samantha mexican mulder. (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} britishwannabe1) wrote,@ 2009-07-01 12:26:00 |
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| Current mood: |  energetic |
| Current music: | Turn Around - Collective Soul |
| Entry tags: | analysis-kinda, character: scully, picspam, ship: mulder/scully, show: the x-files |
♥HBIC Addendum: Special Agent Dana Scully.
Here's the next addendum, where I write an em effing huge appreciation essay about SCULLLLAAAAAAAAAYYY.
Cap credit goes to the xfilesarchive, transcripts from insidethex.
so, this must be the enigmatic agent scully.
♥dana scully: her journey over 9 seasons, 200 episodes, and 2 films
.....
♥1993-2008
She was a marshall of cold facts, quick to organize,
connect, shuffle, reorder and synthesize their relative hard
values into discreet categories. Imprecision would only
invite sexist criticism that she was soft, malleable, not up to
her male counterparts.
She was a marshall of cold facts, quick to organize,
connect, shuffle, reorder and synthesize their relative hard
values into discreet categories. Imprecision would only
invite sexist criticism that she was soft, malleable, not up to
her male counterparts.
I love my heroines, I really do. I love strong female characters. I wouldn’t say it’s because I’m on some sort of feminist crusade or something, mostly it’s just because strong female characters are just so interesting, even more interesting than strong male characters. Women characters are typically more complex to me, and there is something I find lovable about the seemingly innate strength of the true heroines. There’s nothing more lovable to me than the brave woman who refuses to be the damsel in distress, and instead of crying her sorrows away as a big ball on the couch, decides to go to work instead.
There is much to love about The X-Files. The interesting cases, the conspiracies, the freaky visuals. But mostly, the center of the story is about a pair of individuals who stand out for their heart and utter devotion to their work, delving deep into the unending search for the seemingly unattainable truth that is out there. Mulder and Scully are two foil characters who search for their own meaning in life, dealing fortuitously with the struggle against tyranny and the existence of something greater than themselves. For all that I love The X-Files, it was never the myth-arc storylines that had me coming back for more. It was always the conflicts of the characters, particularly one Special Agent Dana Scully.
In the nine year run of the show– two of which were particularly Duchovny-less— I braved increasingly complicated storylines because the journey of Dana Scully had me in raptures. Her character, such a solid mixture of stoicism and emotional yearning, was always captivating in ways that no other female TV character had ever been before. Sure, pre-1993 our TV screens had seen a fair amount of strong females who proved to be antitheses to the narrow housewives of television in the 50s and 60s, but none of them were quite like Dana Scully, the work-obsessed, slightly-repressed, and unsentimental woman who came to prove that women can run very fast in high-heels.
There is an irony in the story-arcs of the two main characters. We have Mulder who is the supposed core of the story. On his quest for the truth, we learn more and more about this truly wounded man: witnessing his sister being abducted when he was twelve years old, learning that his father was once apart of the conspiracy that did this to his sister, the ever long torment of nobody believing in his quest. Mulder is the heart of the series, the one we are almost meant to feel sorry for. He’s the misunderstood one, the oppressed individual with the tragic history of loss, devoting his life to a cause that disables the other aspects of his life.
There is much to love about The X-Files. The interesting cases, the conspiracies, the freaky visuals. But mostly, the center of the story is about a pair of individuals who stand out for their heart and utter devotion to their work, delving deep into the unending search for the seemingly unattainable truth that is out there. Mulder and Scully are two foil characters who search for their own meaning in life, dealing fortuitously with the struggle against tyranny and the existence of something greater than themselves. For all that I love The X-Files, it was never the myth-arc storylines that had me coming back for more. It was always the conflicts of the characters, particularly one Special Agent Dana Scully.
In the nine year run of the show– two of which were particularly Duchovny-less— I braved increasingly complicated storylines because the journey of Dana Scully had me in raptures. Her character, such a solid mixture of stoicism and emotional yearning, was always captivating in ways that no other female TV character had ever been before. Sure, pre-1993 our TV screens had seen a fair amount of strong females who proved to be antitheses to the narrow housewives of television in the 50s and 60s, but none of them were quite like Dana Scully, the work-obsessed, slightly-repressed, and unsentimental woman who came to prove that women can run very fast in high-heels.
There is an irony in the story-arcs of the two main characters. We have Mulder who is the supposed core of the story. On his quest for the truth, we learn more and more about this truly wounded man: witnessing his sister being abducted when he was twelve years old, learning that his father was once apart of the conspiracy that did this to his sister, the ever long torment of nobody believing in his quest. Mulder is the heart of the series, the one we are almost meant to feel sorry for. He’s the misunderstood one, the oppressed individual with the tragic history of loss, devoting his life to a cause that disables the other aspects of his life.
Blevins: You went to medical school but you chose not to practice. How'd you come to work for the FBI?
Scully: Well, sir, I was recruited out of medical school. My parents still think it was an act of rebellion, but I saw the FBI as a place where I could distinguish myself.
-The X-Files; Episode 1.79: Pilot.
Then there was Scully. Short, tiny Scully who barely reached Mulder’s chin without heels. She of the red hair, the woman who forsook a promising career in medicine to fight the baddies instead.
There’s something peculiar about Scully. She always looks a little too put together. Mulder could show his angst on the outside, with his askew hair, mournful eyes, and the mere fact that he never slept in a real bed until the sixth season. Scully, on the other hand, was always neat. Her perfectly tailored suits, the impeccably coiffed bob that even when she was in the most dire of situations, always seemed to maintain its perfection. Hell even her pajamas were always perfectly matching top and bottom sets. But for some reason, you always loved her for it. She was strict and repressed, defining herself as a career woman in the boys’ club called the FBI. She was all edges, with this small streak of humor that peaked out in intervals.
Scully: Well, sir, I was recruited out of medical school. My parents still think it was an act of rebellion, but I saw the FBI as a place where I could distinguish myself.
-The X-Files; Episode 1.79: Pilot.
Then there was Scully. Short, tiny Scully who barely reached Mulder’s chin without heels. She of the red hair, the woman who forsook a promising career in medicine to fight the baddies instead.
There’s something peculiar about Scully. She always looks a little too put together. Mulder could show his angst on the outside, with his askew hair, mournful eyes, and the mere fact that he never slept in a real bed until the sixth season. Scully, on the other hand, was always neat. Her perfectly tailored suits, the impeccably coiffed bob that even when she was in the most dire of situations, always seemed to maintain its perfection. Hell even her pajamas were always perfectly matching top and bottom sets. But for some reason, you always loved her for it. She was strict and repressed, defining herself as a career woman in the boys’ club called the FBI. She was all edges, with this small streak of humor that peaked out in intervals.
"What I find fantastic is any notion that there are answers beyond the realm of science. There answers are there, you just have to know where to look."
-The X-Files; Episode 1.79 ; Pilot.
-The X-Files; Episode 1.79 ; Pilot.
Her character obviously couldn’t be the easy one. Essentially, Scully’s purpose was to be the boner killer to Mulder’s hyper-enthusiasm for the paranormal. It was Scully’s job to say ‘no’ every time Mulder wanted to believe. She was meant to kill his dreams, destroy his credibility. Special Agent Dana Scully is sent to Mulder in the Pilot episode to ‘debunk’ his work. At that point, the audience knows it is in for a combative relationship that will ultimately test the wills of these two people. Every time Mulder proposes another new theory, Scully sighs in exasperation and explains to him the ‘simple and logical’ explanation, the more credible one. She is the killjoy, the one who rolls her eyes at the latest assignment, who reacts with incredulity at the ridiculous notion that a sea monster can exist in the Florida plumbing. But yet, it is her journey that makes us feel more pathos. Half of the time, she is wrong. Mulder’s theories prove to be more significant to the nature of the cases. But somehow, some way, she never loses her strength as a character.
"I'm afraid. I'm afraid to believe"
-The X-Files; Episode 1.12: Beyond the Sea.
-The X-Files; Episode 1.12: Beyond the Sea.
With every case she faces, her innate beliefs are tested in ways that Mulder’s never are. Mulder’s beliefs would never be crushed because his exuberance and joy in the face of supernatural encounters would only validate his cause. For Scully on the other hand, her faith was under the test. Mulder’s journey was never under real tension, he always believed in what he believed in, from the beginning of the series to the end. His journey only included an expansion of what he believed to be true. In short, his character never underwent the growth that Scully’s had to. With every case, every new validation of the existence of extra-terrestrial life, we see the kinks in Scully’s self-imposed armor. If one of the main taglines of the show were formed to literally fit Scully, it would read ‘I don’t want to believe’. Her unwillingness to accept the unexplained and the fact that her cerebral sensibilities are constantly put to the test form Scully as the more sympathetic and ultimately, the more interesting character.
"When I was fighting my cancer, I was angry at the injustice of it and its meaninglessness. And then I realized that that was the struggle--- to give it meaning, to make sense of it. It's like life."
-The X-Files; Episode 5.04: Detour.
-The X-Files; Episode 5.04: Detour.
But oh, there are things that Scully wants to believe. Her character is the perfect amalgamation of the rational and the spiritual. She has an unshakable faith in her science, but at heart, she is truly on a spiritual journey, attempting to make sense of the things she sees, the events that shake her. For Scully, one of her deepest fears is that there is no meaning to life. She would even recount later that the greatest struggle of living with cancer was the fight to ‘give it meaning’. I don't think Scully ever imagined herself dying at the hands of a disease. It's why she kept working before she died, why she refused to sit at home and play the victim. Scully needs fulfillment in that aspect. Cancer was almost anticlimactic in a way. After everything she had been through, her imminent end did not provide her with what she was trying to find: the reasoning behind existence, the proof that something greater than us helps us to live in the material world. This led to her struggle with the faith she had grown up with, but didn't understand.
This is why throughout the journey of Mulder and Scully, it was always frightening to see Scully become slightly unhinged. For me, seeing Scully suffer the results of a debilitating paranoia that causes her to systematically destroy her motel room in Wetwired is more unnerving than the Flukeman. Her subsequent breakdown is almost captivating, a woman so calm and rational suddenly in so little control of her own actions. It’s frightening to think that even the most rational of human beings can become undone. Scully was always the proof of this. In a way, Scully always existed in the slight extremities of her personality. She remained reasoned and rational throughout, but we saw glimpses into the person that yearned for something more. Never Again is still one of my favorite episodes because Scully getting a tattoo just blows my mind. It almost seems OOC in a way, but when you truly look at her character journey and what she has sacrificed along the way, it makes perfect sense. She craves authority in her life, lives on it because it provides her protection and a pointed path to follow, but at the same time, she finds that it kills the passion in her life. I think that this is what she partially envies in Mulder. Sometimes, she feels like her life isn't really her own. As an independent woman, she needs this, but her adherence to rules and regulation often inhibit her ability to let go and be free. It is this conflict, the battle between passion and authority, that causes her to follow Mulder, to adopt his cause as her own.
Priest: Sometimes we must come full circle to find the truth. Why does that surprise you?
Scully: Mostly, it just makes me afraid.
Priest: Afraid?
Scully: Afraid that God is speaking... but that no one's listening.
-The X-Files; Episode 3.11: Revelations.
Scully: Mostly, it just makes me afraid.
Priest: Afraid?
Scully: Afraid that God is speaking... but that no one's listening.
-The X-Files; Episode 3.11: Revelations.
It was always her struggle with Catholicism that gave her character a true depth, an enigmatic quality that allowed the audience to feel compelled by her journey. Like Mulder, she wanted to believe in something that cannot necessarily be proven, a reason to believe that her work was not lost, that she indeed was on a path that would provide answers. The cross around her neck was always a reminder that she wanted to believe in something greater than herself. She combatted with her faith. As an independent woman, there were times when she felt that relying on her God would be wasteful, that she wouldn't be true to herself. This is why she initially snubs the priest in Gethsemane. But deep down in the recesses of her need to feel passion, she wants to believe in God, that there is help for people, that we are not alone in this universe. I always feel that Scully never really understood her faith, that she merely followed it blindly because she was hoping that one day she would understand. This is never more apparent than in Revelations when she feels that God is personally appealing to her. It's the first time that we see her feel like humans need God, that we have to be aware of his presence in our lives in order to create a more perfect earth. If we are not, we are lost. In these moments, we see the complexity, the utter brokenness that resides behind the fine varnish of her exterior.
"Not everything is about you Mulder. This is my life."
-The X-Files; Episode 4.13: Never Again.
-The X-Files; Episode 4.13: Never Again.
This is why throughout the journey of Mulder and Scully, it was always frightening to see Scully become slightly unhinged. For me, seeing Scully suffer the results of a debilitating paranoia that causes her to systematically destroy her motel room in Wetwired is more unnerving than the Flukeman. Her subsequent breakdown is almost captivating, a woman so calm and rational suddenly in so little control of her own actions. It’s frightening to think that even the most rational of human beings can become undone. Scully was always the proof of this. In a way, Scully always existed in the slight extremities of her personality. She remained reasoned and rational throughout, but we saw glimpses into the person that yearned for something more. Never Again is still one of my favorite episodes because Scully getting a tattoo just blows my mind. It almost seems OOC in a way, but when you truly look at her character journey and what she has sacrificed along the way, it makes perfect sense. She craves authority in her life, lives on it because it provides her protection and a pointed path to follow, but at the same time, she finds that it kills the passion in her life. I think that this is what she partially envies in Mulder. Sometimes, she feels like her life isn't really her own. As an independent woman, she needs this, but her adherence to rules and regulation often inhibit her ability to let go and be free. It is this conflict, the battle between passion and authority, that causes her to follow Mulder, to adopt his cause as her own.
Scully: This is your holy grail Mulder, not mine.
Mulder: What's that supposed to mean?
Scully: It just means proving to the world the existence of alien life is not my last dying wish.
-The X-Files; Episode 4.24: Gethsemane.
Mulder: What's that supposed to mean?
Scully: It just means proving to the world the existence of alien life is not my last dying wish.
-The X-Files; Episode 4.24: Gethsemane.
Amongst my favorite types of characters are those who embark on a journey that they never intended to take. These heroes often start off skeptical of the journey, viewing it as more forced labor, a job, than a passion. Eventually, the journey develops into something more, a kind of moral duty that serves others while also helping them to understand themselves. Mulder, we love him, but it was his choice, his desire, to embark on the journey for the White Whale. Scully was sucked into it almost. At first, it was forced on her as an FBI assignment, and eventually out it became about her devotion to Mulder. This locked in her a conflict that would travel with her throughout the rest of the series. How does she love someone whose main cause is her job to disprove? She was always chasing Mulder in dim light, he with his wild exuberance for the truth. Her job was to merely debunk him. But eventually, Scully became the one of torn loyalty. Mulder was always the rebel, he knew what he wanted and he didn’t mind defying people to get to it. With Scully, she felt a connection to Mulder that tested her faith in her science, the thing that she holds near and dear to her heart. As she slowly felt more and more drawn to him, developing that willingness to—quite literally— go to the ends of the earth for him (and he for her), her loyalty to the FBI, her inherent respect for authority was tested as she found herself searching for the little green men she spent years denying existed. This is displayed in such episodes as Drive where she attempts to explain to Mulder that they need to follow FBI procedure, but instead, she winds up embarking on an X-File with him when they were clearly told not to. For Scully, she ‘wanted to believe’, but she wanted to believe that it all wasn’t real, that perhaps her faith in her science would be validated. But it grew to be more than this. She chased after things she did not necessarily believe in, things she did not want to believe in. But she did it, forsaking her own life for the will of someone else. But she needed the journey almost as much as Mulder. She was taken by his exuberance, an exuberance that I always felt she yearned for herself. She lived vicariously through him, and as they got deeper and deeper into the heart of the government conspiracy that tried to hide evidence of alien existence, her quest become one of justice. And all the while, she did it for Mulder because she grew to love his enthusiasm, and the enthusiasm he inspired in her gave just a little bit more meaning to her existence, helped her gain that passion she desired for deep in her heart.
Scully: Why would I accept defeat? Why would I accept it, if you won't? Mulder, you say that you've failed but you only fail if you give up. And I know you -- you can't give up. It's what I saw in you when we first met. It's what made me follow you ... why I'd do it all over again.
Mulder: And look what it's gotten you.
Scully: And what has it gotten you? Not your sister. Nothing that you've set out for. But you won't give up, even now.
-The X-Files; Episode 9.20: The Truth II.
Mulder: And look what it's gotten you.
Scully: And what has it gotten you? Not your sister. Nothing that you've set out for. But you won't give up, even now.
-The X-Files; Episode 9.20: The Truth II.
We see everything that happens to her, including but not limited to: her abduction, the death of her sister, her cancer, the revelation that she cannot have children, the death of the daughter she had only just discovered existed. At the end of The X-Files, she says that she would do it all over again, and we know then and there, that she is the selfless woman, the woman who simultaneously needed and detested this search for the truth, the woman who realized that her God certainly took her on the path that she was meant for, kicking and screaming.
The X-Files at it’s best was always a show about the distance between knowing and believing, what this means for humanity, which one is more important. This is the core of Scully, her struggle with beliefs and knowledge, her moral dilemma with authority and with herself. Her brokenness is what makes her compelling, and it is her triumphs that make us cheer for her. But mostly, it is her strength of character that helps us love her. The truly enigmatic Agent Scully.
And now, let us recognize the actress who brought her to life, the one who in actuality is almost the opposite of Scully: Gillian Anderson. 
I love this whole frakking photoshoot. 
So here's to you Agent Scully, because beneath it all, you're just the most adorable thing ever. I think this is one of the four times she laughs in the series. 
I'll leave you with a picture of my duo being fierce: 
Okay, I send you forth to comment.
