X for X Files

After rejecting X Mas, Xerox and Xylophone as either being too common or too tough to write 500 words about, I struck upon X for X Files. I don’t know about you but I was a major fan of the TV series of that name in the 90s created by Chris Carter. Who can forget that haunting theme tune?

“The Truth Is Out There” said the ominous by line as we followed the adventures of FBI Special Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully with rapt attention. The series had science fiction, horror and thrills rolled into one.  The X Files supposedly were those unsolved cases in the FBI which had unexplained elemants of the paranormal in them.  Mulder was assigned to deal with them as it was well-known that he was a firm believer in the supernatural.  He was called ” Spooky” Mulder in the FBI Academy as he believed in the paranormal and extraterrestrial stuff.  He had witnessed his sister’s abduction by aliens as a child. Scully joined him in this two person team.

Personally I was never hooked to sci-fi. X Files was perhaps the closest I ever came to liking science fiction though I liked the thrills and the mysteries in it much more.

Gillian Anderson got her big break at age 24 when she landed the role of Dana Scully in the X Files, a role that was to change her life. Here’s a more recent article about her life and career after The X Files. She complemented the role of Fox Mulder played by David Duchovny.

Given her background in medicine, Scully was the more matter of fact, rational and scientific. After all, she had a MD. She understood how Mulder felt but didn’t agree with his theories. After sharing several adventures with him, she supported him even though at first her task was to report to their boss Skinner whether Mulder was all in one place or not. The relationship between Mulder and Scully, with their very different personalities, started a off as being coolly professional but later developed to becoming a romantic one.

As a writer I reflect on th way the characters of Mulder and Scully were built up. In situations filled with drama, excitement and suspense, viewers got to understand the different ways they looked at things, their quirks, if you will and that there can be sevreral means to achive one end. I am not sure whether they glamourised the jobs of FBI Agents more than they are in reality. For us viewers in India they epitomised the slick US securtity system compared to our cops who, at least in those days, tended to be pot-bellied and lethargic beyoond belief. So much so, our minds came to associate FBI Agents with Mulder and Scully though the rational part of us said that all of them were surely not as good looking as Fox Mulder or as attractive as Dana Scully.

I used to eagerly look forward to the serial and arranged my schedule in such a way that I never missed out on them. All in all  The X Files was a slick production which won won many awards in those times for it’s cast and producers.

After reading this, if you jump at hearing some weird noise at the door or see shadows creep into your window, just remember that The Truth Is Out There!