Discussing
The X-Files: myth-making that matters

John J. Thompson

John J. Thompson
January 26, 2016

The X-Files believes there must be something “out there” that will help us make sense of what is happening “down here.”

Shanti
January 27, 2016

I always like to say the Bible is the greatest story ever written which is true so I'm all on board with C.S Lewis calling it a myth that is real. Great author too.
X-Files airs this Sunday so I'm glad there's not many spoilers in this article. However, there is a minor one but I wouldn't have totally called it.
Personally, as an avid Star Trek viewer I have always liked seeing aliens as just another sentient species like Man that is just as (morally) flawed and the reason for their apparent evil is just to survive. I've always liked that. Would be interested to see how they are shown on The X-Files. The show has never really given their point of view.
I'm an author too. Science fiction if you haven't guessed already, and I'm trying to integrate my faith into my storytelling without being apocryphal.

John Tindale
January 28, 2016

It's true that there are archetypes that hold true for humans across cultures, religions and nations and all the good stories are able to tap into these universal themes, tropes, or memes.
For the Christian, we believe that it is because of the tug of the Holy Spirit and the call of God to bring us all back to Him. The only trouble is that for the nonbeliever, all these myths, stories, legends and narratives all seem to hold an equal footing. What story do you chose to believe when they all seem equal and valid?

JKana
January 28, 2016

In Reply to Shanti (comment #27818)
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Another huge Star Trek fan here. You're right...Star Trek did give the vantage of multiple "cultures" via opportunities to explore a lot of "what if" scenarios with life on other worlds. We don't usually get that perspective on extraterrestrial life. But then, in shows like The X-files, the aliens are visiting us...not the other way around. In Star Trek, the entire universe is portrayed like the global community of today, dominated by a western ideology (albeit a secular humanist utopian ideology) that prides itself on openness to the cultures of others. Although there are varying degrees of sophistication, MOST of the cultures in the Star Trek universe are mobile in space, advanced in technology, and (let's admit it) ridiculously humanoid in quality...enough that rather sophisticated communications and treaties are possible despite light-years of difference in space and time. In other words, in the Star Trek universe, the different alien and human races are on a more or less equal footing.

Not so in The X-files...and that's what makes it so terrifying. It invites us to imagine how "other" the little green men might be--how "primitive" we would seem to them, and how "petty" our morality might be in the face of their own competing ideals. Being the lab animals for a superior species is truly a horrific prospect.

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