Religion in The X-Files

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skeptical
partner. Several episodes, characters, and story arcs deal directly with the notion of religion.

A main facet of the series is that, despite Mulder being the believer and Scully being the skeptic, Scully was a devout

Roman Catholic
. Throughout the series, her Catholic faith served as a cornerstone, although at times a contradiction to her otherwise rigid skepticism of the paranormal. Due to her career in science and medicine, she drifted from her Catholic upbringing but remained somewhat entrenched in her religious beliefs. Several of the stand-alone episodes deal with Scully's faith, her questions about God, and her mission in life. Mulder, on the other hand, often cast organized religion in a more negative light, believing that many religious acts were caused by insanity.

Religious themes

The first overt occurrence of religion occurred in the fourth episode of the

first season, "Conduit". At the end of the episode, Mulder sits in a church, crying as he looks at a picture of his sister. Howard Gordon, who wrote the episode, stated that the imagery did not mean to imply Christianity, but rather a symbol of "a sanctuary, a place for him to reestablish his helplessness and the missing of his sister".[1]

However, in "

One Breath", "Elegy" and "All Souls").[7][8] In this episode, her faith in her father ultimately proves stronger than her belief in the paranormal as she refuses to be tempted by Boggs. Rather than take him up on his offer to help her contact her father, Scully visits her partner in the hospital.[9]

As the series progressed, religion was explored further. The first-season episode "Miracle Man", for instance, featured a young boy who could raise the dead. Originally the script had called for more overt religious imagery, though censors at Fox objected to depictions of faith healer Samuel being beaten to death whilst in a cruciform pose, leading to scenes being cut.[10]

Background

Several episodes of the series have directly borrowed themes from novels focussing on religion—the

The Smoking Man and an alien healer replicate a conversation between Christ and the titular Grand Inquisitor of Dostoyevsky's work, debating humanity's need for true faith in God versus faith in what an authority figure has decided is best for mankind.[14]

Reception

The use of religious imagery in the series has been met with mixed reactions from critics. The first-season episode "Miracle Man" has been derided for its depiction of "a stereotypical Bible-thumping Southern milieu";[1] with its Christ-like central character treated in a "kind of goofy" manner.[15]

Critical reception to the

third season episode "Revelations", which revealed Scully's religious devotion was more positively received. Zack Handlen from The A.V. Club wrote positively of Scully's portrayal in the episode, noting "Really, this works best as a Scully episode. I prefer Darin Morgan's version of the character…, but I doubt that version could support a full episode about God in the same way that this more searching, and lost, Scully does."[16] However, Handlen was critical of some of the religious aspects of the episode, writing that the Christian God exists "does make it difficult for me to back it as fully as I'd like to" because it would "trump just about everything else that Mulder and Scully have spent their time on."[16] John Keegan from Critical Myth noted that "Overall, this episode highlights Scully and her faith, and in the process, manages to presage many of the future plot developments for the series and her character. The spiritual war at the foundation of the series mythology is reflected in a situation that speaks directly to Scully and her upbringing, and though some of the religious metaphors are heavy-handed, it works well enough."[17][self-published source?] Entertainment Weekly gave the episode a B+ and wrote positively of the episode's "inventiveness," which "derives from its choice of the most mainstream paranormality of all—Christianity."[18]

References

Footnotes

  1. ^ a b "X Cyclopedia: The Ultimate Episode Guide, Season 1". Entertainment Weekly. 29 November 1996. Retrieved 23 March 2012.
  2. doi:10.3138/sim.1.2.002
    .
  3. ^ Kowalski (2007), p. 132.
  4. ^ a b Delsara (2000), pp. 118–119.
  5. ^ Malach, Michele in Lavery, Hague & Cartwright (1996), p. 72.
  6. ^ Bellon (1999), p. 151.
  7. ^ a b Kowalski (2007), p. 130.
  8. ^ a b Peterson (2002), p. 184.
  9. ^ Lavery, Hague & Cartwright (1996), pp. 181–182.
  10. ^ Cantor (2003), p. 228.
  11. ^ Lowry (1996), p. 18.
  12. ^ Shapiro, pp. 28–29.
  13. ^ Shaprio, pp. 19–29.
  14. ^ Lowry (1996), pp. 219–222.
  15. ^ Handlen, Zack (24 July 2008). "The X-Files: "Young at Heart" / "E.B.E." / "Miracle Man"". The A.V. Club. Onion, Inc. Retrieved 23 March 2012.
  16. ^ a b Handlen, Zack (25 July 2010). "The X-Files: "731"/"Revelations"/"War of the Coprophages"". The A.V. Club. Onion, Inc. Retrieved 25 December 2011.
  17. ^ Keegan, John. "Revelations". Critical Myth. Retrieved 21 May 2012.
  18. ^ "X Cyclopedia: The Ultimate Episode Guide, Season 3". Entertainment Weekly. 29 November 1996. Retrieved 21 May 2012.

Sources

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