“The Truth is Out There” Using The -Files as a Catalyst for Critical Thinking in the Writing Classroom Courtney Patrick

“Home” . The X-Files was a popular science fiction show that aired on FOX from 1993-2002 . It featured two main characters, FBI Agents and , who tracked down everything from aliens to ghosts during the series’ run. . “Home” first aired in 1996 and was the first X-Files episode to be banned after its initial airing on the FOX network, as well as the first American television episode to be given an MA rating. . Deals with small-town murders and includes, among other things, child abandonment and an incestual family plagued with dozens of birth-defects as the result of years of inbreeding Using “Home” to Spark Critical Thinking . Cultural myths-The Model Family . America’s perception of the “ideal” family . “…a harmonious association of parents and children united by love and trust” (Rereading America 19) . “…ideal of wise, loving parents and harmonious, happy families” (20) . “…nuclear family—Dad, Mom, a couple of kids, maybe a dog, and a spacious suburban home” (18). . Dad is the “breadwinner” while Mom stays at home and keeps the home clean and the family together Using “Home” To Spark Critical Thinking . While students watch the episode “Home,” ask them to take notes regarding any moment that dealt with the model family’s values, either positively or negatively . After watching the episode, ask students to write a response to the episode, noting specific moments in the episode that directly questioned the cultural myth of the model family

Peacock Family Values: Then and Now . After students have responded to the episode, pick out key moments in the episode to invite class discussion . Softball scene . Local Police (names/actions) . Andy Taylor . No guns/unlocked doors . Peacock family vs. America’s cultural myth family . Similarities between Mrs. Peacock and Sheriff Taylor . Both fear and hate change because it disrupts the family

How do all of these scenes connect to the myth of the model family and the values of the model family? Values: Then and Now . After discussion, inform students the history of the episode of “Home” . Decide as a class the importance of the same values in 1996 and in 2011 . Why was “Home” banned in 1996 and given MA rating? . Would “Home” be banned in 2011? Why or Why Not? . What does this say about the model family 1996 vs. the model family myth 2011? . Is the myth of the model family fading as more and more families no longer resemble it? . If so, why do we still strive to live up to that image? Results . Ultimately, students agree that the episode wasn’t necessarily banned for gore or fright but rather because the episode dared to recreate the model family in the Peacock family. . Since the values of the Peacock family were too close to those of the Sheriff’s family (i.e.-the model family), many viewers were horrified at how easily their family values transferred to such a grotesque family. . As time has passed, however, we no longer embrace the image of the model family as tightly as we once did, mostly because, as time passes, the myth of the model family begins to fade as more and more families have changed the traditional definition of “family.” . Many students also believe that today’s “Peacock family” seems to be same-sex marriages, a union which many people try to ban as they believe the concept threatens “family values”—values that belong to a mythical “model” family that doesn’t resemble any real family we see today in America.