It’s fascinating today to see all the phenomena first described by this famous TV series, as well as the extent to which it contributed to shifting consciousness in contemporary American and world culture O f all the dark and morbid basement offices in all the cit- ies around the world, she walked into his. It’s hard to believe that a quarter of a century has already elapsed since we were first introduced to the red-haired doctor, who sauntered sceptically into the office of sidelined FBI agent Fox Mulder and joined him in his quest for “the truth”. Often satirical, irresistibly infatuated with science fiction and aliens, unexpected- ly realistic in many aspects and always top-notch entertainment, during the nine seasons of its original series the X-Files achieved global popularity as a drama series, which crystallised for us a view of the world as we know it today. This story of an obsessive psychologist who believes in the paranormal and a sceptical scientist with whom he investigates paranormal phenomena sounds banal, but the X-Files was, and remains, the complete opposite of that. From a historical perspec- tive, this was the first series spread and discussed via the internet; the first TV show to have an online “fan base”, and one that was extremely dedicated. Entire forums and sites were created just for the fans of the series to discuss plots, and in particular the poten- tial for an emotional relationship between Mulder and Scully – The X-Files was also the first series to gain a community of fans who at- tempted to used internet discussion to unravel the puzzling my- thology of the series. The only story more interesting than this is the one about the so-called ‘Scully effect’ - Dana Scully was among the first icons of feminism in the history of American television, and the first female scientist to be seen on TV by the girls of that time. This establishing of Scully as a powerful personality who drags Mulder forward in life happened intentionally: the show’s creator, Chris Carter, often said that he wanted to subvert outdated gender groups and place a woman in the position of a pillar of strength for an ultimately an- ti-macho man. Gillian Anderson, who plays Scully, has stated repeat- edly that she received countless letters from fans who thanked her for being the reason they chose to study medicine or some other field of the natural sciences. During all nine seasons, in the period between 1993 and 2002, the X-Files (due to its unnoted popularity that was renewed three years ago) had solid viewership in the U.S., but not great figures for that era, while in Europe and around the rest of the world it was the first phenomenon to attract different generations and profiles of viewers. Popular shows that had been watched globally up until that time, such as Dynasty, Twin Peaks and the Twilight Zone, had attracted only specific niches of viewers, while cult hits like Sein- feld lacked a fanatic online base of fans who speculated endless- ly on every scene in the series. In that sense, the X-Files was the first offshoot of pop culture to connect people around the world. On the other side, when it comes to the narrative, the topics dealt with by the X-Files and the way in which the creative forces behind the series - Chris Carter, Vince Gilligan and Frank Spotnitz – regarded the memory, beliefs and fate of the individual paved the way for modern television in the U.S. and, at the waning of the mil- lennium, gave shape to various postmodern ideas. For a start, the X-Files was always much more than an ordinary entertainment sto- ry for fans of the fantastical. The focus of the story was never on the
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