The American Dream in The X-Files: The Blessing Way, Paper Clip, D.P.O., Clyde Buckman's Final Repose, The List

The introduction to this series of posts about the depiction and criticism of the American dream in The X-Files can be found here: https://culttvblog.blogspot.com/2023/06/the-american-dream-in-x-files.html?m=1

3x01 The Blessing Way and 3x02 Paper Clip (Core Mythology)

Anasazi, The Blessing Way, and Paper Clip are essentially a three-parter spread over the gap in two seasons, and I am going to include all of them among my episodes with significant American dream content because they cover the familiar territory already mentioned in bucketloads. To summarise: they all include the themes of government corruption, the government's involvement in a government conspiracy of silence about extra terrestrials, the shadowy Syndicate, the presence of native Americans and thus a reminder of how badly the settlers have treated them.

The Blessing Way draws on the dynamic I talked about in Fresh Bones, where the ancient traditions (or 'superstitions') here save one of the white immigrants who have treated them so badly. This kindness is contrasted with the government corruption and Scully being treated badly by the FBI. If this ain't criticising the American dream and indicating that it's a hollow sham, I don't know what is. The point is really hammered home by the depictions of the stars and stripes in the J Edgar Hoover building.

The criticism of the American dream is then put on amphetamines and the volume cranked up by bringing up the way the US took in Nazi scientists after World War 2 to make use of their expertise, which meant they escaped criminal sanctions for what they did, and then bringing perhaps one of the least proud episodes of US history, as well as the show's ongoing lies and cover up, right into Mulder's family. Mother of God, I thought I didn't do subtle, but this is sledgehammer subtle. Once again i've been listening in to the conversations on the internet and I keep hearing how an American value is that the law is even handed for all, and there shouldn't be two tiers of justice. Protecting Nazi scientists is a slap in the face for this idea.

The episode expounds both possible approaches to Operation Paperclip very well; again something which isn't easy for a TV show, particularly as we are naturally intended to think that it was an evil thing for the US government to do, and are supposed to be horrified. But the US made a decision that it was better to take these men in and have their ability than potentially have them working for the other side in the Cold War and lose their talent. In retrospect, like so many historical decisions, this sounds absolutely insane, but it is intended that this reality will sink in to the viewer and that the US government did this. It let actual paid up Nazis off their crimes to gain their knowledge. Gulp. This is also one step on in crimes against humanity from the common medical textbook ethical quandary I have mentioned before, of whether or not it is OK to use the findings of unethical research, for example by Nazis. This is some heavy stuff for a TV show.

Paper Clip also introduces the iconic series idea that the US government isn't just doing random unethical experiments on people but on the entire population and keeping some now very old-fashioned looking records in filing cabinets. Once again, the series weaves things which could happen, based on the known history of the government not exactly being above board, with the series mythology, and making a potent combination. If I had to pick a way this crashes through the dream I suppose I would have to say that in the dream citizens would expect to be free to consent to or refuse medical experimentation. Did you like the way I managed to shoehorn the idea of freedom in there?

Finally the 'ancient technology' of the Native Americans is used by Skinner to gain the upper hand on Smoking Man, returning to the complex dynamic between the indigenous population and the white people I mentioned above.

3x03 D.P.O. (Monster of the Week)

No apparent reference to the American dream.

3x04 Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose (Monster of the Week)

The only possible reference to the American dream is of people making their living and promoting themselves through psychic businesses which may or may not be genuine. Was Miss Cleo contemporary with this episode? She'd be the perfect real-life example. You could also say that the episode's focus on fatalistic determination is the opposite of the freedom to make yourself what you want.

3x05 The List (Monster of the Week)

Another kick in the teeth for the dream here, because if America is land of the free it's strange hat it has 5% of the world's population but a whopping 25% of the world's prison population (who by definition are not free) and is one of the countries which retains capital punishment. Let's just say that most of the other countries which have capital punishment are not exactly shining beacons of civil liberties or democracy, so this episode goes straight to one of the immense contradictions of the American dream.

As so often it then twists the knife in the wound by the way Neech is, of course, Black, highlighting the disproportionate presence of Blacks in the justice system. We are reminded of the historical and ongoing poorer status of Blacks in the US, from slavery, through segregation, to things like redlining, more advantageous loans, mortgages, etc given to white people enabling them to accumulate more wealth, etc. I highly recomment Mary Trump's book for further horrifying details of the reality under the dream, or rather fantasy, which is barely touched on in this episode. The reality is, of course, present at all times like ones sking colour.

Finally on behalf of the rest of the world I would like to thank the defeated 45th President of the United States of America for the way he's giving the entire world the civics lessons you all get and which we don't normally. They might even be useful for these posts. Certainly, coming from a country without a written constitution (we make up for it by having the Bearing of Armour Act 1313, which makes it illegal to wear a suit of armour in Parliament) I couldn't have told you what any of those Amendments were about (except possibly the second). But thanks to Mr Trump I learned about the Fourth Amendment this week, about the Sixth Amendment last week, and learned what the First Amendment doesn't protect the week before. He can be very proud of this achievement.

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 making the American dream in effect part of the plot rather than the omnipresent setting, and so far we have 

Core Mythology: 16 (7 with signifcant content relating to the American dream: Deep Throat, Fallen Angel, E.B.E., Little Green Men, Anasazi, The Blessing Way and Paperclip.)

Monster of the Week: 38 (8 with significant content relating to the American dream: Eve, Beyond the Sea, Young at Heart, Miracle Man, Shapes, Blood, Sleepless and Fresh Bones.)

As always, I'm totally unequipped to do this so if I've missed anything corrections are very welcome in the comments.