Carterlogue

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Synonyms:
See also: Carteresque, Chris Carter
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Carterlogue is an X-Files Fandom coined Portmanteau of (Chris) Carter and dialogue or monologue[1].

It describes the often ornate, "purple prose-laden"[2] dialogues and monologues Chris Carter liked to put into the mouths of his protagonists (usually Mulder or Scully), preferably in voice-over form on The X-Files. It can to a certain extent also be found in MillenniuM.

The term probably originated on X-Files message boards and mailing lists. The first use in alt.tv.x-files was in December 1999 by a fan called kipler[3].

Carterlogue can be typically be found in all X-Files mytharc episodes and in reviews by fans[4]. By now, the term is also used outside of fandom by journalists as well.[5]

An example from a voice-over by Mulder in the Carter penned (co-written with Frank Spotnitz) X-Files season seven episode Closure:

They said the birds refused to sing, and the thermometer fell suddenly, as if God himself had his breath stolen away. No one there dared speak aloud, as much in shame as in sorrow. They uncovered the bodies one by one. The eyes of the dead were closed, as if waiting for permission to open them. Were they still dreaming of ice cream and monkey bars? Of birthday cake and no future but the afternoon? Or had their innocence been taken along with their lives buried in the cold earth so long ago? These fates seemed too cruel, even for God to allow. Or are the tragic young born again when the world's not looking? I want to believe so badly; in a truth beyond our own, hidden and obscured from all but the most sensitive eyes…

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