The X-Files has its fair share of great monologues, and those that close Jose Chungs From Outer Space and Max are among the most beloved. The former is a wry narration of how the residents of Klass County went on with their lives following a close encounterthis ranges from starting a cult to becoming an eco warrior. The latter is Agent Scullys heartfelt musings on her birthday present from Agent Mulder (an Apollo 11 commemorative keychain). It might seem like they have little in common. These episodes are almost at opposite ends of The X-Files genre spectrum, after all. However, they are connected by their significant use of the word alone.
In their use of this word, these two monologues appear to contain opposing arguments about the truth of life on earth. The eponymous Chung argues for the innate loneliness of mankind: in our own separate ways on this planet, we are all alone. Meanwhile, in Max Scully reflects on the strength of interpersonal connections, because no one gets there alone (wherever there might be). Im curiouswhy do Agent Scully and Jose Chung believe what they are saying? And should the audience believe it too?
Then there are those who care not about extraterrestrials, searching for meaning in other human beings. Rare or lucky are those who find it. For although we may not be alone in the universe, in our own separate ways on this planet, we are allalone.
Jose Chung, Jose Chungs From Outer Space
Jose Chungs From Outer Space is similar to other Season 3 classics like Pusher and Wetwired; in these cases the victims become isolated from everyone around them, because no one else seems to be experiencing the same reality as them. The plot of Jose Chung necessitates loneliness, because each character has their own version of events that they struggle to make the others believe; the audience might be reminded of the way that Mulder continually fails to make Scully see the world from his perspective. In this context, Chungs pessimistic words seem reasonable. Although Mulder and Scully might search for meaning in other human beings he proposes they will most likely fail.
though weve travelled far together, this last distance must necessarily be travelled alone.
Agent Scully, Memento Mori
That phrasesearching for meaning in other human beingsleads me to think of the MSR, but also of a major overarching theme in The X-Files, which is about searching for people who are lost, and about how the dead continue to affect the living. In other words, grief. Like the events of Jose Chung, grief is often a shared experience that is simultaneously incredibly isolating. During the cancer arc of Season 4, Mulder and Scully experience anticipatory grief. In the opening monologue of Memento Mori we see Scully standing alone, and though most of her words are about Mulder and her gratitude for their partnership, it conveys the overwhelming loneliness of knowing she is going to die. To go a step further, death itself might be the ultimate loneliness. How can you share death? From Mulders perspective, when he cries at Scullys bedside in Redux II she is asleep and doesnt know he is there. This is another example of an internal experience that, short of a psychic connection, cannot be experienced collaboratively. These things considered, it would be easy to believe that we really are all alone.
What can be imagined can be achieved that you must dare to dream, but that theres no substitute for perseverance and hard work, and teamwork, because no one gets there alone.
Agent Scully, Max
In The X-Files, the fact that we are not alone in the universe seems to have exclusively been a problem for humanity. However in Scullys speech at the end of Max, she vouches for the value of collaboration, and the way that people can bring out the best in each other. This is a far more optimistic take than the one Jose Chung had. It is appealing because it might make us hopeful for our own lives, but also because it reflects positively on our heroes that their mission is not hopeless.
These two scenes present to the audience contrasting versions of Agent Mulder. Alone in bed, watching a Big Foot tape withenthusiasm, the Mulder in Jose Chungs From Outer Space is a loser and borderline pervert. In Chungs voiceover he is described as a ticking time bomb of insanity; I would contest Chungs use of the word insanity, however he has not entirely missed the mark by insinuating that Mulders obsession with the truth would endanger his psychological well-being. At the beginning of Season 10 we learn that Mulders depression has isolated him from Scully. In Amor Fati severe trauma on his brain literally forces him to live in a world inside his own head. Jose Chung has correctly observed that Mulders quest into the unknown is a miserable one. It can be lonely, because the thing he seeks (whether he knows it or not) is not an objective external reality that he can share with Scully, but his personal satisfaction and peace. When he goes to meet Samanthas spirit at the end of Closure, thus achieving this goal, he goes alone. Given that Jose Chung is a self-satirising comedy this overly negative version of Mulder is fitting.
Conversely, Tempus Fugit/Max suggests that Mulder has an innate capacity for love and friendship. The two-parter introduces us to a Mulder who is trying his best to make his friend happy on her birthday. Their smiles should be a testament to Chungs short-sightedness. And while Jose Chung ends with Harold Lamb walking off alone, Max ends with Mulder and Scully walking away together. On the other hand, it is important to note that the speech in Max comes from Scullys perspective. In the Tempus Fugit/Max two-parter, Mulder is alone in his theories, surrounded by non-believers, and alone in his grief for Max. I would suggest that Mulders loneliness doesnt come from something embedded in his psyche, as Chung implies, but from the people around him and their inability or refusal to understand him.
When Scully says no one gets there alone what is the there she is referring to? The moon? The Platonic ideal of Justice? The Screen Actors Guild Awards? Gillian Anderson included part of this monologue in her acceptance speech when she won the Screen Actors Guild award for Best Female Actor in a Television Drama Series (this is something that our creator, Chris Carter, has written, in something that Im supposed to perform tomorrow and obviously Im not prepared). She goes on to thank, among others, David Duchovny, and the X-Files crew. Like Scully, she is acknowledging herself as part of a team.
But you saved me! As difficult and as frustrating as its been sometimes, your goddamned strict rationalism and science have saved me a thousand times over! Youve kept me honest youve made me a whole person.
Agent Mulder, Fight the Future
Mulder and Scully are the ultimate team, each others perfect collaborator. In a practical sense, Mulder needs Scullys scientific knowledge to solve cases, and Scully needs Mulder to keep her mind open. But arguably the point of this perfect collaboration is that it goes beyond their practical need for each other; the famous hallway scene of Fight the Future touches on this very thing. Scully has been pushed to the point that she wants to leave the X-Files, and is suggesting that Mulder could and should go on without her. You dont need me, she says [] Ive just held you back. When Mulder contests this, telling Scully that she has made (him) a whole person, I dont think this is about practicality. It is read by fans as a confession of love. I believe that the there that Scully means to get to isnt outer space but something more personal.
The surrounding context of Harold Lamb and Chrissy Giorgio implies that Chungs words are about unrequited love. This matches the pervert/loner Mulder and the work-oriented Scully that Chung depicts. At this point in the canon, the MSR is barely burgeoning, and far from consummated. Nonetheless, Mulder and Scullys relationship in all its formstheir platonic collaboration, if you willis the strongest argument for why Chung is wrong. Still, I dont think that there is love, not exactly.
The keychain makes a return in Season 8s aptly named AloneScully re-gifts it to Doggett, symbolising how his partnership has been necessary both professionally and emotionally: after this past year and everything that weve been through [] I wouldnt be here without you. I think that there is just tomorrow, and its not just that no one gets there alone but no one has to get there alone. We need only look at the journey of this keychain to see why we might disagree with Chung. Maybe in a solipsistic sense we are alone, but that doesnt mean that love and friendship dont exist. And even though it might be fruitless, we still strive to make connections with other people, because we couldnt get through life without them.
It is not unusual for The X-Files to reconcile opposing viewpoints. The famous slogans trust no one and I want to believe appear conflicting. Mulder and Scully themselves are reason and faith in harmony. The show can make us believe that both the scientific and supernatural explanations are true. However, it was wrong of me to present these two speeches as containing mutually exclusive arguments. Its true to an extent that everyone lives inside their own internal worlds, processing emotions like grief, and memories of inexplicable alien encounters, alonethis is an idea that The X-Files returns to frequently. Its also true that people like Mulder and Harold Lamb remain misunderstood by those around them. But I dont think this means that collaboration is hopeless. How can it be? The X-Files would fall apart if it was. It is precisely because life on Earth is so lonely that collaboration is so valuable.
Read the rest here:
These Iconic Scenes From The X-Files Ask if We Are Alone in the Universe - 25YearsLaterSite.com
- "I think, Therefore I Am", What Does This Descartes Quote Mean? - Exploring your Mind - January 7th, 2024 [January 7th, 2024]
- Jacek Tabisz on Humanism and Rationalism in Polish Society - The Good Men Project - January 4th, 2024 [January 4th, 2024]
- Labor icon Bill Hayden to be honoured at state funeral - Yahoo News Australia - November 2nd, 2023 [November 2nd, 2023]
- Thom Workman explores the roots of the war on science - NB Media Co-op - November 2nd, 2023 [November 2nd, 2023]
- Did the Enlightenment lead to the climate crisis? | Aviva Chomsky - IAI - November 2nd, 2023 [November 2nd, 2023]
- Exeter University to Offer Degree in Magic - Redbrick - November 2nd, 2023 [November 2nd, 2023]
- How Apple TV's 'Lessons in Chemistry' compares to the novel - The Spokesman Review - November 2nd, 2023 [November 2nd, 2023]
- Rupture and Reconstruction: A Koan About Zen Itself Berggruen ... - Berggruen Institute - November 2nd, 2023 [November 2nd, 2023]
- Adamu Fika and persona of the old-school remarkable bureaucrat - Tribune Online - November 2nd, 2023 [November 2nd, 2023]
- Craig Newmark Retired from Craigslist. Now He Wants to Save ... - Observer - November 2nd, 2023 [November 2nd, 2023]
- Is the US turning into a Christofascist state? - The Real News Network - November 2nd, 2023 [November 2nd, 2023]
- Designer John Heffernan reinvented Aston Martin and Bentley with ... - Classic Driver - November 2nd, 2023 [November 2nd, 2023]
- Empiricism and Rationalism: How Immanuel Kant Changed History - January 6th, 2023 [January 6th, 2023]
- What Is Surrealism? | Artsy - December 28th, 2022 [December 28th, 2022]
- Rationalism vs. Empiricism | Concepts, Differences & Examples - Video ... - November 23rd, 2022 [November 23rd, 2022]
- Rationalist Judaism: Anti-Rationalism and the Charedi Vote - November 23rd, 2022 [November 23rd, 2022]
- Age of Enlightenment - Wikipedia - November 23rd, 2022 [November 23rd, 2022]
- Nizari Isma'ilism - Wikipedia - October 21st, 2022 [October 21st, 2022]
- Jewish philosophy - Wikipedia - October 17th, 2022 [October 17th, 2022]
- Humanism - Wikipedia - October 17th, 2022 [October 17th, 2022]
- Word of God and Work of God - Kashmir Observer - October 17th, 2022 [October 17th, 2022]
- [Renaissance, Science and God: Paradox of Modern Western EducationVII] Individualism and Decline of the West - Greater Kashmir - October 17th, 2022 [October 17th, 2022]
- Exciting Puranic and Siddhantic Cosmology Conference | ISKCON News - ISKCON News - October 17th, 2022 [October 17th, 2022]
- How red voracity will be used and thrown in West: The Communism of errors - MyVoice - October 17th, 2022 [October 17th, 2022]
- Words Mean Things: 'Decolonization' - The Swaddle - October 17th, 2022 [October 17th, 2022]
- When Lancashire was rocked by a 2.9 magnitude earthquake the last time fracking came to town - Lancs Live - October 17th, 2022 [October 17th, 2022]
- On the brink: How yesterday's fears can help us move through today's war - OnlySky - October 17th, 2022 [October 17th, 2022]
- Rationalism: What Is It and How to Apply It To Everyday Life? - October 8th, 2022 [October 8th, 2022]
- Rationalism - The Decision Lab - October 8th, 2022 [October 8th, 2022]
- Rationalism - Teachmint Explanation and Meaning| - October 8th, 2022 [October 8th, 2022]
- Martin Scorsese: rinse and repeat self-indulgence | Sean Egan - The Critic - October 8th, 2022 [October 8th, 2022]
- The Origin Review - LFF 2022 - HeyUGuys - October 8th, 2022 [October 8th, 2022]
- No, Critical Race Theory Isn't About Teaching That 'Slavery Is Real' - The Federalist - October 8th, 2022 [October 8th, 2022]
- The Journey of the Holy Shroud of Turin - National Catholic Register - October 8th, 2022 [October 8th, 2022]
- Bengal's Tryst With Alternative Readings Of The Ramayana - Outlook India - October 2nd, 2022 [October 2nd, 2022]
- Warm and minimal: Riverview Courtyard House - Architecture AU - October 2nd, 2022 [October 2nd, 2022]
- Philosophy of social science - Wikipedia - September 29th, 2022 [September 29th, 2022]
- Expanding open access to scientific knowledge and discussion - EurekAlert - September 29th, 2022 [September 29th, 2022]
- Rome & the World: Italys elections and the Church Etienne Gilson 40 years after his death - Aleteia - September 29th, 2022 [September 29th, 2022]
- Liz Truss and the rise of the libertarian right - The New Statesman - September 29th, 2022 [September 29th, 2022]
- Debate: Theres Anger at AMU Dropping Maududi, Qutb. But Why is Sir Syeds Islam Not Taught? - The Wire - September 6th, 2022 [September 6th, 2022]
- My Say: Allowing corruption is a greater danger than corruption itself - The Edge Markets MY - September 6th, 2022 [September 6th, 2022]
- 'Date Me' Google Docs and the Hyper-Optimized Quest for Love - WIRED - September 6th, 2022 [September 6th, 2022]
- Advaita: Beyond monotheism and polytheism - Times of India - September 6th, 2022 [September 6th, 2022]
- Looming threats to Pakistans integrity - Global Village space - September 6th, 2022 [September 6th, 2022]
- Florence Pugh and Sebastin Lelio on the Battle Between Religion and Science in The Wonder - IndieWire - September 6th, 2022 [September 6th, 2022]
- How Affirmative Action Was Derailed by Diversity - The Chronicle of Higher Education - September 6th, 2022 [September 6th, 2022]
- What's the Issue with Classical Liberalism and Religion? - Independent Institute - September 6th, 2022 [September 6th, 2022]
- Evidently, Biden Does Not Know About the False Positive Risk ... - Substack - August 29th, 2022 [August 29th, 2022]
- The Jewish and Intellectual Origins of this Famously Non-Jewish Jew - Jewish Journal - August 29th, 2022 [August 29th, 2022]
- Culture, progress and the future: Can the West survive its own myths? - Salon - August 29th, 2022 [August 29th, 2022]
- William Brooks: From Western Traditions to Political Indoctrination: A Cultural History of Education - The Epoch Times - August 29th, 2022 [August 29th, 2022]
- Attack On Salman Rushdie Manifests Barbarism In The Name Of Religion: Taslima Nasrin - Outlook India - August 29th, 2022 [August 29th, 2022]
- Britain doesnt need a public holiday to remember the slave trade - The Spectator - August 29th, 2022 [August 29th, 2022]
- Manny Montes: Origins of critical theory - The Union - July 29th, 2022 [July 29th, 2022]
- Overcoming the Aryan-Dravidian divide - The Hindu - July 29th, 2022 [July 29th, 2022]
- Kid Stuff: Why Have Artists Been So Drawn to Childrens Books? - ARTnews - July 29th, 2022 [July 29th, 2022]
- The Surprising Religious Diversity of America's 13 Colonies - History - July 29th, 2022 [July 29th, 2022]
- 'It destroys your soul' - the human toll of war - New Zealand Herald - July 29th, 2022 [July 29th, 2022]
- Edinburgh University is learning the hard way that there's a price to pay for going woke - The Telegraph - July 29th, 2022 [July 29th, 2022]
- Aquinas and the State - The American Conservative - July 13th, 2022 [July 13th, 2022]
- Jordan Peterson is wrong about the postmodernists - Spiked - July 13th, 2022 [July 13th, 2022]
- Had been staying in India since 2015 with a fake passport, voter ID and driving license: Bangladeshi Faisal Ahmed arrested for the murder of Hindu... - July 13th, 2022 [July 13th, 2022]
- The Liberation of the Arabs From the Global Left - Tablet Magazine - July 13th, 2022 [July 13th, 2022]
- Roe v. Wade in the dustbin of history - The Spectator Australia - June 30th, 2022 [June 30th, 2022]
- What is Rationalism? | Rationalism Philosophy & Examples - Video ... - June 29th, 2022 [June 29th, 2022]
- Hume's Fork Explained - Fact / Myth - June 29th, 2022 [June 29th, 2022]
- Is it time for the dream of North Sydney Bears' long-awaited return to finally become a reality? | Sam Perry - The Guardian - June 29th, 2022 [June 29th, 2022]
- It's the economy, stupid - The Spectator Australia - June 1st, 2022 [June 1st, 2022]
- Jon Ronson: In 2008 Graham Linehan told me 'Join Twitter, the place where no one fights' - The Irish Times - June 1st, 2022 [June 1st, 2022]
- The 50 Most Important People of the Middle Ages - Medievalists.net - June 1st, 2022 [June 1st, 2022]
- New Aussie rules: Conservative values have fallen out of fashion - The Spectator - May 15th, 2022 [May 15th, 2022]
- The week in TV: The Essex Serpent; the Baftas; Fergal Keane: Living With PTSD; Clark - The Guardian - May 15th, 2022 [May 15th, 2022]
- Rationalism, Pluralism, and Fear in the Speech Debate - Liberal Currents - April 20th, 2022 [April 20th, 2022]
- After School Satan Club rejected by Northern York School Board vote - PennLive - April 20th, 2022 [April 20th, 2022]
- 12 Reader Views on Where America Is Going Wrong - The Atlantic - April 20th, 2022 [April 20th, 2022]
- Bicentenary Year of Mirat-ul-Akhbar: Indias Pioneering Persian Newspaper that Embodied Resistance - NewsClick - April 20th, 2022 [April 20th, 2022]
- The illusion of evidence based medicine - The BMJ - March 18th, 2022 [March 18th, 2022]
- Dubai property market is in firm control of supply and demand - Gulf News - March 18th, 2022 [March 18th, 2022]
- Fanfare for the Common Good - The New Republic - March 18th, 2022 [March 18th, 2022]