ESSAY #11: Mulder is losing it (1/2)
Loligo Opalescens
(You didn't think I was going to pass this one up, did you? ;-) )
Mulder's mental health is on a downward spiral. His descent has been
swifter this season than in the past, but he's been heading downhill
ever since the pilot. The events of his childhood were like a spring
coiled inside him, just waiting to push him over the edge. I think
there would eventually have been a crisis no matter how he decided to
live his life, but I can't prove that. What I can do is trace how the
events that we have witnessed have interacted with his psychological
make-up to cause him ever-increasing troubles.
I know some people are going to say "Mulder's been nuts from day one,"
but there's nuts and then there's nuts. Watch the first couple of
episodes again: Mulder is cocky. He wears his X-Files weirdness
proudly, like a badge of honor. He's cynical, certainly, but still
upbeat. He's excited, happy even, when they lose those 9 minutes.
He's wide-eyed with wonder. You don't have to focus on the
Angst!Mulder episodes of season 4 to see that those qualities have
changed -- it's apparent in every episode (except for maybe Synchrony,
which was completely lacking in authentic characterizations).
I want to speculate for a moment (OK, several) about what Mulder's
life was like between the abduction and the pilot episode of TXF.
Samantha was abducted, laying down the complex web of psychic traumas
that has come to dominate Mulder's life. But I think those traumas
were quickly compartmentalized and repressed. Not just the facts of
the matter (which Mulder is now so obsessed with recovering), but the
emotions, too. I'm not talking about total amnesia -- I think that at
any point, if you had asked him what happened he would have been able
to tell you that his sister had disappeared under mysterious
circumstances and everyone in his family was quite distraught. But
emotionally, it would have felt like something that happened to
someone else, and he would have been likely to deny its centrality in
his life. Given his intelligence, charm, and good looks, and his use
of this defense mechanism, I think that he probably put together a
pretty good semblence of a normal life and normal persona.
And who could blame him for this? Who, in his shoes, would not want
to defend himself from such intensely negative, threatening emotions?
(In other words, i do not subscribe to the "Mulder on meds" school of
thought that appears sometimes in pre-XF Mulder fanfic -- I think that
only recently has he even approached that level of overt suffering).
I wish that I knew what prompted him to undergo regression hypnosis
for the first time, because I think that's a *huge* milestone in his
development. You don't voluntarily give up a defense that's working
well. Maybe being dumped by Phoebe was the precipitating crisis.
Given the loss of his sister and his concomitant perceived loss of his
parents' love, he is probably extremely sensitive to issues of
abandonment. Anyway, something made the old trauma flare up with a
vengeance, and he had to retrench, find some new way to protect
himself. Given his talents, it's not surprising that
intellectualization was his next defense of choice. Turn her
disappearance into a mystery to be solved. Focus on the intellectual
aspects of it, to stave off the emotional aspects. Also, by trying to
solve the mystery of her disappearance, he can deny what he
subconsciously sees as his fault in the matter. "See? I never wanted
her to disappear! I'm trying to get her back!"
This is where he's at when he first meets Scully. The abduction has
taken center stage in his life, and his discovery of the X-Files
allows it to be the center of his professional as well as his personal
life. But emotionally he seems to be functioning pretty smoothly,
just your average brilliant, charming, handsome guy.
He has no idea what's in store for him, both in terms of the external
forces arrayed against him, and the internal forces waiting to bring
him down.
Wow, this is turning out longer than I expected. I'll get back to
y'all with part 2 soon.
L.O.
(Sister EP, OBSSE)
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/8796/xindex.html
LDShupe
This type of thoughtful analysis is why I love this newsgroup so much!!! I
wonder if CC and 1013 have as good a grasp on the characters and their
motivations as some in this ng do!
fea...@worldnet.att.net (Loligo Opalescens) writes:
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Eldee
(formerly dba LDShupe--thanks Gizzie)
The best things in life aren't things.
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catherine yronwode
KHinsman wrote:
>
> Hey Loligo Opalescens -- nice job on the analysis.
I agree.
> I think if Mulder is really "losing it" or cracking up, he wouldn't be
> a threat to CSM or the other guys who have something to hide. The fact
> that they're scared of him shows that he's really on to something --
> he's really getting close to the truth. His paranoia has substance, a
> reason for being.
These two scenarios are not incompatible -- he can be cracking up AND
getting closer to the truth -- which ought to scare CSM quite a bit,
because there is nothing he wants less than to have the truth in the
hands of a madman.
> At the end of Herrenvolk, CSM has the Assassin "Steroid Man" heal Mrs.
> Mulder, because if she died, Mulder would become a man with nothing to
> lose.An even bigger threat than he already is. If he were going nuts,
> they would have just let Mrs. Mulder die and let Mulder go to the
> Funny Farm.
No, i disagree. That the death of Mrs. Mulder would ause Fox to become a
man with nothing to lose is what CSM tells the Schwartenalien, but he is
lying, and many hints have been dropped as to the exact nature of his
lie: CSM is still in love with Mrs. Mulder. He can't bear the thought of
losing her. And even though they were quarelling at one point, she
reciprocates his friendship to at least some degree, because, as CSM
told Mulder, she was trying to retrieve the ice pick thingy for him when
she had her stroke.
> But I like your comments concerning Mulder's feelings towards Scully
> and how much he depends on her. It scares him how much he needs her,
> and yet she's feeling pretty helpless because she doesn't really
> realize how much power she has.
Yeah, this was made evident, in retrospect, in "Never Again," where we
see Mulder phoning her repeatedly and also rather desperately waiting
for a phone call from her. However, later, when she gets out of the
hospital, he can only be sarcastic and flip, until that great ending,
where he almost blurts out something meaningful ("Yeah, but it's m---")
and then stops cold. It seems obvious to me that he knows how hung up he
is on her, but she has no idea, because he won't speak his heart or
mind.
catherine yronwode
The Lucky Mojo Curio Co.: http://www.luckymojo.com
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Barbara Ruef
On 23 Jun 1997, KHinsman wrote:
> Hey Loligo Opalescens -- nice job on the analysis. I think if Mulder is
> really "losing it" or cracking up, he wouldn't be a threat to CSM or the
> other guys who have something to hide. The fact that they're scared of him
> shows that he's really on to something -- he's really getting close to the
> truth. His paranoia has substance, a reason for being.
I think I agree with you that there's something to hide
but to play devil's advocate (CSM's advocate?) I'll say that it
may not be the case. Mulder's paranoid and will see something
even if there is nothing to be found. If they are aware of his
tenuous grasp on his own sanity, they might also realize that he
is a danger to them even if he only "thinks" there is substance.
There could be nothing to find but with his mania he could damage
their legitimate, covert work for the good of mankind. Mulder
is an unknown variable they can't control while he's a living
breathing member of the community.
> At the end of Herrenvolk, CSM has the Assassin "Steroid Man" heal Mrs.
> Mulder, because if she died, Mulder would become a man with nothing to
> lose. An even bigger threat than he already is. If he were going nuts,
> they would have just let Mrs. Mulder die and let Mulder go to the Funny
> Farm.
I still think CSM was actually referring to himself and
simply projected his reasons for wanting her alive onto Mulder.
If Mrs. Mulder were to die...CSM would have no reason to live.
Barbara
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"Ketchup on the X-Files Mytharc" at Bernardine's Newbie Friendly Site
<http://www.navnet.net/~pettigrw/> <bjr...@unix.tamu.edu>
"Don't count your weasels before they pop, dink!" - The Tick -
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