The American Dream in The X-Files: The Jersey Devil, Shadows, and Ghost in the Machine
1x04 The Jersey Devil (Monster of the Week)
In conformity with my theory that the X-Files invert the American dream to depict the country as a dystopian nightmare, the main reference to the American dream here is in its opposite, the poverty and homelessness we see depicted. It's also possible that the Devil him/herself also calls the reality of the dream into question.
In fact since I started these posts I have had to revise my view of the American dream somewhat. You will remember that the original definition I adopted from Wikipedia included the pursuit of individual prosperity in a capitalist system with few constraints. SInce then I have discovered that originally the phrase 'American dream' meant nothing of the sort, and I'm delighted because of course it solves my main problem with the American dream as I originally defined it, which is that we can't all be Elon Musk in a capitalist system.
I discovered that the first use of the phrase was as recent as 1895 and also that initially it warned against multimillionaires:
'Beware resentful multimilliionaires, for they will destroy the American dream.
'That, in a nutshell, was the warning issued by an article in the New York Post in 1900, which cautioned readers that "discontented multimillionaires" form the "greatest risk" to "every republic". The problem was that multimillionaires "are very rarely, if ever, content with a position of equality". But if the rich were to be treated differently from other Americans, "it would be the end of the American dream".
'The article, reprinted in regional papers around the country, argued that multimillionaires insist on special privileges, their own rules, demanding to be treated as an elite class. All previous republics had been "overthrown by rich men", it added, and America seemed to have plenty who were ready to wreak havoc on democracy without consequence[...].' (Sarah Churchwell: Behold, America. Bloomsbury Publishing, London, 2018. Chapter 1)
Churchwell comments that all the uses of the phrase 'American dream' for at least a decade or two after it was first used, incorporate this sense that the dream should include prosperity and also the sense that excessive prosperity in the hands of a few should be curtailed.
So being rich is unAmerican and destroys the American dream. And excessive wealth should be prevented by the state. Don't blame me, it's not my fault that if you expressed this perfectly sensible opinion on Twitter in 2023 you'd have people ranting that you're a Communist (definitely relevant to The X-Files) and woke.
Despite saying that I'd already found the phrase 'American dream' a bit mutable, I was still a bit surprised to find that the phrase should have two, almost completely contradictory, meanings. So perhaps when The X-Files shows us things that really shouldn't be happening in the dream, it's warning us of where the dream has gone wrong. To avoid driving myself mad with confusion I will still stick with my original definition of the dream for the rest of these posts and am now expecting the dream to repeatedly transform in front of me.
I suspect there is another reference to the American dream in this episode, which is in the use of the real life Jersey Devil legend. The use of this legend cuts through the illusion of development, safety and freedom from want, all the things essential to the dream, and brings back the fear that all colonists have of lands they colonise. It is depicting the dream as an illusion, because the land isn't really safe, and the homelessness suggests that could still happen to you.
1x05 Shadows (Monster of the Week)
There are no overt references to the American dream beyond the presence of secretive agents of an unhelpful, unnamed government agency, as a reminder that the government can do what it likes, regardless of the rights which are part of the dream.
1x06 Ghost in the Machine (Monster of the Week)
Mulder taps into the Watergate reference again to corruption within the government, which is the antithesis of the American dream, by approaching Deep Throat. Another possible reference is by the capitalism displayed by the IT company.
I am confirming the idea I started with, that a few of the episodes will directly be about things related to the American dream, but as you would expect, the dream will still be present in the background in many other episodes. It will sound a bit obvious but I would expect it to be there and mainly unexamined, because of being an integral part of the location of the show.
As I go through these posts I am going to keep a tally of how many episodes of Core Mythology and Monster of the Week types have significant content relating to the American dream, and so far we have
Core Mythology: 3 (1 with signifcant content relating to the American dream)
Monster of the Week: 4 (0 with significant content relating to the American dream)
As always, I'm totally unequipped to do this so if I've missed anything corrections are very welcome in the comments.