I'm In Love W/David Duchovny Or, How "The X-Files" Saved My Life

Here's something that I wrote recently and I thought I'd share it with you.

It's my personal review of "The X-Files" TV series. I originally wrote it for TV.com. I was feeling great pressure to produce something there. The 'Level' that they had assigned to me was "Sweathog" - as in Vinnie Babarino - and I just couldn't leave it at that.

So, with that explanation, I present my latest work - Entitled:




"How The X-Files Saved My Life"

The X-Files may have saved my Life.

In the inimitable words of Sarah Palin: "I kid you not.".

I owe Chris Carter, The X-Files writers, David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson, etc. a sincere debt of gratitude...

For me, "The X-Files" stands alone as a modern classic of science fiction. It is terrific storytelling. The X-Files is Folklore mixed with Legends mixed with Campfire-Stories mixed with Ghost-Stories mixed with some Ripley's mixed with pinches of The Truth... here-and-there.

When The X-Files was at its scary-best - It was Cover-Your-Eyes/"I Can't Watch!"-Scary.

Most every episode - as well as the continuing storyline - was written with a sharp wit and sense of humor. The dialogue was intelligent and thoughtful. The interactions of the characters felt genuine and and there was plenty of mystery, action and hold-your-breath suspense.

The casting of Duchovny and Anderson was brilliant, as they shared great on-screen chemistry and displayed great acting chops. Agents Scully and Mulder - as characters - were beautifully written and were fleshed-out. They weren't one or two-dimensional pseudo-superheroes. They were utterly human - with all the positive and negative character traits and the frailties of two human beings.

I love "The X-Files" and I will always love "The X-Files". I'd recommend it to anyone with a brain - particularly if you have any interest in unusual phenomena/extraordinary experiences. Or, even just to watch something several notches above (and much more interesting than) so-called "Reality" shows.

In my humble opinion, "The X-Files" is Extraordinary Television.

What Was That?
Oh... How did "The X-Files" save my life?

Well, it's kind of personal. Between Chris Carter and I...

O.K., O.K. ~ Let's just say that - a few years ago -I went through a very harrowing experience that was also experienced by a character in one episode. (I won't be more specific than that.)

But, there were two distinct differences between his horrible experience and mine:

In the show, the character's period of torment only lasted about a month/30 days.

Lucky bastard... My real-life experience - on the other hand - went on for years.

The second difference was the clincher for me.

The tormented character - having reached the absolute limit of his ability to deal with his experiences - finally cracked up and murdered someone.

Hmmm... Well, I'll admit that I did - occasionally, in my more desperate moments and at my wit's end - consider taking my own life. But, I would never consider taking someone else's life because of what I was experiencing.

It made me feel so much better about the way I was dealing with those events.

"Hey, at least I haven't killed anyone."

To someone, like myself, who has the occasional extraordinary experience, "The X-Files" was not just thrilling entertainment... Watching the scenarios play out in the series helped me to both deal with and to feel better about how I dealt with the unsettling experiences in my life

It also showed me - at a time when I was suffering and felt utterly alone in the universe - that - Wow! There was someone else who knew about things that I experienced (even if their version was fictional)... that I wasn't entirely alone.

Thank You, The X-Files, you're a Life Saver.