Gillian Anderson, who played Special Agent Dana Scully through the series' entire run, was an attractive woman, and yet her character was consistently allowed to remain intelligent, tough, and dignified. (And appropriately dressed!)
Ms. Anderson clearly realized that her show was not Baywatch, and that she was the "anti-Pam". Interesting considering that the network was apparently looking for a Pamela Anderson type at first.
The show pokes fun at its unconventional views. Any jealousy between the two or resentment of others was generally played in a humorous fashion, such as in "War of the Copropahges", as mentioned in the article. Scully's maternal relationship with Mulder is also sometimes played for humor. I remember one particular episode, "Detour", wherein Mulder asks Scully to sing to him while stranded in the woods. Her chosen song? Three Dog Night's "Joy to the World".
When watching the pilot the other day, I noticed that her character was treated this way almost from teh beginning. While in the hotel in Oregon, there is a scene where she is seen taking her clothes off for a shower. When she notices the marks on her back, she runs into Mulder's room in her bathrobe. However, there are no lingering glances and no inappropriate comments. Both are only concerned about her well-being.
I think this speaks volumes about Mulder and Scully's relationship. While there may be some lingering, unconsummated romantic tension (I never really saw it, personally, but I watched most of the show while in elementary and middle school), they clearly have a respectful, professional relationship. They can work well together and be friends, but she is not forced into a position of always having to be sexy around him. The show didn't try to sex anything up with a lasting exterior love interest, either. Scully apparently had a boyfriend in the original drafts of the pilot, whom was subsequently written out. Too often, women on television are shown to have a constant need for men in their life. Scully may well have needed Mulder, but he was primarily an intellectual foil, not romantic.
In the book Fantasy Girls: Gender in the New Universe of Science Fiction and Fantasy (ed. Elyse Rae Helford) Linda Badley argues that Scully is not as progressive as some may think.
...Scully subverts patriarchal heteronormativity through her role as both a cybercop and forensic investigator, penetrating inert, male bodies with an unfeminine, carnivorous promiscuity (p. 81). On the other hand, Scully’s powerful position vis-à-vis alien(ated) men is destabilized and subsequently contained through the introduction of an abuse survivor/abductee narrative.
While I can see where she's coming from, I disagree with her view. Yes, Scully was abducted and abused. However, she was far from a hapless female. Mulder was never consistently having to save her; sometimes, he got captured and had to be rescued by her as well. The characters were not treated especially differently in this regard.
Dana Scully paved the way for many other strong female characters in supernatural or science fiction TV shows. Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Captain Janeway of Star Trek: Voyager, Xena, Zoe Washburne of Firefly, etc. However, I think the character she had to strongest influence on was Willow Rosenberg, also of Buffy. Scully didn't quite have the quirky cutesyness of Willow, but both women were strong, intelligent, and a little geeky. They got to play botht the heroine and the victim, as did the male characters on their series. I think this is the most natural way of showing real human strengths and interactions.
(They're also both redheaded. Mustn't forget that.)
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