#txfs5xe5

[absolutelyspockedtohearthat]

Strap in for another entry in why Post Modern Prometheus is everything that is right AND wrong with The X Files.

The scene where the Great Mutato adresses the townspeople in a reversal of the famous scene from the 1931 version of Frankenstein is such a good idea. As a Frankenstein girly, in the original scene, The Monster is punished for actions with terrible impact (throwing the little girl in the lake) but of which he has no real understanding (he was just playing). And besides the impact vs. intention of it all, the townspeople are quick to attack because he looks different not because he’s truly evil. And ultimately it is arguably Frankenstein’s responsibility to have provided safety and knowledge for The Monster which would have prevented this tragedy.

So a version where The Monster gets to stand up and make his case? Where is pleas for understanding are heard and change the narrative? In a show all about finding out the truth while those in power want to create false narratives? That’s powerful story telling. Plus, within the context of The X Files, where especially in the early episodes, the Other is often the villain (Squeeze, Fire, Gender Bender) this is a smart, cool way of deconstructing the power dynamics underlying the structure of the Monster of the Week stories!

BUT in order to do this, narrative needs to disavow the townswomen’s choices about their bodies, and the impact that children and pregnancy have on them. The Great Mutato’s wish for companionship needs to be narratively more important than Sheineh having a tubal litigation to avoid pregnancy. The Great Mutato’s loneliness needs to be more relatable than any choices Elizabeth makes about who fathers her children. And THAT assumption about what stories matter, and whose narrative needs have value contradicts the very things that make this episode so special. They also highlight how many episodes rely on similar narrative devices, INCLUDING the next two episodes and Scully’s ongoing relationship with her own fertility.

And the messiness of that mixture is why I can’t stop thinking about this episode: the good, the bad, and the mutato.

[absolutelyspockedtohearthat]

Even outside of the discourse about consent and the Great Mutato, this line haunts me. It’s a fact thrown out to add to the mystery. However, the reality that this woman made this choice about her body and her life which was then violated and disregarded is never addressed.

The episode never address the impact on this character and her perspective is never taken seriously. That could be because of the comic book tone of the episode, but given what happens to Scully later in the season, it seems to be part of a general sense that no matter what women say or do, they ultimately always want to mother.

I’m not saying this to be overly negative on the episode, but this assumption shows up throughout the show (and in a lot of other sci-fi).

[absolutelyspockedtohearthat]

So the thing is, Gillian Anderson is perfect in this episode and the strength of her performances sells me on this story line. I will also grant that Scully is nuanced enough (again greatly thanks to Anderson) so that I do buy her cancer diagnosis leading her to question her life.

However, the Scully we’ve seen up to now has referenced wanting to be a mother once or twice. She had talked about her love of work nearly every episode. She may vary in her commitment to the FBI, but her curiosity, her need to solve puzzles, that’s core to who she is. And a deep exploration of the pain of how those two parts of her conflict would be a really interesting story- a desire for family made unattainable by an unquenchable need to solve life’s mysteries- but we never really get that.

And I think that’s in part because many of the people writing Scully take her desire for motherhood for granted without needing to write it. And Scully is not alone here. She’s part of a foundational generation of Sci-fi women (Xena and Starbuck spring to mind) who despite displaying no interest in motherhood are one impregnating-by-a beam-of-light away from making being a mom core to their identity.

I love Scully and I love learning/imaging about what makes her tick. And I’m excited for a future with sci-fi (more recent Alien entries do an interesting job with this) that thinks about bodies, and reproduction and parenthood in more interesting ways.

[absolutelyspockedtohearthat]

Look at her face. She’s so tired. Read him for filth!!!

[absolutelyspockedtohearthat]

Ugh okay- I really think this is my last Post Modern Prometheus post for a while. Because the thing is- even though I find this episode messy and challenging and sometimes misguided- the ending is SO GOOD.

Because so often Mulder and Scully show up in these Monster of the Week towns in search of “The Other” which they have to capture or kill in order to make life for the clueless American townsfolk normal again. Which is basically the structure of most horror (and westerns). But also Mulder and Scully are themselves “The Other” in important ways. They’re the laughingstock of the FBI. Their search for truth endangers the status quo. They’ve both experienced huge amounts of physical and emotional harm and humiliation at the hands of the powerful.

So the chance for Mulder, Scully, and The Great Muttato to come together and demand their happy ending?! That’s so beautiful. And to have to be Cher?! What a gorgeous tribute to reinvention, to the queer community, and to reclaiming the narrative.

Whatever else I feel about this episode the ending is 10/10

[absolutelyspockedtohearthat]

Unfortunately the answer narratively seems to be women’s accusations of assault 🙄

ALSO I do NOT blame the character of Mulder, but it comes up in multiple episodes and seems to be a narrative device the writers lean on especially when they need to create multiple perspectives…

[absolutelyspockedtohearthat]

So this! This right here is why this episode slaps, even if a bunch of it also feels tone deaf and uncomfortable to me.

What Scully is skeptical of isn’t so much monsters (by this point in the series she’s SEEN SOME SHIT already) but the power of storytelling and narrative. And that’s what this episode is ultimately about! The power of changing your perspective. The importance of the story’s we tell ourselves. The healing potential of self-fashioning.

She learns that narrative isn’t just about attention, it’s about empathy.

N.B. (Unfortunately the episode never fully extends empathy to the women in the town Mulder and Scully visit- but there is a way of looking at this episode as their own participation in how to tell their stories. If you squint)

[absolutelyspockedtohearthat]

This! This moment right here- this woman is so delighted to have a child she doesn’t care how it happened or who the father is. Like she KNOWS her husband wasn’t involved. In Small Potatoes Eddie Van Blundht says: “I'm just saying hypothetically, if some women wanted to have kids, their husbands weren't...capable, and everybody was happy and no one got hurt, well hypothetically, where's the crime?”

And yes, he is the monster, but he’s ultimately portrayed as one of the more sympathetic monsters. He give Mulder advice! He had to wear a goofy hat because he has low self-esteem! He’s an adorkable looser that everyone picks on!

And Post Modern Prometheus gives us another redeemable monster because women want babies and narratively it doesn’t seem to matter where they come from. Which considering this episode comes DIRECTLY before Christmas Carol/Emily is WILD.

This is not one off weirdness is baked into the show, even into good episodes.