided that he had anything worthwhile to say.

Thank you for reading~.

Enjoy!

[insextras]

Hear me out

It was stated at one point that Erik's powers would cause him to have headaches and seizures. Typically, seizures don't have significant effects on the brain but apparently if frequent or long lasting enough they can. It's also said that exposure to high levels of electromagnetic fields can create symptoms similar to that of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's. My theory is that Erik experiences such wild mental instability not just because of trauma and/or mental illness but because he is a walking EMF generator, and that regular exposure is altering his brain function and is essentially scrambling his brain constantly.

Considering how old Erik is, he has been exposed to electromagnetic fields for basically his ENTIRE LIFE. It could explain why (beyond real world narrative reasons) Erik is normal and reasonable sometimes and other times he'll raid the white house or tear up a city in a fit of rage. It could also explain (at least in my headcanon) why Lorna (considering everything she's been through) has similar bouts of mental illness and fits of rage as well. These bipolar tendencies were also theorized by Moira, which she tried and failed to remedy in Erik. Basically, Erik and Lorna have been steeped in EM Radiation and it's making them sick the same way Firestar's powers gave her cancer.