The X-Files: I Want to Believe
OKAY! So basically where I'm at on this thing is needz moar aliens. Also, I could have done with less amputation. Of course, I have a squick with that so the ideal amount of amputation in a movie is none at all and so that might be my problem.
I enjoyed the plot for the most part, though I have complaints; I could have done without the amputation and I'm not a fan of the fact that the only two queer characters (in The X-Files ever, unless I'm remembering wrong) were crazy serial killers. (And what's with the female bodies? They found two girls who used the same pool in the middle of podunk nowhere with that blood type. They couldn't find a guy anywhere? I don't get it.)
So I have some plot complaints, but this is Chris Carter and I went in expecting to have plot complaints and, indeed, to fully disregard the plot if I deemed it necessary. At this point, I'm in this as a shipper. And as a shipper, I was satisfied. I was not overjoyed, but I was satisfied. I think I'm always going to feel a little cheated by The X-Files because we never saw that moment where their sexual tension came to a head. We saw the aftermath, but we were never even sure exactly when it had happened. Even here, their relationship was kind of weirdly ambiguous. By the end I kind of figured that Scully and Mulder lived together, but that was very unclear at the beginning. The ending was also weirdly done - she was leaving him and then he was like, "don't give up?" and I guess she agreed not to? But when he told her to cancel the surgery if she doubted "it" for a moment and they would go away together, I was unclear with what "it" was. Like, if she does the surgery, they're breaking up (because she's choosing medicine over . . . what?)? I mean, clearly not because that makes no sense. I think he was talking about not giving up and so she should not give up on Christian and ALSO not on their relationship, but that is what I extrapolated from what *should* have been going on there. It played kind of weirdly onscreen. I appreciated the kissing a lot, don't get me wrong, (and also them in bed together and also Scully actually saying "I love you") but I was kind of floundering. marenfic, who went and saw it with me, says that as an objective observer (ie someone without post-X-Files traumatic stress disorder), she walked away with no doubt that they were definitely staying together at the end. Which is mostly what I got as well, but I'm not gonna lie, after being burned by Chris Carter so many times I would have liked really expositiony dialog detailing the development of their relationship. Also diagrams and flow charts, maybe a timeline. Still, though, it was satisfying because it was definitely WAY, WAY more than I ever thought we were going to get. It was nice to have some closure there.
I liked the character stuff. I liked Mulder still in his office with his newspaper clippings and his poster, throwing pencils in the ceiling and eating sunflower seeds. I really liked Scully working in a Catholic hospital. I liked the references to William and Samantha, though I'm sure those made less sense to new viewers. It was *so* good to see Skinner, especially because by the time he showed up I was stating to think we weren't going to. Mulder wandering off into danger on his own was so perfectly in character and Scully's face when Skinner implied that that *wasn't* something Mulder would do was awesome. The character stuff worked for me. The shippy stuff, though a little bewildering at first, worked for me. And that's what's important because that's why I was there anyway.
The shipper in me is satisfied and when I came out I didn't feel worse about canon than I felt going in. That may not sound like a resounding endorsement, but my relationship with The X-Files is SO COMPLICATED, that I promise it's not a bad one either. I'm counting it a solid win, if not an overwhelming one.
I enjoyed the plot for the most part, though I have complaints; I could have done without the amputation and I'm not a fan of the fact that the only two queer characters (in The X-Files ever, unless I'm remembering wrong) were crazy serial killers. (And what's with the female bodies? They found two girls who used the same pool in the middle of podunk nowhere with that blood type. They couldn't find a guy anywhere? I don't get it.)
So I have some plot complaints, but this is Chris Carter and I went in expecting to have plot complaints and, indeed, to fully disregard the plot if I deemed it necessary. At this point, I'm in this as a shipper. And as a shipper, I was satisfied. I was not overjoyed, but I was satisfied. I think I'm always going to feel a little cheated by The X-Files because we never saw that moment where their sexual tension came to a head. We saw the aftermath, but we were never even sure exactly when it had happened. Even here, their relationship was kind of weirdly ambiguous. By the end I kind of figured that Scully and Mulder lived together, but that was very unclear at the beginning. The ending was also weirdly done - she was leaving him and then he was like, "don't give up?" and I guess she agreed not to? But when he told her to cancel the surgery if she doubted "it" for a moment and they would go away together, I was unclear with what "it" was. Like, if she does the surgery, they're breaking up (because she's choosing medicine over . . . what?)? I mean, clearly not because that makes no sense. I think he was talking about not giving up and so she should not give up on Christian and ALSO not on their relationship, but that is what I extrapolated from what *should* have been going on there. It played kind of weirdly onscreen. I appreciated the kissing a lot, don't get me wrong, (and also them in bed together and also Scully actually saying "I love you") but I was kind of floundering. marenfic, who went and saw it with me, says that as an objective observer (ie someone without post-X-Files traumatic stress disorder), she walked away with no doubt that they were definitely staying together at the end. Which is mostly what I got as well, but I'm not gonna lie, after being burned by Chris Carter so many times I would have liked really expositiony dialog detailing the development of their relationship. Also diagrams and flow charts, maybe a timeline. Still, though, it was satisfying because it was definitely WAY, WAY more than I ever thought we were going to get. It was nice to have some closure there.
I liked the character stuff. I liked Mulder still in his office with his newspaper clippings and his poster, throwing pencils in the ceiling and eating sunflower seeds. I really liked Scully working in a Catholic hospital. I liked the references to William and Samantha, though I'm sure those made less sense to new viewers. It was *so* good to see Skinner, especially because by the time he showed up I was stating to think we weren't going to. Mulder wandering off into danger on his own was so perfectly in character and Scully's face when Skinner implied that that *wasn't* something Mulder would do was awesome. The character stuff worked for me. The shippy stuff, though a little bewildering at first, worked for me. And that's what's important because that's why I was there anyway.
The shipper in me is satisfied and when I came out I didn't feel worse about canon than I felt going in. That may not sound like a resounding endorsement, but my relationship with The X-Files is SO COMPLICATED, that I promise it's not a bad one either. I'm counting it a solid win, if not an overwhelming one.