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That's a Bleepin' Dead Alien Body if I Ever Bleepin' Saw One

WARNING: THIS POST CONTAINS CLASSIFIED MATERIAL. [THE CLASSIFIED PART IS THAT I TOTALLY LOVE THE X FILES, AND I'D LIKE TO KEEP THAT BETWEEN YOU AND ME.]

I'm not going to lie to you, folks. You read the warning; I'm an abashed (according to my spell check, yes, you can be abashed) X Files fan. I want to tell you it's because the only person hotter than Gillian Anderson is David Duchovny (true), but I'd probably be a fan of the show if Mulder was played by Richard Belzer, and Gillian was replaced by Paula Deen. Ok. Probably not Paula Deen. But you get the point. I like the show even more than I want to marry the cast.

Now if you've ever spent time with me, you've also spent time with my brother, and you know we quote and discuss certain television shows as though they have some actual value in our lives. And in a slightly drunken moment, we would (and did, last weekend) argue that, in fact, they do.

I can't relate the conversation word for word. Mostly because it took place over many late hours and many strong drinks. If I remember correctly, it started out as a discussion about the show Girls. I'm honestly not sure how we got here, but the gist of it was this:

Good writers write archetypal characters that people can and do relate to. And it's good for people to relate to these characters so they can see their own strengths and weaknesses played out on the screen, stage, or page.

Now believe you me, no one said anything quite that coherent during the actual conversation. Mostly it went like this:

[general discussion of the correlations between The X Files and our own feelings about religion]

JESSE: So which character am I?
ME: Do you really want to know?
JESSE: Ugh...Maybe not.
ME: Well then, who am I?
JESSE: Is there even a question? You know who you are.
ME: I'm Mulder, aren't I?
[chatter about how very Mulder I am]
JESSE: Tell me.
ME: You're a littler Spender-y.
JESSE: Spender? Shit. Not Spender!
ME: At least you're not Kryczech (sp?).
JESSE: I'm a little more Smoking Man, don't you think?
ME: Isn't he Spender's dad? The apple didn't fall far...

That was pretty much how it went. Seriously. I'd be embarrassed, but the truth is, it was a really good chat. It was actually about our religious beliefs and the way we were raised vs. what we believe now. In the end, we agreed that my spirituality, in all it's Mulderness, is the original poster hanging on his office wall: The Truth is Out There. And Jesse's is represented by the second: I Want to Believe.

I'm sure you're wondering why in the hell that's important or how on earth we could spend more than 7 seconds on this foolishness, but remember the part about the characters we relate to being able to play out our own strengths and weaknesses? It's like a life cheat!

When people bother to ask, I identify myself as a postmodern spiritualist. It's a snobby term I made up for myself that basically means I believe in the questions, not the answers. I believe it's the search for truth that matters, perhaps not the truth itself.

Watching season after season of Mulder searching for his own truth demonstrates both the value of the journey and the internal and external struggles along the path. Identifying with him gives me a companion and something a roadmap for my own journey. A very hot companion, and a roadmap I keep in my back pocket, snuggled right up against my tush.

So what about you? Do you have a fictional character you really relate to? Maybe not the situations they go through, but the way they think? The way they react to the given conflict? What can you learn from your character?

Please share with me so I can laugh with you. Unless it's Dexter. Maybe you keep your kinship with psychopaths to yourself.


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