Contemporary Freaks and Geeks: The X-Files

It was mentioned in last week’s lecture that we would be discussing contemporary examples of Freaks and Geeks at some point in the future. Examples are everywhere. I’m presenting one here.

I’ve recently begun been watching The X-Files, and it seems that the timing is quite apt. Though not quite current, The X-Files is full of portrayals of freaks and geeks, of varying persuasions and character. Almost every episode centres on a new freak.

For example, the episode “Humbug” (Season 2, Episode 20). This episode takes place at an old freakshow where people are mysteriously dying. Throughout the episode Scully and Mulder must interact with the “freaks” in order to extract information for their investigation. It leads to some interesting (and funny) culturally revealing moments.

There is a scene where one of the locals, a man with an undeveloped twin growing from his torso, meets Scully at her trailer. His clothes hang open in such a way that his deformity is visible. Similarly, she is wearing a partially undone robe, so that part of her breast is revealed. She stares his growth, and he stares at her breast. Then both realize that they are being observed, and quickly cover up their bodies. The episode is full of such interactions, between the world of freakery and the agents who attempt to navigate the unfamiliar waters while performing their investigation. The agent’s responses to the unusual locals, and the local’s responses to the agents, illustrate the subversive atmosphere of the carnival sideshow. The locals include an indignant little person who seems wary of them, a mute, tattoo-covered “geek” and a philosophic man who impales his body with spikes, who is in the posted clip. He raises questions of what is truly fearsome, so-called freakery or All-American mediocrity: