ESSAY#4: "A Tale of Twin Twins" <TF&M Topic>
Bernardine
ESSAY#4: "A Tale of Two Twins"
TOPIC: Mirror images/twins in The X-Files
Bernardine --March 30, 1997
Barbara has set the bar pretty damn high this week ... not only did
she come up with the parody of the season but it all sounded
absolutely CREDIBLE! (especially the part about the master
manipulators). So in admiration I offer my Twin Studies presentation
of Mulder and "Lanny" from Humbug.
This is a twin twins theory of course that hails back to a discussion
initiated some time ago (by Alyssa Fernandez to be exact) in regard to
the "Dueling Mulders". Alyssa's theory posited that there were indeed
two Mulders -- the narcissistic "Ditching Mulder" and the loving,
caring "Devoted Mulder" (I don't remember specifically what Alyssa
called the two Mulders) and these terms are used to describe his
oft-unpredictable interactions with his partner Scully. Devoted
Mulder is the adult that has completed his developmental process. He
is capable of caring for others and has evolved a mature perspective.
Like Lanny, Devoted Mulder is a caregiver and prone to philisophical
outpourings. He is however, somewhat repressed and withdrawn -- the
burden of carrying their twins around with them constantly takes a
visible toll on even the most advanced and giving personalities.
Ditching Mulder -- the evil twin -- is actually an internalization of
the boyhood trauma that Mulder experienced at his sister's
disappearance. Like Leonard, Ditching Mulder is a deformed creature,
stunted at an early developmental stage of growth. He is egocentric
and his goal is singular: to recover his lost sister, release the
guilt and shame that he harbours and receive her unconditional love
again. Or as Lanny says in Humbug of Leonard: "I don't think he knows
he's harming anyone. He's merely seeking .... another brother." Or
sister, in the case of Ditching Mulder.
The parallel is unmistakable when we look at the emergence of Ditching
Mulder at the bare scent of a Mytharc plotline. Tearing himself free
from Devoted Mulder's psyche he exits on a rampage of destruction
grasping blindly at anything he sees that feels like his sister or
that will lead him to his emotional goal. Like Leonard he leaves only
bodies in his wake. Also, the situations that often emerge and
surround Ditching Mulder's escapades are clear memories of the
atmosphere prevalent in Humbug. The level of excitement, the
suspension of disbelief, the uncanny special effects. Surely
"carnival" would not be a misplaced adjective when Ditching Mulder is
called into action.
We can only hope that unlike Lanny, Devoted Mulder will be able to
willfully separate himself from Ditching Mulder before the latter's
hopeless search will end in mutual tragedy. Or perhaps following the
example of the Conundrum, Devoted Mulder will be able to "incorporate"
Ditching Mulder into himself, and blend the two in such a way as to
produce a whole, functional being.
Devoted Mulder and Ditching Mulder, Lanny and Leonard -- at constant
self-endangering odds with the other and yet hopelessly joined at the
hip.
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