Dana Scully
Character | |
---|---|
Name: | Dana Scully |
Occupation: | FBI agent |
Relationships: | Fox Mulder , mother of William Scully and Emily Sim, Daniel Waterston, Special Agent Jack Willis (all canon) |
Fandom: | The X-Files (Carterverse) |
Other: | afraid of clowns, may be immortal played by Gillian Anderson |
Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Dana Scully is a main character on the FOX television show The X-Files. Her partner is Fox Mulder.
"The redheaded F.B.I. agent and medical doctor is, without a doubt, one of the most influential TV characters of the last few decades, thanks to Anderson’s steely portrayal. A recent study showed that women who watched the series were 50 percent more likely to pursue careers in STEM, a phenomenon known as “the Scully Effect.” How much more consequential could a TV character get? Without Scully, future iterations of the show would never be the same."Fox Has “No Plans” for More X-Files—And That’s a Good Thing, YOHANA DESTA, Vanity Fair, May 14, 2018,
Some Very Brief Canon
Dana Katherine Scully was born on February 23, 1964, and has three siblings: Charles, William Jr., and Melissa (murdered during the course of the show). She comes from a Navy family; both William Sr. and Jr. are seen in uniform. She is a practicing Roman Catholic, and wears a gold cross at her throat.
Scully is a pathologist by training, and often performs autopsies in the course of her work with Mulder. She has a medical degree (prerequisite for pathology) and a bachelor's degree in physics. She often acts as a logician and brake on the wild speculation of her partner, demanding that his theories conform to evidence and reason. One early line for which she is famous goes as follows: "Nothing happens in contradiction to nature; only in contradiction to what we know of it."
Fannish Engagement With the Character
OBSSE, the Order of the Blessed Saint Scully the Enigmatic, was a society formed specifically to appreciate this character, as was the Scullyfic mailing list. Their mailing list, News for the OBSSEsed, was one of satire, as well as serious and irreverent fun.
Another group, SWILS, challenged their self-defined sexualities, being Straight Women In Love With Scully.
In 2019 the French feminist collective noustoutes.org renamed a street to rue Dana Scully.// A feminist collective renamed my street and I totally approve !, Archived version
Scully is a fan fave especially with the female fans on the show:
(...)The way she encapsulates both the traditionally feminine and masculine without it being a thematic statement of the show or her character? Is it the draw of a stern and incredibly competent intelligent woman who is deeply compassionate, vulnerable, and secretive with her desires, which she represses in order to operate in a man’s world (because she does live in a man’s world, and the show never makes any forced attempt to dispel that truth)? In real life, this is how the strong, accomplished women I know are. It’s not easy to do it all. She’s shy around people she likes, brazen with people she doesn’t. She’s excellent at showing frustration without anger or condescension, simply a exasperated intimacy. She’s incredibly loyal, to the point where it sometimes causes her to neglect her personal needs, leading to resentment, loneliness, doubt, yearning for recognition. She’s guarded, but there is so much in her eyes and looks to suggest all that she is feeling. The way Scully/Gillian dresses alternatively in rugged and very prim & proper outfits encapsulates this permeating duality which is so attractive in her character. I think a lot of women can identify with that and admire it.(...)
ScullySlash
Dana Scully was an early, fairly vibrant subject of femmeslash.
See ScullySlash.
Fanon About the Character
Agent Scully's hair always smells like strawberries.
Pairings
- Mulder/Scully
- Doggett/Scully
- Scully/Skinner
- Scully/Krycek
- Scully/Reyes
- Mulder/Scully/Skinner
- Scully/Byers
- Scully/Other
No Pairing
Noromo or No Romance was used in The X-Files fandom to describe a preference for canon reading and fan fiction writing that maintained the relationship between Mulder and Scully as platonic.
Noromo fans were often set opposite Shippers, or MSR fans. This was taken to satirical extremes by the Mulder And Scully Hate Each Other (MASHEO) movement: "Mulder and Scully Hate each other? The idea is absurd. Almost as absurd as the ideas that Mulder and Scully should, could, or want to, be involved romantically."[2]
Scully-Centric Fanfiction
Much Scully-centric fiction can be found at the ScullySlash archive, which features "fanfiction, slash stories focused on Dana Scully, a gallery of images of Dana Scully, email lists to discuss and post fiction about...that's right, Dana Scully."[3]
Notable Scully stories include:
Scully-centric art
inside page from X-treme Possibilities, artist is Martin Proctor
inside page from Incident UXP
inside page from X-Posed
- some watercolor things are happening by rosenkranz-does-things, 2024 -- detail on Scully; full painting
Scully-Centric Vids
A YouTube playlist can be found here
- Not Only Human by Laura Shapiro and Killa
- Fall in the Light - Gwyneth
- Have You Seen Me Lately by Lyle
- The X-Files - Scully's Pregnancy by BostonUrMyHome
- X-Files- 24 Hours, Dana Scully by snakey973
- The X-Files |Scully| Without You by SpookyStarbuck
- The X files _ Scully's Insight_ The strong one by XFyellowbee
- x-files:-come here boy- by vicy22
- The X-Files - Sexy Scully by veroziny
- The X Files- Dana Scully - Rise by Erica Perron
- The X Files - How could this happen to me by Moonlight1012XFile
Filk/Fan Songs
- I Wanna Be Dana Scully: A Parody by Maggie - Sung to the tune of "I Wanna Be A Producer" from "The Producers"
- "Dana Katherine Scully" by Tacocat
- The Scully Song by Eric D. Snider
- Dana Scully - original song by The Leafy Greens
- "Agent Scully" by Cold North (features sound clips from the show spoken by Gillian Anderson)
- The Scully Song by The Garrens (Lyrics)
- Hei Scully by Kuningas Pähkinä & Setä Tamu - one of the Finnish performers fantasizes about Scully
- Agent Scully by Mold - The singer of the Punk band fantasizes over Scully
- "Where is Scully" by Mulperi feat. Boggy - the song tells a tale about how Scully disappears after she is partnered with Mulperi
- "Scully" by The Pizza Monsters
- "Be my Dana Scully" from Skittish
- Agent Scully by Uli Et Les Boum Bomos
Further Reading/Meta
- The Scully Effect
- Oh, Dana Scully, No - a tumblr about Scullys fashion choices
- Online Fans of 'X-Files' Know It's the Clothes That Make the Show y J. D. BIERSDORFERNOV. 4, 1999, New York Times
- Scully have I loved by REBECCA TRAISTER, JULY 24, 2008
- feministing.com, Feminism And The X-files (my Ode To Dana Scully), by Ellestar (2009)
- Why Today's Women Need Dana Scully wired.com, by Sophie Brown 02.18.11
- Fannish discourse communities and the construction of gender in The X-Files by Emily Regan Wills (2013)
- The X-Files’ Dana Scully: Role Model for Girls of All Ages, by PersephoneK on September 10, 2013
- Less “Big Bang Theory,” More Dana Scully: What It's Going to Take to Lead More Girls Into Science yesmagazine.org, by Christopher Zumski Finke Dec 24, 2013
- The X-Files Is Back! 4 Ways to Channel Scully's #GirlBoss Looks, JANUARY 23, 2015 by LIANA SATENSTEIN
- How the Strong Female Character Was Born: A Study of Dana Scully by Lizzie (2015)
- How Dana Scully is X-Files' Anti-Style Hero by Maud Deitch 30 March 2015
- Why 'The X-Files' Dana Scully Still Stands Out As One Of TV's Greatest Feminist Role Models by Caitlin Flynn, Jan 24 2016
- 8 Ways The X-File's Dana Scully Changed The Game by Taylor Blades, Jan 24, 2016
- How Dana Scully Inspired Me to Become a Scientist Cosmopolitan, by Jane Hu Feb 1, 2016
- How Gillian Anderson’s Character on ‘The X-Files' Inspired Me to Keep Living by Sarah Smith, December 21, 2016
- Dana Scully and the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pantsuit by Megan Garber JAN 24, 2016, theatlantic.com
- How Dana Scully Inspired a Generation of Women, Paste Magazine, by Abby Norman, April 28, 2017
- Physic Buzz Blog I Want to Believe by Becky Thompson, PhD, February 1, 2018
- hercampus.com - Why Dana Scully from 'X-Files' Is The Ultimate Icon By Brianna Moye, Feb 02 2018
- 11 Reasons Why Dana Scully Should Be Your Role Model
- An ode to Dana Scully By Sarah Ward, 7 Jun 2019
References
- ^ [1], Archived version
- ^ MASHEO Satirical website devoted to Mulder and Scully's Hate. Accessed 26 October 2008
- ^ ScullySlash archive.