HONEST DISAGREEMENT
I just went to my "bad dreams prevention" and 1) read your blog, 2) read some XF fanfiction, and 3) watched some MSR videos on YouTube. The videos with their collection of predominantly physical contact between Mulder and Scully got me thinking. I thought, "Well, physical stuff and emotional dependency -- I can get that in current TV series, too."
So I asked myself what does the Mulder-Scully relationship have that current TV characters seem to lack.
My conclusion (basically) is that honesty (resulting from respect) is what kept their relationship alive.
Mulder and Scully did have arguments.
“To be persuasive we must be believable; to be believable we must be credible; credible we must be truthful.”
Their world was never perfect, unchanged.
Scully didn´t tell Mulder what he wanted to hear. Nor vice versa.
Lies can be convenient: phrases like "It will be OK" or "Try not to think about it“ somehow are symbolic for our affluent society. Sometimes the truth hurts -- but at least it's the truth.
Even if we manage to hold up our illusions and try to ignore the facts -- the truth will get us some day. This is still very up to date if you look at current news or politics. You can watch episodes like "Darkness Falls," "Blood," "Wetwired," "Redux" and "Biogenesis" and often the subject matter is very modern, almost prohetic.
Mulder: I believe it still. Much as you try to bury it, the truth is out there. Greater than your lies, the truth wants to be known. You will know it. It'll come to you, as it's come to me faster than the speed of light.
A key dialogue I always remember when I want to give up is from "Amor Fati."
Scully: You're not supposed to die, Mulder-- not here.
Mulder: What do you mean?
Scully: Not in a comfortable bed with the devil outside.
Mulder: No, you don't understand. He's taking care of me.
Scully: No, Mulder, he's LULLED YOU INTO SLEEP. He's made you trade your TRUE MISSION for creature COMFORTS.
Mulder: There was no mission. There were no aliens.
Scully: No aliens. Have you looked OUTSIDE, Mulder?
Mulder: I can't. I'm... too tired.
Scully: No, Mulder, you must get up. You must get up and fight... ESPECIALLY YOU. This isn't your place. Get up, Mulder. Get up and fight the fight.
Mulder and Scully are heroes because the never chose the path of least resistance!!
Maybe we all have habits, which cause us and others trouble. We can either blame everyone else for the resulting problems or change ourselves –- our harmful behavior and opinions.
It's not like we are born with the right to lead a life free of any conflicts or bad news -- like everyone else should be trying to make us comfortable and happy.
Hungry? Buy something to eat! Lonely? Pay for sex! Sad? Pay for tranquilizers and therapy! You can "tranquilize your mind“... but human relationships don't work like that.
Scully: Listen, Mulder … You told me that my science kept you HONEST. That it made you question your assumptions. That by it, I'd made you a whole person. If I change now... It wouldn't be right... or HONEST.
Scully: I don't doubt what you saw, Mulder. I don't doubt you. I'm willing to believe, but not in a LIE and not in the opposite of what I can prove. It comes down to a matter of TRUST.
I guess it always has.
I've been looking for a quote like "You can find many friends who tell you what you want to hear, but it will be difficult to find even one who will tell you the truth. " I'm sure there is some Eastern phrase/quote along those lines.
What I found (there are many more of course) was “Honest disagreement is often a good sign of progress" (Mahatma Gandhi).
Scully: "You knew they wouldn't believe you. Why did you push it?"
Mulder: "Maybe I thought you caught the right guy. And because I run into so many people who are hostile just because they can't open their minds to the possibilities that, sometimes, the need to mess with their heads outweighs the millstone of humiliation."
Scully: "It seems like you were acting very territorial. I don't know, forget it."
Mulder: "Of course I was. In our investigations, you may NOT ALWAYS AGREE WITH ME, but at least you respect the journey. And if you want to continue working with them, I won't hold it against you."
Scully: "Oh I don't know. You must have something more than your polygraph interpretation to back up this bizarre theory and I have to see what it is."
Apart from all that I thought about how Mulder made Scully a better person. That she opened her mind to extreme possibilities.. and Mulder´s listening to strange peoples´ ideas. He had this way of saying, "You can tell ME, I won´t think you are crazy, whatever you have to say."
"Miracles are not contrary to nature, but only contrary to what we know about nature.“
"The X-Files" taught me that there is always something more to it, that even though me might call ourselves "developed“ or "advanced“ we can't claim to have ultimate knowledge. There are still mysteries on this planet as well as in our hearts, which we don´t understand yet. Somehow it makes life magical.
Ulrike
Berlin, Germany
So I asked myself what does the Mulder-Scully relationship have that current TV characters seem to lack.
My conclusion (basically) is that honesty (resulting from respect) is what kept their relationship alive.
Mulder and Scully did have arguments.
“To be persuasive we must be believable; to be believable we must be credible; credible we must be truthful.”
Their world was never perfect, unchanged.
Scully didn´t tell Mulder what he wanted to hear. Nor vice versa.
Lies can be convenient: phrases like "It will be OK" or "Try not to think about it“ somehow are symbolic for our affluent society. Sometimes the truth hurts -- but at least it's the truth.
Even if we manage to hold up our illusions and try to ignore the facts -- the truth will get us some day. This is still very up to date if you look at current news or politics. You can watch episodes like "Darkness Falls," "Blood," "Wetwired," "Redux" and "Biogenesis" and often the subject matter is very modern, almost prohetic.
Mulder: I believe it still. Much as you try to bury it, the truth is out there. Greater than your lies, the truth wants to be known. You will know it. It'll come to you, as it's come to me faster than the speed of light.
A key dialogue I always remember when I want to give up is from "Amor Fati."
Scully: You're not supposed to die, Mulder-- not here.
Mulder: What do you mean?
Scully: Not in a comfortable bed with the devil outside.
Mulder: No, you don't understand. He's taking care of me.
Scully: No, Mulder, he's LULLED YOU INTO SLEEP. He's made you trade your TRUE MISSION for creature COMFORTS.
Mulder: There was no mission. There were no aliens.
Scully: No aliens. Have you looked OUTSIDE, Mulder?
Mulder: I can't. I'm... too tired.
Scully: No, Mulder, you must get up. You must get up and fight... ESPECIALLY YOU. This isn't your place. Get up, Mulder. Get up and fight the fight.
Mulder and Scully are heroes because the never chose the path of least resistance!!
Maybe we all have habits, which cause us and others trouble. We can either blame everyone else for the resulting problems or change ourselves –- our harmful behavior and opinions.
It's not like we are born with the right to lead a life free of any conflicts or bad news -- like everyone else should be trying to make us comfortable and happy.
Hungry? Buy something to eat! Lonely? Pay for sex! Sad? Pay for tranquilizers and therapy! You can "tranquilize your mind“... but human relationships don't work like that.
Scully: Listen, Mulder … You told me that my science kept you HONEST. That it made you question your assumptions. That by it, I'd made you a whole person. If I change now... It wouldn't be right... or HONEST.
Scully: I don't doubt what you saw, Mulder. I don't doubt you. I'm willing to believe, but not in a LIE and not in the opposite of what I can prove. It comes down to a matter of TRUST.
I guess it always has.
I've been looking for a quote like "You can find many friends who tell you what you want to hear, but it will be difficult to find even one who will tell you the truth. " I'm sure there is some Eastern phrase/quote along those lines.
What I found (there are many more of course) was “Honest disagreement is often a good sign of progress" (Mahatma Gandhi).
Scully: "You knew they wouldn't believe you. Why did you push it?"
Mulder: "Maybe I thought you caught the right guy. And because I run into so many people who are hostile just because they can't open their minds to the possibilities that, sometimes, the need to mess with their heads outweighs the millstone of humiliation."
Scully: "It seems like you were acting very territorial. I don't know, forget it."
Mulder: "Of course I was. In our investigations, you may NOT ALWAYS AGREE WITH ME, but at least you respect the journey. And if you want to continue working with them, I won't hold it against you."
Scully: "Oh I don't know. You must have something more than your polygraph interpretation to back up this bizarre theory and I have to see what it is."
Apart from all that I thought about how Mulder made Scully a better person. That she opened her mind to extreme possibilities.. and Mulder´s listening to strange peoples´ ideas. He had this way of saying, "You can tell ME, I won´t think you are crazy, whatever you have to say."
"Miracles are not contrary to nature, but only contrary to what we know about nature.“
"The X-Files" taught me that there is always something more to it, that even though me might call ourselves "developed“ or "advanced“ we can't claim to have ultimate knowledge. There are still mysteries on this planet as well as in our hearts, which we don´t understand yet. Somehow it makes life magical.
Ulrike
Berlin, Germany
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