Monday, July 28, 2008

Modern Romance

A few days ago I had the immense pleasure of seeing the X-Files: I Want to Believe, a film I have been waiting for with bated breath since I first discovered the television series in 2006.
I, however, have not been waiting half as long as the older X-Files fans, people who saw the series to its conclusion in 2002. The film was originally set to be released in 2003, but there was, alas, a huge amount of pre-production drama that slowed the process down exponentially. When I gave up on ever seeing any new X-Files sometime last year, the fandom still hadn't heard a word on the film.
Then, sometime in the last couple of months, I was at the cinema, minding my own business in the queue, when one of those electronic poster's flicked over to a huge image of a very recognisable man and woman standing over an even more recognisable symbol: an 'X' inside a circle.
I almost fell over.
I certainly made the visit very embarrassing for myself and for the friends I was seeing a film with that night. I admit there was a fair bit of jumping around and squealing - I can't imagine the reactions of those who had been waiting another 3 years - needless to say that when I finally got into the cinema on Saturday to actually see the thing, I was positively bouncing in my seat.
Now anyone reading this right now is probably thinking that I am a) a massive nerd b) a complete nutter and/or c) completely alone in life. Only a) is really true, but let me explain why X-Files is such a cult classic:
At the risk of sounding b) and c), let me tell anyone who thinks X-Files is just a bizzare 90's sci-fi program that it is much more than that. The plot is intricate to the point of needing a reference book to watch episodes, the production team were largely (the same people) committed to the program for the entire 9 years, giving it a sense of consistency throughout its major plot arc - no mean feat - but mostly it is because of its leading pair.
People aren't still thinking about X-Files because of the government conspiracies, not because this plot remained infuriatingly unresolved in the conclusion of the series, but because of the intense relationship between Mulder and Scully, stars David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson.
The relationship between Mulder and Scully is one of those relationships - unresolved romantic tension underlies every episode - and it is at the core of the show's success, according to creator Chris Carter.
I don't know what it is, but there is something about those characters and that relationship that is riveting. Such a romance doesn't come with every book, television show, or film that is released. Some try and fail - one recalls the sexual tension that forgot to happen in the recent Spiderman films, or in fact anything Ben Stiller has ever done - but it can be achieved, more often than not by a smaller, less commercial venture.
Who can forget Juno and the father of her child in his especially gold shorts? Or - if you're one of the rare few English speaking people who has seen it - the two leading men of Y Tu Mama Tambien?
I myself have a slightly unnatural focus on reading into things that probably aren't there, having a great love for the relationship unexplored between Sirius Black and Remus Lupin, which caused my dear teacher Emma Argall to become more and more exasperated with me throughout the course of last year.
Mulder and Scully really are the prime example of the all-consuming romance, and have kept fans going with their unresolved tension not only for the 9 years the show ran, but another 6 between then and now.
To me, that proves, in a quirky modern way, that romance is still alive in the modern consciousness. The trick, I think, is to apply the spark and swooning of the fictional romance to our own relationships, to find the magic and tension in a situation that doesn't benefit from the dramatic elements of government conspiracy and alien invasion.

2 comments:

Emma said...

Oh Caitlin, oh dear... still Remus and Sirius? That's a bit distressing...

AAAAnyway, in response to your comment on my blog, let me just point out that I posted just once in the entirety of 2007.

Your marking always had my undivided attention!!! :)

emilyclare said...

This made me laugh a lot - your recent discovery of the X-files is adorable... Though I understand its rivetting quality etc I still couldn't get over how cheesy David was pretty much all the time (remember that episode where he somehow gets chained up to a bed?) and I never thought of Remus and Sirius... but I'm starting to see it. I admit I always found Sirius the most striking and alluring of all the male characters in HP world.. but I'm afraid I can't escape the classics for romance - Anne in Persuassion is one - and well, nothing really surpasses Jane Eyre and Rochester - those Bronte sisters, for all their tinyness (visited their old house and seen their clothes they were TINY) they had a hell of a lot of passion stored up... how I frolicked when I went on my first walk on a Yorkshire Moor.. no wild, long haired men came riding through though. But I found some rather delicious blueberries? Sorry... you know me and tangents. But enjoying your thoughts all the same.