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something i like ~

i keep writing entries and then abandoning them. a long ramble about john jakes, more quibbling about neal stephenson, and a lengthy review of the tv series Firefly. but it was all so critical, i have decided to write about something i really like instead.

i really loved the X-Files because the basic, driving story is not really about aliens and conspiracies. it's a story about the conflict between Mulder's belief (in those aliens and conspiracies), and Scully's faith (her middling Catholicism). during the course of the show, Scully does grow in her faith as she develops a belief in Mulder's craziness. Mulder's journey, too, is toward faith, ultimately, when he comes to realize that just finding the truth and believing it doesn't mean there are answers or solutions. he realizes that he has to have something more.

if you've never seen the show or have any desire to watch it, you may want to skip the quote below; these are the lines that close the final season of the X-files. Mulder and Scully sit on a motel bed (bringing us pretty much full circle to where their [wonderfully platonic] relationship began). they are on the run and the world is doomed. Scully tells Mulder that he found the truth and it didn't bring back his sister or save the world. So now what?

Mulder: I want to believe that the dead are not lost to us. That they speak to us as part of something greater than us, greater than any alien force. And if you and I are powerless now, I want to believe that if we listen to it speak it can give us the power to save ourselves.

Scully: Then we believe the same thing.

Mulder: Maybe there's hope.

There is an emphatic gesture here between the lines in which Mulder touches the small cross around Scully's neck before she speaks. out of context, it maybe feels like a goofy, ham-fisted moment (maybe even in context). but it really did end the show perfectly. nine seasons of sometimes ridiculous plot turns and "back-from-the-dead" scenarios and unkillable super-soldiers, yes. but there was always something more and that was what drew me to it. X-files could be cheap and manipulative like any tv show, but i always felt like it had a bigger heart under all the flash, that it wanted to do something more than just chase little green men.

its Moby Dick leitmotif was always very apt (and probably underappreciated). we are, all of us, chasing our own great white whales.

maybe its the failure to recognize this (or strive for it) that i find lacking in so many other creative works.

p.s. a long-awaited movie sequel is allegedly in the works. i am not holding my breath, but if it is being filmed, i hope they do right by it.

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oh I loved the x-files. Never got to see the last seasons, because I didn't have mnet, and it's been so long now, that I feel I'd have to watch from the start again to get my bearings.

Also, Scully (well the actress) once had coffee at the place I worked at in Long Street - Mr Pickwicks (http://www.quinthar.com/360ToGo/node.php?node=Node0331)

So that makes her officially cool in my book.

the show really slid downhill after season five or six with just a bright spot here and there. but it's worth a watch to wrap it all up in the end.

and ooooo cool for you at pickwicks! ~ that makes you famous! sorta.

: D

okay ot and slightly funny story. My then bf came home form work one day (he worked in a coffeshop in the waterfront) and said :"Have you heard of John Major?"

I'm all "yeees, previous PM of england?"

He says "old guy, white hair."

"sounds about right."

"Oh. Well I served him coffee."

Okay, how can you serve John Major coffee and not have a clue who he is. *shakes head sadly*

hahahahahaha ~ that's okay. i had a long, involved conversations with both eddie campbell and bernie wrightson at ComicCon three years ago and had no idea that's who they were. afterward my brother was like: "you are such an idiot!"

fortunately i didn't say anything too insulting.

: o p

er, well, i'll freely admit I have no clue who they are, lol.

and i have no idea who john major is ~ hahahahahahahahaha!

: D

Oh lol, former prime Minister of England. World leader? Torie? No?

Ah, never mind. :D I didn't recognise my own country's former president - (De Klerk) when he was at the restaurant I worked at. He was with his new wife, who was alter brutally murdered. he just looked like and old Afrikaans guy to me.

like most pathetically ignorant americans, i wouldn't recognize our own vp in a grocery store, let alone some bigwig from another country.

i might recognize the pope. but he'd have to wearing pope-clothes.

hahahahahahaha ~ !

Speaking of Firefly, I just watched the pilot and first couple of episodes on disk and feel like making a bingo game of counting the tropes.

Aenead, ship of refugees from lost war ... old west Confederate officer refugee (Hipshot Percussion putting on his old Confederate uniform) ... Miss Kitty ... Mr. Scott ... Han Solo ... citified doctor wearing long collar....

But so well paced, fused....

well paced, yes, but the tropes kill it for me. i enjoy it as a time-waster, but it fails to stick.

some entertaining episodes throughout, but ultimately it's completely throwaway, i think. its depth comes from calling on literary and historical assumptions. the characters themselves, while amusing, never really have a chance to get beyond their stock archetypes. it's possibly a fault of the show's early cancellation, but it didn't hook me and i prolly wouldn't have watched it if i hadn't been loaned the dvd. the good news for you is: i think the pilot is the weakest of the bunch, so there's some fun stuff ahead.

and ultimately, i'd rather just watch a straight western. the spaceships and "clever" gadgets do nothing for me.

: o p

I loved the X-Files! Watched it every single Friday night... until they moved it from Friday to another night, Sunday I think it was. And that was the end of my regular X-Files viewing. Sigh.

yeah i quit watching after the seventh season, but eventually caught up with the dvd. the last seasons were kinda weak, but there was still lots to enjoy.

Was more of a MillenniuM fan than X Files. Lance Henriksen made a veiled comment at a recent British convention that suggests he might be in the second movie.

inneresting ~ ! i know he was on the show once (in a crossovery-type fashion) ~ and i hear that the new movie is more of a supernatural thing than an alien thing, so mebbe you're right!

: D

If you ever have any spare time (HA! I hear you shout) you should at least check out seasons 1 and 2 (Season 3 is kinda spotty at first but picks up at the end). The "Millennium" ep of X Files was a poor wrap-up to the series. I mean, zombies were the endgame? Really???

i will try to pick up millennium ~ maybe that will be my Christmas series. looking forward to not having school work in the evenings so i can watch stuff again.

: D

this is such a great entry!

thank you!

: D

Seriously, you didn't like Firefly? I thought it was buckets of fun. Bonus points for believable sociopolitical predictions, strong and interesting female characters, a sci-fi scenario where religion has NOT been stamped out by the gears of science, rampant multilingualism, and Jayne.

i didn't not like it. i was entertained, certainly. i just thought it was pretty lightweight fare. topical, yes, but felt simplistic. and i actually feel like zoe was the only really strong female character.

i dunno ~ i liked it, but i guess i take a while longer to invest in something. maybe if it had run a few years, it could have matured into something special.

I used to watch it (for lack of a better adverb) religiously, but I lost interest when Terminator 2 replaced Mulder. Reading your post reminded me of why I used to put all other matters aside when it came on.

i also sorta left it after mulder was gone, but i'm glad i eventually went back and finished the series. there were at least a handful of episodes (in between the many duds toward the end) that were well worth it.

: D

I loved the X-Files with almost religious fervor, and I'm sorry to say that I gradually stopped watching as it got more and more ridiculous and pathetic. I started out so strong, and ended up flopping around... eh. But I did love it for what it was, and what you say about its strength are very true.

As far as underappreciated Moby Dick stuff... her nickname was Starbuck. That was pretty darn blatant, I thought. :)

well the allusions were blatant to be sure. i mean, it was spelled out throughout the series that this was all about chasing whales ~ i just think some people didn't tend to "get it" on that level. i know the friend i used to watch the series with (who introduced it to me), just thought mulder was hot and wouldn't have even known starbuck was a reference (except maybe to coffee).

hahahahahaha.

: o p

Fair enough. And on that note, I have to mention that the gmail ads brought up by this conversations are, "Battlestar Galactica," "The X-Files 2," and Starbucks Coffee.

I LOVED that show. I want to have Scully's children. :-)

You've dissected the essence of the show pretty well here. Great post.

And I think the sequel is already confirmed and in the works. :-)

my big question is: will skinner be in the movie? please please please?

hahahahaha.

: D

Oh man, you dig the old bald guy? lol... sounds like a daddy-complex to me. ;-)

I would imagine that he would be. He didn't die a horrific death at the end of the first one, so I can't imagine that he wouldn't be in it. It wouldn't be the same without ol' cue ball!!!

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something i like ~

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Firefly

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