|
It is the final result of our research from the course WMST 498k , taught by Katie King in the Womens Studies Department at the University of Maryland at College Park. With our new insight into media studies, we've focused on the character Dana Scully of the Fox Television program, The X Files . This project involves our analysis of the internal and external factors that construct and maintain the character Dana Scully. We are pinpointing those factors that make her a commodity across television worldwide. We have focused on the fan response that we found to The X Files and to Dana Scully on the internet. The creation of Dana Scully by Chris Carter and Fox TV has had global effects. A major cause of this is the magnitude of distribution that a large network like Fox is equipped to provide. For example, The X Files was the first program broadcast by the Sky Two Satellite Entertainment Channel in Europe. Global distribution of the show was assumed from its earliest conception, since Rupert Murdoch owns both Fox and Sky Two. Fans from all around the industrialized world tune in each week to catch glimpses of Scully as she tackles cases alongside her partner, hoping to catch those rare insights into her life. Fans then promote the character in various ways, responding to how she infiltrates their lives in a collective effort to gain viewer agency and celebrate their similar pleasure(s) from the show. Appearance and behavior, primarily molded by conventional constructions of femininity, play a pivotal role in the inception of female characters like Dana Scully. This means that in tv and film representation (although tv seems to remain more conservative and traditional), both what constitutes "woman", and the space that "woman" inhabits is dictated by what is considered to be an unmarked "feminine". In terms of appearance and behavior, Scully is limited by these conventions. In order to bring an "appropriate" amount of "femininity" to a character who is based on pragmatism and scientific reason, producers of the program had to somehow mold Scully into an icon. They had to do this without incorporating sexuality into the character, for fear of detracting from the validity of the female character. Instead, they subtly taunt viewers, who are initially led to believe that Scully is a woman of independence-a single woman, a strong FBI agent. At the same time, it is repeatedly proven that she is entirely dependent on her lead, Mulder. As Mulder seems to conceptualize at the speed of light, Scully is typically left behind in a quizzical funk. She literally clings to Mulder, and it is he who comes to her rescue when she seems to have forgotten her FBI training and common sense altogether. In interpreting the character of Dana Scully, we can focus on the way she looks in the program. This encompasses many things, beginning with her race, to how much make-up and what clothes she wears. We can then look at her movements and how much space she takes up on the screen. These embodiment issues seem to be exclusively connected to women's role and the space that they inhabit in television and film. For example, it is known that initially Chris Carter and the other producers of the X-Files were unhappy with Gillian Anderson's appearence, thinking her to be "not attractive enough" for the audience. This is something that is almost exclusively applied to women in television and film. Our analysis of the audience of the X Files took place primarily in the World Wide Web. We found countless pages dedicated to Dana Scully. Many of them relied on reinforcing the qualities that are promoted by the producers. Frequently, the fans tend to focus and elaborate on certain aspects of Scully's character. We can understand issues of viewer agency by analyzing the way the Scully character is treated by fans. Many times they are able to continue her story without the help or hindrance of the Fox TV network. This fan appropriation of images and characters has put the network in the defensive. Last year it began contacting X-Files web page authors, or X-Philes, and asking them not to use these images and characters without permission on the web. Fox's campaign went as far as taking away web access from these people. Consequently, a protest was started on the web to defend the rights of fans to interpret and celebrate the program. This brings up the question of who owns the image and the character. Can viewers (readers) be limited or restricted from understanding, and in this way appropriating(reading) the program(text)?
This page was created by Cory Smith (kauhrey@wam.umd.edu) and Luci Fort (bloo@wam.umd.edu). We welcome any questions or comments. last updated 4.23.97 |
