The X-Files recently returned for its eleventh season, which is premiering (thanks to breaks in its schedule) some 24 years after its debut. Mulder and Scully are largely familiar to us all, and paranoid government conspiracies about UFOs have become de rigueur thanks in part to the show's popularity. (Read our review of The X-Files Season 11 premiere here.)
The X-Files, however, could only have become popular right when it did, and it most certainly has to fight for relevance in a changed world. The X-Files was – more than we might realize – a product of the 1990s. Chris Carter's popular paranoiac brainchild, to this day, still represents interests and ideas that were only relevant during the decade of its inception. As such, The X-Files, even more than any recent pop culture revival, is nestled firmly in the bosom of nostalgia. We love the show – through its highs and lows – but its politics are most certainly dated.
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The X-Files, however, could only have become popular right when it did, and it most certainly has to fight for relevance in a changed world. The X-Files was – more than we might realize – a product of the 1990s. Chris Carter's popular paranoiac brainchild, to this day, still represents interests and ideas that were only relevant during the decade of its inception. As such, The X-Files, even more than any recent pop culture revival, is nestled firmly in the bosom of nostalgia. We love the show – through its highs and lows – but its politics are most certainly dated.
Continue reading…
Continue reading...