David Duchovny has explained how The X-Files creator Chris Carter was “almost clairvoyant” in creating a show that would go on to be a close representation of the world we now live in. In a time when the internet is swimming with conspiracy theories, which have become especially apparent in the last several years, everyone is willing to believe that someone is watching, governments are misdirecting, and, in short, the truth is out there. Duchovny has no problem believing that it is the kind of world that Fox Mulder lived in three decades ago.
The X-Files focused on the work of FBI agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully, as they worked on cases that defied regular investigation methods and rational explanation. Throughout the show, Mulder was driven by his belief in conspiracy theories about government cover-ups of alien invasions and shady operatives working to keep the truth about unexplained phenomena hidden from the public. While it all seemed a little far-fetching to the majority of people back in 1994, the expansion of the internet now allows such theories to fester and grow in a way that has made the world of The X-Files now seem very close to the one we live in.
Speaking to The Times about his time working on the series, Duchovny explained why he believes the reality that creator Chris Carter envisioned his characters working in has very quickly become one that we live in every day. He said:
“Mulder’s way of looking at the world was through conspiracy and that was the fringe at that point. It doesn’t seem to be so fringe any more. It’s really the world that [The X Files creator] Chris Carter foresaw happening almost 30 years ago. He’s almost clairvoyant in that case.”
I think conspiracies are mostly just lazy thinking.
The X-Files Was Never Meant to Be a Prophecy of the Future
While it is clear that there have always been those willing to believe any conspiracy theory they discover in the dark corners of society, the internet has allowed people with similar ideas to come together and fuel each other’s beliefs in the same kind of speculation and conspiracies that Fox Mulder frequently lost himself in over the 11 seasons of The X-Files.
At the time of its release, The X-Files was just a sci-fi horror show that aimed to entertain with dark mysteries and thrilling adventures featuring aliens and monsters. As Duchovny alluded to, although the more fantastical elements of the show may remain just that, the core themes of government cover-ups, hidden agendas, and people seeking “the truth” are things that have become an unavoidable part of the world today.
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Chris Carter says Ryan Coogler’s reboot will not be easy, but praises the Black Panther director’s “good ideas.”
The changes in the world since The X-Files first aired, even just in the six years since the revival came to a conclusion in 2018, make the new reboot of the series by Black Panther’s Ryan Coogler interesting, to say the least. How the show’s conspiratorial core will hold up in a world where everyone has a conspiracy to pedal is something that we will discover if the new take on the franchise makes it to screens in the coming years.
The X-Files
is currently streaming on Hulu in the U.S. and Disney+ in other territories.