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Wizard World is a place where what’s old is new, and what’s new is old.  We see reincarnations of past masterworks reinvented and done by people in cosplay and their works of art whether it’s the newest One Piece or Dragonball saga or a new comic influenced by the ones before it like Spider Gwen.  TV shows are just as hot or not in pop culture.  Some shows like The X-Files acquire a cult following, and new younger viewers get into it bringing their new values from this ever changing society.  They put meaning and synthesize the show into their own belief system.  Some things they see in the show actually make sense while others don’t.

It has been said Dana Scully, one of the main protagonists in the The X-Files, is a feminist icon of our times.  Gillian Anderson was called a “living queen” by an awestruck fan during The X-Files panel on Saturday night.  Some geek women take the character to heart although in reality she was created by a man.  However just like most minorities who lack  ANY intended representation in American culture any representation in music, movies, and TV is a success.  So Scully as a female pop icon should be celebrated as such even though she was created and mostly written by men.  The actress who plays Dana Scully, Gillian Anderson, was asked if the character was written by a woman how things would be different on the show.  According to Gillian Anderson, she thinks the character would be written very differently.  As the final two seasons of the The X-Files came to a close the character’s role as a mother was central to the character, however Anderson believes that something like reproduction wouldn’t be such a big arc of Scully’s character if written by a woman.  However I don’t know if the ending to the show could get any worse without any hope as represented by her having a baby on the show as Scully. Anderson astutely believes her place in conversations would be different.  Of course if you’re a minority you know that in most movies and TV shows minorities by default are in subordinate and lower value roles that tend to be stereotypical and flat in characterization, and in that same sense Scully was on the bottom so to speak compared with the male protagonist of The X-Files Fox Mulder.

The interview with the actors of an iconic show was highlighted by the awestruck fans asking questions because for a show that makes you “think” at the end of it all it really doesn’t!  Even the actors said working on the show really didn’t change their world views at all so sadly although The X-Files may have been the first place you saw a Chupacabra, explored an ancient people, or made you think about aliens, it really didn’t have much of an affect on the people it should have most of all, which were the people that made it.  In fact since they were well off with money nothing else much mattered.  So much for finding the truth out there!  Instead questions came from the fans like “who tops?”  In the end The X-Files  is just well done random entertainment with little to no meaning but to entertain.  Things like having a strong female character are just a side note.  In our present culture it seems people are a little more keen on the influence and power of culture if not at least understanding that representation should be more equal in our culture in the representation of all types of people.  Characters are created now with more purpose and story combined.  This can be said of Black Panther, Crazy Rich Asians, and having diverse comedians like Aziz Ansari around.

One interesting part was when asked about how they are similar to their characters.  It was one of the rare questions that put a shot of seriousness into David Duchovny who otherwise was blasé, apathetic, and basically uncaring.  He said if he gave away the secret to how he is similar to Mulder than it’d give away the magic.  So he didn’t want to give away his big acting secret, but in a way he did.  He said if he told how they are similar it would make him depressed to think about it.  Those questions are tough to him, and so the secret to acting a character is to be able to channel and feel the emotions they would feel just from your own past experiences.  At least David Duchovny takes his job, acting, seriously.   You could tell when the question came up it piqued his interest.  Of course when asked about directing both actors pretty much said unless they start not getting any acting money they might think about it.  So the lesson is even millionaire actors are still just thinking about money first although they do a lot of volunteer work. 

When asked what they would want to tell fans of The X Files show Gillian Anderson was forthright when she bluntly replied, “Sorry.”  For such a show that made people wary of their government, think about alien life, and wonder what people will do to cover conspiracies and their asses the show ended poorly.  But with the bad comes the good, and the fun of The X-Files will live on as evidenced by the room filed with hundreds of people.  And to those people who like real life and real knowledge the truth is out there.  Keep searching just not in The X-Files as it’s pure random entertainment.  For the full interview on video check it out below!  Wizard World Chicago 2018 was a blast!  Be sure to go next year!!!

The X-Files Interview Panel