How a bit of plastic can unite the world

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Title:	How a bit of plastic can unite the world
Creator:	Sister WildKat
Date(s):	February 2001
Medium:	online
Fandom:	The X-files
Topic:
External Links:	How a bit of plastic can unite the world at News for the OBSSEsed - February 2001, Archived version
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How a bit of plastic can unite the world is a 2001 essay by Sister WildKat.

It was written as an assignment for a class, posted to OBSSE Mailing List, and then published in News for the OBSSEsed #38.

Some Topics Discussed

• plastic incarnations
• personal strength and meaning gained from being a member of Order of the Blessed Saint Scully the Enigmatic
• the OBSSE Mailing List and the community there
• the Internet
• fan clubs

Excerpts

My PI is a small plastic action figure of the television character Dana Katherine Scully, from the show The X-Files. She stands about five and a half inches tall, and weighs less than two ounces. Created by MacFarlane Toys and copyrighted by Fox, Inc., she sports a tailored black suit with a white shirt, accessorized by a gold cross, a watch, earrings, and an FBI badge. Originally she carried a cell phone, but it has long been lost. Her face and hair were carefully crafted to bear a vague resemblance to Gillian Anderson, the actress who portrays Scully. My PI's facial expression is one of mild disappointment, of seriousness and import, but with a bit of wide-eyed curiosity as well. The paint on her auburn hair and her hands has started to chip in places from much use and abuse, and she has gathered dirt from my carrying her around in the front pocket of my backpack for long periods of time. She has been my sole traveling companion for two Spring Breaks, and together we have visited everywhere from Cologne, Germany, to San Francisco, California, to Mille Lacs, Minnesota , to Vancouver, British Columbia. She will accompany me to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico this Spring. She has stood on ancient Roman altars along the Rhine and stood on my personal altar in my dorm room in Evanston. She even took a road trip with my friends, in my place, from Chicago to Los Angeles last February. She is a toy, a symbol, a conversation piece, and, yes, even a good luck charm to keep cars from crashing in the snow.

But why? Why is a little plastic dolly so important that I carry her all over the world? Most people have an object- a lucky penny, a piece of jewelry, a stuffed animal, a photo of a loved one- which has special meaning to them. For me, my PI is a little portable Scully I can take with me. The character of Scully is a sort of personal hero for me. She is intelligent, educated, independent, strong, loyal, always searching for the truth, always trying to understand the world around her, and always trying to help those in need. She's a beautiful woman who tries hard to be accepted as a person, not merely an object, in a man¹s world. She can be vulnerable and she makes mistakes. She's human. And for that, I admire her. I carry a little version of her to remind me to follow my path, to work hard, to seek truth. But that isn't the entire reason I keep her around.

I keep my PI close to me because she reminds me of my friends. If not for Scully, I would not have met my best friends here, and I wouldn¹t have shared many treasured moments with them. My circle of close friends, the group of women with whom I spent the evening of the great snow fall, is made of members of a group call the OBSSE, or the Order of the Blessed Saint Scully the Enigmatic. Contrary to popular belief, we are not a cult. We are, however, an Internet-based, tongue-planted-firmly-in-cheek pseudo-religious order, dedicated to all things Scully. The OBSSE is a classic example of the Internet bringing people together. We truly are a community of incredibly varied individuals who have gathered because of a special interest. We have a web site, http://www.obsse.com, where we go for information, reference materials, links to other important X-Files sites, and the monthly OBSSE newsletter. In the OBSSE chat room, people gather on Friday and Sunday nights to discuss everything from television, to sports, to theater, to politics, to individual achievements and problems. Sometimes we even discuss Scully.