The Carter Conundrum
The Man, The Files, and an attempt to find The Real Truth.
      by pisher

Robert Redford + Sherlock Holmes = Fox Mulder. Math was never this fun.

So who was this Fox Mulder we met in the pilot ep? He was Robert Redford in All the President's Men, with a touch of Sherlock Holmes. Remember the early conception of Mulder as somewhat hyper? Compare Mulder meeting Scully to Holmes meeting Watson in Study in Scarlet. And remember that the character who would eventually become Cigarette-Smoking Man was originally a nice guy who introduced them because he thought they'd do well together -- just how A. Conan Doyle put his brainchildren together.

Carter credited both these influences in various ways, and I am not in any way accusing him of plagiarism here, though he did tend to stress how Watergate had affected him directly, rather than talk about how much his early X-Files work borrowed from the work of Alan J. Pakula. He didn't deny it, he just deflected attention from it by talking about how much Watergate directly impacted on his view of authority. To this day, he says he does not trust Republicans. Not that they should feel singled out in this regard.

Visually, if you compare All the President's Men -- which is a fictional treatment of history -- to the X-Files pilot and its follow-up "Deep Throat", you see the similarities at once. The long shots that contrast structures of established power with small human figures. A lot of the camera work and lighting seems directly borrowed from Pakula's film. The whole dichotomy of an impassioned seeker of truth paired with a steadier, more thorough (and shorter) partner who reins him in -- but also gets caught up in the more passionate partner's enthusiasm. The tall, good-looking almost mystical seeker of truth with a messy apartment and no life. The scruffier and smarter (but less intuitive) partner who keeps him honest, polishes his reports, tracks down leads, does research.

And The Informant -- an older man who knows many terrible things, and speaks to the truth-seeker in riddles, never saying all he knows, maybe helping him, maybe setting him up, maybe both.

"Scully? We've been there twice!"

Carter added something new here -- his Deep Throat would be more than an informant -- he would become a father figure to Mulder. The first of many. This attraction/repulsion regarding paternal authority figures was certainly something that came from inside Chris Carter. And a lot of other people too, but a good story is a good story, no matter how many times it's told.

Oh and something else I noticed -- you remember how Carter keeps saying he named Scully after his favorite sports announcer? Well, here's a snatch of dialogue from All the President's Men. The reporters are tracking down potential leads:

Woodward: (reading down list)--Sandstrom, Scrose, Scully--

Bernstein: Scully? We've been there twice!

I suspect Carter went there a lot more than twice. A bit more than he wanted people to know. And people who noticed let him slide, because what he did with his influences was so much fun. It's worth seeing today, with all its flaws and derivativeness, and it will be worth seeing a long time from now.

Carter created nothing entirely new -- he has said as much -- but he put all of these borrowed parts together in a remarkably creative and original way. But he had to borrow -- it wasn't an option for him, or an homage, but a necessity. From the very beginning. Whatever his talents were, making up stories and characters from scratch was not one of them. But originality isn't everything. There were plenty of better and more original writers than A. Conan Doyle in the late 19th century, but Sherlock Holmes is better known than all of their characters put together. Carter didn't really think up a new story -- but he made a myth. Few writers will ever be able to claim that.

But could he produce a show? A big show? Not really. He lacked anything near the experience to handle something on this scale. There's a difference between producing a Disney sitcom or a musical comedy with Joseph Bologna and doing a show about aliens and mutants and conspiracies which is heavy on visuals and special effects. He needed to keep learning from the smart people who had helped him fix his pilot script. Who were all in L.A. His show was in Vancouver. He needed help, good help, experienced help, and fast. He needed to subcontract. And his luck continued to hold out. Good help is famously hard to find, but over the next three years, he found incredibly good help. The best, in fact. And prospered mightily as a result. And continued to learn. And surpassed his wildest expectations. Well, maybe not his wildest expectations. But certainly his father's.

But further down the line, the story changed, from The Music Man to Amadeus. And Carter did not get to play Mozart.

Genius or moocher? Fact or fiction? Jelly or jam?

(back at The 11th Hour office)

pisher: I need to rest now.

Sarah: pisher? Do I look like Geraldo to you? Don't talk to me like I'm Geraldo!

pisher: There is a slight resemblance around the eyes--

Sarah: This is all you've got? You've scarcely scratched the show's history!

pisher: It's called "foreshadowing".

Linda: I think it's called "stalling for time".

pisher: Well, fair enough. It's a convoluted and complex mythology, and needs to be set up carefully. It's almost as confusing as the X-Files Mytharc. Though not quite as derivative.

Sarah: But -- we need your take on the show's demise or continuation for next issue!

pisher: I don't see the need to hurry in that regard. Carter certainly doesn't.

(Above and beyond, in the rat infested loft, the herb smoking man is -- well -- smoking. And assembling the pieces of a sniper rifle. That too. And taking notes, in case some of pisher's material could be reworked into a TV pilot. You never know what will come in handy. The screen fades to black, as we see the words--)

TO BE CONTINUED

Part Two of this article will be available in 11th Hour issue 13, available June 11, 2000.

We welcome your comments on The 11th Hour and this feature. Please send letters to: letters@the11thhour.com

< Previous Page