Society and The X-Files
By Jeneva Louise Wyatt


Racing through the deep, dark forest in hot pursuit of a young boy, an FBI agent fumbles through the woods. Mud dripping from his hands and dirt clinging to his brow, the agent continues. Yelling comes from behind the panting agent, "Mulder, no!!" Failing to listen, the agent tackles the young man. Pinning the child to the ground, the man stabs the boy's heart with a stake. Finally, one sees the owner of the voice; it belongs to a redheaded woman, a fellow FBI agent. Seeing the young boy on the ground, the man is satisfied by looking at the boy's fangs. The redheaded agent finds that the fangs are false. The man shouts, "Oh Sshhhii…,"and the opening song begins to play.

"Truth is as subjective as reality."

In an episode of televison's The X-Files, a character, Jose Chung, says these words to FBI agent Dana Scully. Although truthful to the episode, these words are also truthful to our society. The X-Files has turned into one of televison’s forms of pop-culture. From government conspiracies to alien abduction and sexual tension, it seems as though The X-Files has it all. The show has even created its own mythology within its wide realm of characters. In order to further explain how this paranormal, drama has become one of TV's greatest hours of television and how it is prevalent in society, one must first be introduced to Chris Carter's intuitive characters.

In the beginning, there was FBI agent Fox Mulder, an Oxford educated, criminal psychologist. At the age of 12, Mulder believed aliens abducted his sister. However, it was not until the age of 30 that he discovered the X-Files, criminal investigations that were classified as unexplained due to paranormal activity. While working at the FBI, he became enticed by the paranormal endeavors within the X-Files. He began seeing connections with our government and extra-terrestrials, causing him to develop a quest for the truth about aliens. According to Mulder, the truth lies within the X-Files. Because of his new learned knowledge, the FBI assigned him a partner to debunk his work, a medical doctor and a scientist, Special Agent Dana Scully. Skeptical and precise in her work, she always questions Mulder's theories. With a background in forensic science, Scully was interested to be working alongside "Spooky" Mulder. Her immediate awareness and desires to find the truth caused Mulder to trust his new partner. Their trust for one another would ultimately put their lives in danger.

The X-Files relates to humanity’s search to find meaning in everything. Mulder is constantly reaching out to find the truth about aliens. If one looks further into Mulder's quest, one may find that he isn't just reaching to find the secrets of extra-terrestrial life. Instead, he is searching for the importance within life itself. His own theories about the existence of extra-terrestrials can be used to explain society's quest to find God. Society is constantly forming opinions about God as Mulder is persistently finding evidence to support the reality of the paranormal. For example, the Roman society began as a polytheist religion. However, the Romans converted to Catholicism after the death of Christ. Just as the Romans have changed religions, Mulder hunts for the truth about alien life; in "Anasazi," Mulder discovers a computer disc reveling the existence of extra-terrestrials. However, government men destroy the disc causing Mulder to continue his search elsewhere.

As a curious member of society, I find the show fascinating. A true believer in the paranormal, I find it very interesting to be able to prove the existence of aliens. Some shows try to depict the fantastic as a world for the psychotic, but The X-Files portrays the world as psychotic and the fantastic as credible. As in "The Red and the Black," an episode in which Mulder and Scully discuss the differences between scientific accounts and Mulder reasons, Scully utters,"Extraterrestrial is frankly the more plausible explanation." Because of the imaginative realm found in each case, many viewers continue to watch the show. Other viewers, like myself, watch the show because of their belief in God. Although ironic, the existence of God seems to be the only thing that Mulder does not believe in. Scully, on the other hand, is dedicated to her faith. She cannot explain her conviction to Mulder, just as he cannot explain his to her. Using her religion in cases, Scully and Mulder disagree often about the subject. In the episode "Revelations," Mulder and Scully meet a young child with stigmata, the symbolic wounds of Christ. Against Mulder's guidance, Scully uses her Catholic background to save the boy. In "All Souls," Scully relates the story of the seraphim, an angel sent by God to protect the lives of children. As in "Revelations," Mulder disagrees; however Scully once again saves the children' s lives.

As I stated before, sexual tension is also a large part of the show. Society is constantly trying to find a way to solve its mysteries by finding love. Some theologians believe Christ was in love Mary Magdalene, forming the ultimate love between two people. As the theologians wish for love between Christ and Mary Magdalene, many X-Files fans known as "shippers" wish for Mulder and Scully to have a romantic relationship.

Chris Carter almost submitted during the movie, Fight for the Future, as Mulder reached out to kiss Scully's trembling lip. However, Scully, stung by an infectious bee, fainted leaving shippers unsatisfied once again. Leaving their attraction to one another apart from their work, Mulder and Scully built a relationship based upon trust, which within our society can be harder to find than love. As society continues to search for truth in God, both Mulder and Scully will look into the depths of the X-files to determine the existence of extra-terrestrials. Looking for the meaning of life and love, society will always be appeased by an hour of television dedicated to teaching the keys to life and finding evidence to support intelligent life really does exist on another planet.

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