(no subject)
Aug. 19th, 2013 02:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ivyficJust rewatched the trilogy of X-Files episodes, "Duane Barry"/"Ascension"/"One Breath."
Now, I know this storyline happened for the legitimate real-world reason that Gillian Anderson got pregnant and needed to be off the show for a little while, but dear god. You couldn't fridge a woman harder if you tried. For almost the entirety of "One Breath" Scully is literally an object. Even in the one or two scenes that are actually about her, she lies flat and impassive on a board. I get it--it's about death, blah, blah, but she is both portrayed and talked about as a thing.
The episode is also entirely about Mulder's pain. When he interacts with Scully's mother and sister, the conversations are about his guilt, his grief, his anger, and how he is dealing with things. There's a scene with Skinner where Skinner says, "If you didn't want to pay the price, you shouldn't have stepped onto the field." Wait a minute--who's paying the price? Mulder? Mulder's paying the price? Which makes Scully, what--an accessory? A pet? A limb?
Maybe this is part of the reason why I don't love shows the way I did in the nineties--cause I can't not see this sort of thing now.
Now, I know this storyline happened for the legitimate real-world reason that Gillian Anderson got pregnant and needed to be off the show for a little while, but dear god. You couldn't fridge a woman harder if you tried. For almost the entirety of "One Breath" Scully is literally an object. Even in the one or two scenes that are actually about her, she lies flat and impassive on a board. I get it--it's about death, blah, blah, but she is both portrayed and talked about as a thing.
The episode is also entirely about Mulder's pain. When he interacts with Scully's mother and sister, the conversations are about his guilt, his grief, his anger, and how he is dealing with things. There's a scene with Skinner where Skinner says, "If you didn't want to pay the price, you shouldn't have stepped onto the field." Wait a minute--who's paying the price? Mulder? Mulder's paying the price? Which makes Scully, what--an accessory? A pet? A limb?
Maybe this is part of the reason why I don't love shows the way I did in the nineties--cause I can't not see this sort of thing now.