The Search For Truthiness

[bloodyrosemccoy]

Following Netflix’s suggestion, I finally started watching The X-Files. Partly it was in an attempt to understand what the hell everyone else was watching back in the day when I was an adorable little counterculture twerp who feared scary TV shows, and partly it was being sick of only having seen what fans assure me are the four worst episodes,* although how they differentiate is difficult to tell now that I've seen more. I mean, they're all pretty bad. And as I watch, I think I’m finally starting to understand what my sister was talking about when she explained her addiction to True Blood. My thought processes for The X-Files go something like this:

“Dang, this is a terrible show.”
*next episode*
“Totally boring and pointless.”
*next episode*
“Nobody told me the actors were this bad.”
*next episode*
“And I never knew how completely ineffective Scully and Mulder are.”
*next episode*
“I mean, do all of these monster-of-the-week episodes end with the monster still at large, or at most temporarily inconvenienced?”
*next episode*
“Why am I still watching this?”

You get the idea.

Although I am having a great time seeing just how different things were just under two decades ago. I can see how people get stuck in the When I Was Your Age loop: it’s fascinating to see how things change. Even the mindset is different. (No Straight To The Internet mentality—not even for crazy conspiracy theorist loners looking to meet other crazy conspiracy theorist loners—and at least one episode based entirely on phone tag.) Pretty entertaining.

Mostly, though, it’s a perfect show to ignore while writing, and I’ve certainly got a lot of that to do if I’m gonna get this OGYAFE done by my own deadline. Time to turn on another boring ineffective badly-acted** X-File and get back to work!

*next episode*


*The one where Scully gets an evil tattoo, the one where Bryan Cranston's head explodes, the one where inbred hillbillies booby trap their house, and the one where Deep Roy crawls up people's asses and kills them.

**The first season has terrific sound mixing, though. I can hear every single ambient conversation in the street scenes. Sadly, though, I was left hanging with the drama of Lady Trying To Establish Which Store She Will Meet Someone In Front Of Later in favor of some other story about monsters running amok. Also I swear our heroes are being shadowed by one very determined, Tourette’s-affected dog.

Comments

[stormteller.livejournal.com]

If you're watching the show in sequence from the beginning, I think it gets better much later on. However, having only seen random smatterings of it myself, I can't promise this.

[westrider.livejournal.com]

The pre-Internet, pre-Cell Phone nature of Buffy and Angel has been amusing me quite a bit, too. They do eventually kind of catch up, but from a 2011 perspective it all still looks pretty primitive.

[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

It's mindblowing how fast it goes, isn't it?

[baby-rissa-chan.livejournal.com]

The interesting thing about it for me is that when I went back and watched it in recent times, aside from the episodes that specifically had to do with computers and such, I didn't even notice the pre-internet, pre-cell phone thing. It just kind of struck me as natural and matter of fact until I hit a computer episode, and then suddenly I went "hey, wait a minute..."

[westrider.livejournal.com]

More than the Internet, what got me were the Cell Phone-less bits. There are a ton of episodes where the tension is largely created by not being able to get in touch with someone, or needing to find a phone or something, which is trivial now that everyone has a cellphone.

I think part of why it struck me so strongly is that I was* pretty resistant to the idea of getting a cellphone, so it's something I'm kind of sensitized to.

Also, it's kind of striking whenever you see a Pay Phone on those shows. Those are pretty rare these days.

*And still am, in many ways. Whenever my phone finally dies, I always go for the most basic, stripped down version I can get.

[baby-rissa-chan.livejournal.com]

Totally with you on the cellphone resistant thing and getting the stripped down ones, but I think I went the opposite way in response - instead of being overly sensitized to their lack in the show, it makes it feel natural. Of course you might have trouble getting in touch with someone at a moment's notice! Of course there isn't always a phone around when you need one!

[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

I am so relieved I'm not the only one who wants a basic CELL PHONE. Okay I want a magic tablet, too, but not as a phone!

[westrider.livejournal.com]

I've talked to a number of people who pretty much agree with my list of what they want in a cell phone, perhaps +/- one feature. For myself, I want phone calls (with caller ID, Voice Mail, all that stuff), text messaging, and an Alarm Clock. Everything else just gets in my way.

[dark-phoenix54.livejournal.com]

You have to approach the X-Files as a comedy, sort of a Sean of the Dead thing. At least, that's how I always viewed it. Even the writers got that; the Lone Gunmen are proof of that! (you won't have seen them yet if you're in the first season)

I hated all the damn conspiracy episodes. I much preferred the one shot monster ones, because of the funny factor. The conspiracy ones took themselves too seriously.

[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

All my favorite episodes are the self-aware ones. (And yes, I've seen the Lone Gunmen, but not much of them yet.) I find it pretty entertaining, too. I want to watch it with my sister and make serious fun of it.

[moonchylde.livejournal.com]

My father and I enjoy the "wow things that have changed" conversation every few years. I look forward to doing it to my nieces after they hit the cynical teen years.

[sriti.livejournal.com]

I'm afraid I was one of those X-files obsessed people back in the days, so much so that I even named my diary "Dearest Mulder" (not just dear, dearEST!)X-files was my LIFE, I'd have rather DIED before I missed a single episode! Oh, so many fantasies about me and Mulder!

Thank god I grew up.

[gryfindormia.livejournal.com]

I'm inclined to agree. I only watched it because my parents did, and I didn't have a say in what we watched. Then my parents went to sleep with the radio, faithfully tuned to Art Bell.

I swear Keanu Reeves and David Duchovny were separated at birth.

[gwalla.livejournal.com]

I always preferred the monster-of-the-week eps. The ones about the Big Bad Conspiracy bored me to tears. I really could not give less of a shit about the Cigarette-Smoking Man.

The best were the ones written by the guy who played Fluke Man, because he always made fun of the whole thing. And especially made fun of Mulder.

[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

The comedy writer who wasn't sure why he was writing for this show? Yup. The one thing that actually made me laugh out loud was from an episode he wrote--"Humbug." It wasn't even a line; it was just a well-timed cut to a shot of Mulder posing. It was obviously self-aware and meant to be funny--and it succeeded beautifully.

[gwalla.livejournal.com]

The GQ pose? Yeah, that was a golden moment.

IMO, his crowning achievement was "Jose Chung's From Outer Space", which thoroughly skewered the show itself and all of the UFOlogy & conspiracy bullshit it drew on. And in a later episode he revealed how Mulder was fated to die (it's...not a particularly heroic end).

[(Anonymous)]

I never got into that show either. I'm glad I'm not the only one.

[dreams-cametrue.livejournal.com]

By the way, that was me. No idea why Eljay signed me out...