RhondaV. Wilcox The X-Files and Ingestion: Or, How to Become Vegetarian in Twelve Easy Episodes Charles Dickens' "excremental vision," according to Michael Steig, embodies the moral and physical filth of the surrounding Victorian world. In the twentieth-century television series The X-Files, we eat that filth. Dickens metaphorically represents "the psychological and physical consequences of industrial progress" (Steig 348) as a constipation of the system which must be purged. But in the modern world of The X-Files, filth may enter into our bodies and become part of us at the cellular level. Throughout the series, the perversion of ingestion is a repeated trope. FBI agents Dana Scully and Fox Mulder investigate and sometimes are themselves implicated in the ingestion. From the Ralph Nader Center books Sowing the t4rind (Wellford) and The Chemical Feast (Turner) in the seventies to Robin Mather's A Garden of Unearthly Delights in the nineties, Americans have been concerned about the contamination of their food. While Upton Sinclair's The Jungle vividly presented earlier adulteration of the food supply, these latter publications focus on a peculiarly modern concern: the contamination that comes from chemicals-in effect, from science. Thus they also focus on a contamination caused not simply by nature but by civilization, and the power structures that support rt. Sowing the Wind discusses pesticides, chemical additives, and antibiotics; by 1995 A Garden of Unearthly Delights was discussing bovine groMh hormone (recombinant bovine somatotropin/recombinant bovine growth hormone: rBST/rBGH). The x-Files episodes which deal with such subjects thus reflect the audience's literal concern with its physical environment. However, the causes for that concern are embedded in a social olrlueJur lsoiule ue lueseJdeJ 01stljees eJnlcld eql'FIIncs Suuua,tr-qtq eqlJo sdrl oql IuoU acnus eI{} edIA\ ol JeAo seqceeJ Joplnhl sV 's,(es oqs .,'}l JoJ }no ]nc Iroly\ slr suq unesnl^I peu oqlJo qcrnqJ eq}.(es p,1'asegl oIII sqlr [qll^\] 'Jeplni { 'trtou1no^,, 'll eplseq ecnBsJo Licno} B q}I.44 qlnoiu s,fllncs pue 'ut1 -deu qrq peuapper-ecnes s(,(llncs 'eleld u uo sqlrJo loqs u s.{sldslp Ereluec eqi :purqeq ureunc par u pue qlolcalqul por 3 qlllrrr elqel llstus e 1e reqla8ol esolc u^\oqs e,re ,(eq1 'lueJnulseJ Iecol e uI poouocsue ,(lqegoJruoc ueaq aABq replny\ pue fllncs qclq/( uI ouecs e reu? ,(1uoqs seluoc uolleiuroJul slqJ Jeoq oqlJo Sutlue rloq] q8norlt,(ltcerrpul sueunq aq] /(q peise8ul uaeq e.{Bq plnom 'ueq} 'euourJoq q}A\oJ8 eqJ ,,il,}uoluuJe^oS oq},, fq eJes porelcep ueoq e^BI{ seuouroq qcns leq} ,(es ,(11nc5 ruel{ o} sqSnBI pue 'suol} -oelul eqlJo esn oq] pue ocuelollJo oSIJ aql uI ocueplculoc e solou eq :euoru -roq qlarror8 auta.oq Jo slunotuu eAISSetu qlIA\ polcefur Suteq el]]ec SSeu]I1Y\ o] slueEe IgC eqi saIB] roureJ IBcol pa8e uy '3ur1q3g ,{1}ue1or,r pue Sulder un8aq o^pq qlno,( Iecol aq] Euoue srolue-Jeeq eq] ]uq] ureel (oq]'e1u8t1sea.ut SlueAB on\i aql SV 'IcuJ] ol unSoq Seq Jeplni SoIuIJcJo slullcllJo SoIJos eJo euo sB tulq Euqsllqelse 'Iceq slq uo uellIJ,A (,OuO sI OH,, SpJo,lA peuleldxeun aq] qll/vr ':earrtlepun sIq ul(luo pelc pue poluelJosIp sJeoddsoJ ol{.,tr Je8euee} eJo uollcnpqE eql aleSllse^ul ol uI pellec or3 replnl pue [llncs 'uol]cnpord pallec suel Jeaq roJ snolueJ uA\oi P uI soplser ulnosnl^l peu eqlJo LIcrnqJ 3q] -JulaBeA Jo eunluluoc u ,('Lunesnr\i peu,, sposlde uosees puoses eql ul 'uoqseJ E Llcns ]snIuI uol]saEul s]ueseJd saru-x aqJ '(Et t) ,.{poq ueunq oq} uo IPuIS uI pocnporder oJn}cnr}s Islcos ol po}Iparc sJe8upp pue sra^\od eq] eos oI pue ',(letcos 3o 1oqtu,(s u {poq eq} uI eos o} peJudeJd eJu a,ll sselun lsoJ eq] pue eAII€s '11ttu lsee;q 'Elelcxe Suturecuoc pun fiur [ue 'esec slq] uI Jo] slen]u ]eJdro]ul(lqrssod ]ouuec alv',, -ndr crssBlc raq ur selou aqs 'serrspunoq fllpoq elenlueJce "taBLtDq lsoSul e^\ qsll{.ry\ pue oleJcxe elrt qclq^\ slelJeluru 1uq1 suruldxo sulSnog ,fuuyr1 ]srSolodorqt -uv 'lle,^. se Suueprsuos quo^\ eJe suollucullueJ IBcISoloIcos eq1 i.{poq eqt Jo suorselur snorJBA ,sail.i-X aqJ Jo suotiectldtul lenxesoqc,(sd eql lnoqe uellrr.^ suq felpug upul'I 'saqi-X aqJ Jo eueql Ierluec u sI qclq^\ sernl -cnJls ramod Joqlo pue ]ueluuJo^o8Jo ]snJlslp oql o] pual pedleq ,(carces 1eq} Jo Suuelocun Jroql '(t S t) ,,.,(lunces Jo osuas esleJ B crlqnd eql saru8 eJnzlas Jo slueprcur spnorr{s vcsn qclq,K q}r^\ fcorcos oq},, }Btl} }no pelurod re}uaJ JepBN er{} ueql& '}so8ur o^\ s}ueuele Iscllueqcolq snoIJeA eql serlddns esue -Ics esorlrr xeldruoc IeJnllnc puu 'letrlsnput 'lelueurute.to8 eql-aJnlJnJls ainlln) tolndo4 ut satpus ZI Wilcox IJ moment of satisfaction-and any moment of physical satisfaction is rare in The x-Files (wilcox). Pleasurable though the moment in the red ribs restaurant seems to be, it is soon to be undercut by information about the tainted beef which Scully, at least, has eaten. Viewers of the episode would also be seeing the restaurant scene in the context of earlier vivid images. The episode opens with close-ups from above of dirty, mottled cows entering a slaughter-house. Then we are treated to a view of hanging slabs of beef, the physical reality of which is in no way muted by the television camera. Finally we follow home a woman worker from the slaughterhouse who feels she must shower, and orders apizzawith "no pepperoni for ps"-ns meat. All this appears before Agent Scully enjoys her ribs and subsequently learns of the bovine growth hormone. The woman worker who has tried to wash away the residue of the slaughterhouse is Beth Kane (Cain?), mother of the soon-to-be-abducted teen. She is also unknowingly and unintentionally involved in another sort of filth: her landlord, Gerd rhomas, has been semetly videotaping her and her children in their bathroom: we see the voyeur watching her through the bathroom mirror. His fondness for the children of the town, however unhealthy, has Ied him to abduct them and mark them-not in order to harm them, but to identify them as subjects of an experiment. He has learned that the so-called "vitamin injections" a local doctor has been giving many of the area's youth are in fact the same inoculant given to the cows. Though young Gary Kane has "never been sick a day in his life," the injections are not completely beneficial: like the old farmer, Gerd Thomas believes these injections to have altered the young people's behavior, leading to violence. Through the doctor's injections, they have in effect ingested evil. But the outside evil has entered even more deeply into their natures. Michael Steig explains that many "documents of the Mid-victorian period corroborate the pervasiveness of shit in the smell, sight, and feel of life in English cities" (349). But in the modern world we are aware of the possibility of contamination at the microscopic level. Through analysis of a vial of the supposed vitamins, Scully discovers that the injections contain "antibodies derived from what mayhave been an extraterrestrial source." Mulder says it more bluntly: "He's been injecting these kids with alien DNA,,"Purity Control," as it has been termed in an earlier episode ("The Erlenmeyer Flask"). 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Mary Alice Money has identified "Our Town" as one of a series of episodes which inverts the pattern of the small town as center of virtues; the episodes critique the stereotype, presenting instead a sort of Anti-Mayberry. I would like to argue that this episode implies an even broader criticism of the system surrounding the capitalist work ethic. In the episode's first scenes with Scully and Mulder at FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C., Mulder has mentioned Chaco Chicken in a way that makes clear that this is a nationally known operation. In Dudley itself, the images associated with Chaco Chicken strongly allude to one of our cultural icons: the red-striped buckets recall the containers for Kentucky Fried Chicken, and the advertisement line-drawing of Walter Chaco, a smiling elderly man with facial hair, recalls Colonel Sanders. Hence Chaco Chicken is a nationwide phenomenon as well as the product of a small town. Chaco is also connected to the dominant historical social structure through his large, white-columned southern home and the African-American serving woman he employs. Sowing the Wind quotes Alabama contract farmer Crawford Smith as saying, "Us folks in the chicken business are the only slaves left inthis country" (Wellford 101); andthe country at large was recently reminded of the working conditions at chicken plants after a tragic North Carolina fire. Furthermore, Dudley is presented as a company town, as dominated by the main local industry as any textile town or coal-mining village. "Our Town" is part of a large American pattern. But that large system purports to carry out its work best through small town values. The very title of the episode, with its allusion to Thornton Wilder's play, announces this theme. And Walter Chaco is unquestionably a patriarch in the religion of hard work and community values. The whole town reports its doings to him, and takes its "faith" from his worldly success in elevating Dudley from "a patch of dirt" to a thriving town. As Professor iVlone,v has pointed out, when the town members gather around a bonfire to share bowls of a stew made from the latest victim,they are participating in a ritual communion. Money also argues that the dpisode's locale, Seth County, alludes to the Egyptian Osiris-Isis-Set (Seth) story of destruction and rebirth (lsis reassembles Osiris's bones after Seth destroys him). But a biblical allusion may also be identified. 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In a very suggestive image, she lands face down in the chicken mash and slowly sinks. It is soon revealed that she is the grand-daughter of Walter Chaco, a part of the tightly connected system. In the last moments of the episode, while Scully's voiceover intones that "As of this date, [Walter Chaco's] remains have yet to be found," the visual shows a worker finding and discarding a clump of gray human hair in the chicken mash. As a result of Scully and Mulder's investigation, the plant is being closed; but who knows how many times this scene may have been repeated in the past? Those who participate in the patriarchal capitalistic faith may believe that they can distinguish between people who are virtuous and people who are outsiders; but how easy is it to move from one category to another? Just as the chicken feed is enriched by dead chicken parts, it is also enriched by human offal-so all those who eat Chaco Chicken participate in the horrid consumption. In the interdependent web of the harsh modern world, we may be eating each other unawares. And it is difficult to know our point on the food chain. In the episode titled "Squeeze," the horror that humanity can become is represented by a mutated human who maintains an extraordinarily long life span by eating human livers. While Walter Chaco, who ate the communicants' stew, looked sixty at age ninety-three, the mutant Eugene Victor Tooms looks thirty although he is over one hundred. (Sowing the Wind notes food additives' "potential impact on the incidence of birth defects . . . and mutations" (188).) The liver, of course, does the work of cleansing the body, but itself collects impurity. The liver-eater is perhaps the most unclean beast in the X-Files collection, the extreme version of the beef-eater or the chicken-eater. Once again, however, the episode sets the eating pattern in a larger social context. The episode opens with a shot of a middle-aged businessman emerging from a restaurant called "1066." For him, indeed, the restaurant was a battlefield: he has had a dinner business meeting, and he goes to his office and calls his wife to tell her that it has not gone well. Things are about to go much worse, however: the businessman is attacked by the liver-eater, who-in a scene revealed only indirectly, through reflections in the shiny possessions on the man's desk-spatters his blood on his business papers. The episode's second scene, after the opening credits, is another restaurant rar{}Br roplnl/\i rlll Jlesrer{ uSrp o} sesooqc ,(11ncg esnuceq ,(1uo sr tl '}ceJ ^ u1 ',(11ncg ol ruaql Surreg;o puu 'spees Je./y\oguns lrer.uepeJ] srq 3ur1ee ul\oqs sr replnl4l 'sroqlo Jo JJo peeg f11ere1r1 ro ,(llecrroqdeleu oq,tr esoq] IIe puu Jolee-Jolrl eql ol lseJluoc ul .(aruulncllog uo :o3 oB suoruo pue Jelrl lpq.u eepr ,(ue erreq no,( oq,, 'uo11oJ sIsB pue ,,'sue1ncr1eu,, pellec ,,uoru ,(ul8 elllll,, s,lI tuql sureydxe Jeplnl '(suorle8rlsalur leulsorroJuJlxe ur ]soJolur s,Joplnry ol Euureger) uaru ueer8 al]lrlJo Iro,r\ eq] oq o1esuc eq] seur8erur eq .pelcoru,(1pe JI tuH SISB uolloS ueq,/y\ :frelcoru eq] surnleJ selurlaluos puB -lueder sr eH 'sarlrlrqe leer8 slqJo esnecoq uels,(s oq] urqlrn\ pa1ure1o1 ,(yuo sI oq^\ reprslno ue se serres eql tnoq8norq] po{rutu sr replni4l .(surer11r16 puu xoclrl[ :1aqn;) se:nEg ,Qrroqlnu ro; surelled leuor]rpert Jo ]no pue ur elolu oqlr':ep1n141 pue,(1pc g qlrn\ pauo{coJ'rele.rvro{'lou seq stuool 'edfl ueunq pJepuels eq] Ja^o snorJol.crl aq ol seue8 srq slcedxa ,(ltuerudde aq pue '(.,sctue8ne,, ut su) ,,'poo8,, suuetu 'esJnoc 3:o ,,,na,, irolctn eua8-ng 'erueu slq,(q pe1se38ns sr uorleldupe crleue8 (sruooJJo rervrod eq1 ,,'q8noue l.ulu ]I-Iulq] I pue ',(nE srql 1€ Iool I-surelsfs ,Qrrnces qcal-q8lq uo ,(auoru pooE Surpueds eydoed asoql IIV,, 'slueruruoc Joplni{ ,pue s,eposrde eq] JueN'perepJnu uees eluq o^\ esoql e{rl suezr}rc sselc-reddn pryos 1ce1 -o-rd o1 uJo.&\s serlrJoqlnu eq] sepnla snr{} Je}cuJgqc ssulc-Je.lAo1 freddrls srql 'saculd lpurs ,(lqrporcur olur (e1trl eqt ecueq) ,(poq srq ezeenbs pue elu8uole puu sauoq srq qcelep o1 elqe sr eq :uorleldupe ue ]sual le :o ,ecuezrpe crleu -aE e seq )cuq,l\olll Sunuees srq] 'lcuJ ul 'sruooJ elqeu8e.rdur ,(liueruddu 'pa1co1 olur sdrls pue spuuq ereq srq qlr^\ srolrl ]no sdrr eq :lnJsseccns .(l8urua -]tt8pg aru slce]]e srq 'euo pe8ulue,npesrp eql eq ol srueas stuooJ alrq,,!\ ]nB 'rusruo8elue ssulc lrcrldur ue 1e Eurlulq ,uarussaursnq pa8e-elpp1ru IIu eJe sn saoqs eposrde eql surlcr^ esoql'rena,rtroq ielgord e13urs ou 1g surlcr^ s[l ]eql setou raplny{ '}qErl pacrpunuf ,pFnl B q}r^\ Bur.trol8 lueq} ^\oqs ol uleql sgrl ,(lpuorsecco^\olle,( eq lnq ipepezr,(lyensn se,(e ,,(lqrunqJlesruq sploq pue seqlolc alqunq sJee,t{ eH (.'Jo>lJo,r\ IoJluoc leturuB,, ue pelll] ,(1lucr1sru -eqdne sr eq esJnoc go q8noql 'reqcluc-8op e sr eq ']ceJ ur iureqc lzrl] ul\op JaquEJ qcniu aq o1 ecBJJns eq] uo stuees eposrde srql ur Je)cepu eqJ 'ureqc pooJ eql uo eceld s(ouo 01pesn ]no uos .Euop Eurpeeg Jo acuelsur aJou ouo 'qcunl ;arrrod e sr Burees eJu o./y\ 1eq16 ,(11ncg dleq sduqred puu ..IopJl ]seJ aql uo,, dn alotu oi sueld s.uolloJ pue JOeJOql rcsl Jo Juoluacue^pe JeeJec ,sen3ea110c ssncsrp,(eq1 's,(ep ,{ruepecy IBC raq tuoU ecuulurenbce u? .uollo3 lue8y qtr.r,r, Eurlue sr ,{1yncg :euacs atuln) tolndo4 ut satpnjs 8t l9 than Colton that Eugene victor Tooms is caught. Tooms takes trophies of his victims, and as Scully and Mulder investigate his residence, Tooms, unobserved by the detectives, manages to lift a necklace from Scully. This necklace has been called to viewers' attention in an earlier scene when Mulder fingers it after Scully suggests that he has been acting "territorial" in regard to her willingness to work with Colton. The underlying anthropological patterns are rarely far to seek in The X-Files, and Mulder admits to the territoriality. But he rises above it-above animality-to tell Scully he won't hold it against her if she decides to work with Colton's team; and it is at this point that Scully decides to stay with Mulder. Later, when Mulder revisits Tooms' s home after learning that Colton has called off surveillance, Mulder spots the necklace which had been highlighted in the territoriality scene and rushes to Scully's place just in time to help her subdue the liver-eater, who has actually bared Scully's belly to feed off her. Mulder attaches handcuffs to Tooms's wrist, and Scully attaches the other side of the handcuffs to the bathtub. Thus these two agents who are willing to stand apart from the food chain of power lunches and dog-eat-dog business are the ones who finally subdue the beast. In fact, the bestial Eugene Victor Tooms is the ultimate metamorphosis of the sort of person represented by Agent Colton, Chaco, and all the middleaged businessman victims, the person willing to disregard others in the quest for food, that is, the quest for power. When Scully and Mulder pursue the investigation by consulting a retired detective who saw Tooms after the Powhatan Mill killings of his younger days, the old man clarifies and enlarges the connection: "When I first heard about the death camps in 1945I remembered Powhatan Mill. When I see the Kurds and the Bosnians-that room is there. It's like all the horrible acts that humans are capable of somehow gave birth to some kind of human monster." In earlier centuries, the liver, rather than the heart, was considered the seat of the passions. And in Cambodia today, anthropologist Alex Hinton reports, members ofthe Khmer Rouge still eat the livers of their conquered enemies in order to show their dominance. Eugene Victor graphically represents that type of human power. In a profile of the killer she constructs early in the episode, Scully argues that since the "liver cleanses the blood, the taking of this trophy [also] is the transferring act for the killer to cleanse himself of his own impurities", and the closing section ofthe episode shows old Detective Briggs reading a news- rno Jo la^ol aql o] Iuols,(s IBsIlIIod IeqolS oq] uorc 'uelclqc leqluuBc Jo lelcnq leq] u&\op lnd o1ellll] uI lsnIseplcap,(11nc5 pue '(,,stuoo1,,) ,oezeenb5,, oi Ienbes eql uI ]sJn,^AreAII Jo euq e slee JeplnlN isrelue-1ueru se qloq luaql ,(;ltuepr (.ulnosnl4l po6,, Jo suut:e1e8e,t eq] 'ou Jo spees Jo,l oguns 1nq ituel -s,(s eql uorg e1e:edas ee;8ep eluos uI aru oq,\\ 'replnl pue f11ncg qlla {JI} -uapr ol Surgo;ruoc sr ]I .ul eludrcrued,aerfiep otgos o]'llg a1rr rue}s,(s lelcos eql ,(q paleaJJ uolleulluuluoJ leJoLu e Jo suollJeual aJe suelJolJl^ eq] {q peJeJJns ,{ue ueq} redaap JEJ uol}eululeluoc 1ects,(qd e 3o sre8uep eq1 'se^rllppe pooJ otll,(q peue -1crs fllecrs{qd 1ou aJe oIi,^A u,t\o} uI seuo ,(1uo oq} eJB suetrele8err eq} leqi pesropue ]oBJ aql puu rnlurulrdrut s,replnry qloq Jo asnuceq solres oql eq 01 suees {}rrnd roJ lsonb u Jo }xo}uoc oq} uI uea.e ,Qtrndrul ^q Jo ecueldec -ce sIqJ 'eceld ,sueuule8e,t eq1 :ece1d etues eq] uI ls€el 1e 'epts ,(q epts 1ou pue suutrele8err eq] aes eltrt JI- JeqlaSoi Eurpuels ,(11e:a1r1 sJeluo-lee1g 3q](eqt'Jollll u Iuo{ sJe}eo-Jueul 'euecs aleurllnued oq] ul 'lsanber slq o] epecce Euno,( s6u1t\o] eql Jo atuos oplq ol JopJo uI lueluelgap ]eql ]deccu o] lueq] sls€ replnl4l uaq,e\ 'eposrde er{} Jo pue eq} }u }e,1 '}I eluap plnom Sutpltnq Jleql Jolue sJelue-leoru Sur.tuq ]BI{} Jualc seleru Jepeel s,lces aq}'epostde aql uI (pug 'se,r.r1 Sutrres Jo e)ps oq] JoJ ,Qund ecgIJcBS oi Surlltn oJe lunes -nhl pe5 oq] Jo suutrele8err oql ']seJluoc u1 ',(1und uI llnser ]ou seop luetu -ulEluoc-Jlas Jo {}Iussul rloqJ 'uol}o^op Jo uoluolslp ell}uuJul ue uI peeJq rer.{ /y\oqc-erd ,(eqt 'aror.uroqunJ i(feurn8 3ur11or e uo) peq eq} lepun dae4 (eq] uroq.tt Jol{}oru peluJoJap € q}IA{ eleercord o1 ldueue suos peluJoJep eqJ 'serlrlururouqe ctleue8 Jloqi roJ su8ts are qclqa ',(11ue3 oqlJo satruou8o -rs,(qd ueunq (1ereq eq1.(q pecueleqrelunoc slQrpqereuln,t lecrsfqdSo IBIuap Sutuees slql lng 'uted ou 1ee; ,(1pra1r1 .{eqt '.(letuoue ctleuo8 e Jo osnec -eq ,(liuerudde '1uqi ]ceJ oq] go pnord ,(1ec.rag eru ,(eq1 'sellesueql Suoure .(licrrts peeJq pue pooJ u1(o JIeq],tror8 ,(prue; Icocued 8ut1lo,rer eql o,'oIUoH,, uI 'uorlsJudes 1u1o1 ,(q uerre pelelqce aq iouuec uolleulrueluoc Jo ecue -pIone leql saoqs qclqa ,o'etuo1,1,, epostde eq] ur ua,tt8 sI ssoupelceuuooJelul puu ,(lrlrqereulnl uoruruoc rno ,(uep o] ]druellu slq] Jo ,(pored enbse] -or8 y 'lluJ 01 pauroop aru uorlrpuoc ueulnq Ieurou oql tuo4 so^lasuoq] ldecxe o11dure11e oq.tt asoqJ '}ou Jo ursruuuele8eA '1ou Jo ,,loJ}uoo ,(1ttnd,, 01 srueos sellC-X oqJ 'peq eq o] iou sI plro,^ sILIl ul(1rrn4 -1se33ns ..'Sursueelc crur{Jo,, Jo ecueloll aql puu sruool go ernlduc oql uo solclue lceq-o]-Icuq suleiuoc teqt redud atntln) tolndo4 ut satpnls 21 DNA, the dangers and evils of not eating well-not living rightly-pervade our lives. Tooms, the most extreme example of the pattern of ingestion/ consumption, is of course named for death; and that is the result threatened when we allow the unclean world into our bodies. But our inevitable animal nature means that we will eat, we will die. The X-Files confronts our concerns with both literal and moral contamination. The series gives us meateating and cannibalism as metaphors for our social interaction. The patriarchal system, the business, science, and religion that gird it, surround us; participation means corruption, but for most of us, it is our daily food. To join in the struggle for dominance is to eat filth, to eat death. Even the vegetarians have blood thrown on them by the beef-eaters; in this world, no one can escape the struggle. Whether the point is original Sin, warnings against government power structures, or direct reminders of the physical dangers of food, we are all implicated. Perhaps our only safety comes in seeing the danger-in seeing that none of us is pure. Rhonda V. Wilcox Gordon College Barnesville, Georgia 30204 Works Cited Badley, Linda. "The Rebirth of the clinic: The Body as Alien in The X-Files.', In Lavery, Hague, and Cartwright. 148-67. Campbell, Joseph. The Masks of God.4 vols. New york: Viking, 196g. Douglas, Mary. Purity and Danger: An Analysis of the Concepts of Pollution and Taboo. London; Routtedge, 1966. "The Erlenmeyer Flask." writ. chris carter. The X-Files. Fox. l3 May 1994. Farb. Peter, and George Armelagos. consuming passions: The Anthropology of Eating. Boston: Houghton, 1980. Hinton. Alex. Telephone conversation.30 Oct. 1996. ''Home." writ. GIen Morgan and James wong. The X-Files. F'ox. I I oct. 1996. Kubek. Elizabeth. "'You only Expose your Father': The Imaginary, Voyeurism, and Symbolic Order in The X-Files." In Lavery, Hague, and Cartwright. l6g_204. Laven'. David. Angela Hague, and Marla cartwright, eds. 'Deny Alt Knowledge,: Reading the X-Files. Syracuse: Syracuse Up, 1996. Mather. Robin. A Garden of Unearthly Delights: Bioengineering and the Future of Food. 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