The Cave's X-Files
Commentary Archives:
the Mulder-Scully Dynamic
Post: Calling out in the dark
From: Littljoe
When I saw Mulder in *Dreamland call out
Scully's name in his sleep, and say her name again when he first woke up
and saw Fletcher's wife, I was immediately struck by the similarity to
that marvelous scene in *Kill Switch, in which Mulder, imprisoned in the
trailer in the middle of nowhere, calls out "Scully! Scully, help!" even
though he has no way of knowing whether Scully is anywhere nearby. It then
occurred to me to compare that with Scully's behavior when she is
captured, abducted, etc., and I realized that most of the time something
like that has happened, she has been unable to call for help--she has
usually been gagged or drugged. But in at least three cases I can think
of--*Irresistible, *Unruhe, and *Never Again--she has been able to call for help and has not (in *Uhruhe, she did call out to Mulder, but only after she knew he was outside the trailer; in *Duane Barry, she called out to the answering machine, knowing that Mulder would hear eventually if not then). What I am wondering about is what this says about their respective vulnerability and basic world-views.
It seems to me that, despite his paranoia, Mulder views the world as basically a much more friendly place than Scully does. After all, he does believe that there is truth out there, which he will reach somewhere, somehow, and he never seems completely to lose the hope that everything will turn out right. It seems pretty clear that Scully does not feel quite the same way; her refusal to believe in extraterrestrial influences is linked with the very disturbing view that all of the horrible things they have seen have been perpetrated by humans (e.g., *Nisei). Furthermore, even though she has seen a lot of very unpleasant things (exhumed bodies, autopsies, gruesome deaths), and you might think she would have become hardened to them by now, Scully still seems much more bothered by the presence of overt evil than Mulder is (*All Souls and *Irresistible, for example). In *Irresistible she told her therapist that she knows the world is full of predators, and she sees her job as protecting innocent people from them, a statement which certainly reflects a very dark world-view.
We talk a lot about Mulder's emotional vulnerability, and of course he is vulnerable; but I think that very vulnerability is the symptom, if you will, of a core of toughness about him which expresses a basic faith in the universe as a good place. After all, you can only be vulnerable if you have some faith to lose and only if you have a very basic trust that the world will eventually treat you right. I think his occasional paranoia is a symptom of the rage he feels when that basic trust is in danger of being undermined--in essence, when the world apparently has not kept its part of the bargain. Scully, on the other hand, cannot afford to be vulnerable because she does not believe, in her deepest heart, that there is much help for her or anyone else out there.
Though certainly her abduction and release (important: NOT rescue) has had a lot to do with this attitude, I think her basic world-view predated that event and shaped her reaction to it--after all, her choice to join the FBI was motivated by her desire to "make a difference," in other words, to protect people from the evil of the world. The abduction must have more or less confirmed what she already felt--anyone can be taken and hurt anytime, and there may not be any help. If the evil chooses to release you (as it did her), then that is ITS choice, not yours or anyone else's. (By
the way, for a REALLY frightening treatment of this idea, try the short story "Faith of Our Fathers" by Philip K. Dick.)
IMHO, this difference in basic attitude is reflected in their behavior when they find themselves in danger. Mulder goes or calls for help, while Scully is much more likely to spend her energy in trying to get herself out of trouble--talking to her abductor, grabbing the gun, fighting back, and so on. Not that Mulder doesn't try to defend himself, of course; but he is also much more willing to rely on help, whether it be emotional, physical, or even political (witness his "provident alliances" in Congress). After all, who would call out into the darkness for help, without knowing if anyone is there to hear--who but someone who believes and trusts that help will come? And who would keep silent and spend all her energy in trying to save herself, except someone who cannot really believe that anyone can help her?
This idea speaks to LT's continuing essay on Scully's need to protect herself emotionally, not to let down her guard. After all, if you don't believe the world will treat you well, you don't expose yourself to it. I think this also bears upon the topic of "ditching." After all, why shouldn't Mulder follow anything that looks really interesting? Scully will find him somehow! (Even the FBI brass know this--Skinner knew it as far back as
*Little Green Men). His faith in her ability to get him out of trouble is a reflection of his trust in her and, in a larger sense, his trust in the world. On the other hand, I can't see Scully ever launching herself after the unknown in the same way--the only time she does something like that is with or for Mulder, and then never with any hope or thought of rescue.
