Sunday Mornings with Mulder and Scully – Native American myths and werewolves

I watched two episodes this Sunday morning, Miracle Man and Shapes. I’m not really going to discuss Miracle Man because it is one of my least favorite episodes, and so I can give my full attention to Shapes.

The inspiration of this episode comes from the Native American legends about a Manitou, a man who can shape shift into an animal or beast. While the real Manitou myths see this as a supreme being and was used by the Anishinaabe or Algonquian healers as a way to change the weather or heal illness. By non-healers, it was used to do a vision quest. The X-Files used the myth as more of a changeling character. Someone who could change into a beast, even doing so unknowingly.

Mulder and Scully travel to an Indian Reservation in Montana to investigate the death of a Native American man who was mistaken for an animal before he was killed. Their investigation is complicated by resentment stemming from the 1973 Wounded Knee incident and many of the people living on the reservation are uncooperative.

Mulder tells Scully of a similar case investigated by J. Edgar Hoover in 1946 which surrounded a series of mysterious deaths in the same area of Montana that Mulder and Scully are now searching for answers. It was the first X-File. It was mentioned earlier during the episode when Scully’s father died, but Mulder gives it more context now.

Scully, ever the skeptic, does not believe that the death they are investigating was accidental, but changes her tune at the end of the episode when she sees what she thinks is a mountain lion go on attack only to have it be a man after it is shot and killed. Was this man an actual monster? Was the really the myth Mulder believes him to be?

This was the first time that The X-Files used Native American folklore as inspiration, but it was not the last. In season two, Mulder encounters Anasazi tribe members and the Native American themes are brought into the overarching mythology of the show as it goes on.

I know I keep circling back to Twin Peaks as I write these blogs, and I’m going to do it again now. Actor Micheal Horse, who guest starred in this episode, also had a recurring role in Twin Peaks. Just one of the many actors to do so as David Lynch’s work seems to always have some connection to The X-Files.

As far as the werewolf themes here, I’m reminded to An American Werewolf in London which has some of the best makeup effects in cinema, especially when man changes into the beast. While The X-Files does not go into that much detail for this episode, it does have some cool creature effects which was effective and memorable to see on screen.

Werewolves appear often in cinema, dating back to when Universal made the 1941 film The Wolfman part of what would later become it’s monster collection that includes Frankenstein and The Invisible Man. Lon Chaney had a prolific career in horror spanning decades, but his turn as a werewolf will always be my favorite.

In modern times, the werewolf myth has been adapted to varying degrees of success. The 2010 remake of The Wolfman starring Emily Blunt and Benicio del Toro is, in my humble opinion, a little underrated. The performances are great and the score memorable. I’m also a huge fan of The Howling movies, the first of which stars Dee Wallace who would go on to star in Cujo and E.T.. Jack Nicholson and Michelle Pfeiffer starred in Wolf, a 1990s iteration of werewolf lore that sees the main character bit by a wolf as his professional life is falling apart. His descent into animal behavior coincides with his fight for job survival.

Stephen King even got in on the werewolf action in writing Silver Bullet, though the movie adaptation of this is not one I would recommend.

Michael Dougherty directed Trick ‘r Treat which told five interwoven stories of Halloween night in a small town. It would later be adapted into a comic book of the same name. In the film, Anna Paquin plays a woman dressed as Red Riding Hood who turns out to be a werewolf looking for her first kill. She utters my favorite line of the entire film, playing off of her chosen costume for the night. My, what big eyes you have.

Even Michael J. Fox got in on some werewolf action when he starred in Teen Wolf, a decidedly tame take on werewolf lore that sees him playing basketball and going to high school. It as PG as it gets for what is usually such a vicious monster, but not the only story to do so. The Harry Potter books and movies utilize the beast as well making an appearance in the third book, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Lupin’s character appears repeatedly in each book after that as the affliction takes a tole on his professional and personal life and relationships. And if you were at all aware of pop culture over the last twenty years, I don’t have to tell you about Twilight – nor do I want to. It was never among my faves when it comes to vampire or werewolf tellings, though I respect its impact on pop culture.

I could go all day on the appearance of the werewolves in books, television, and cinema, but I’ll let you bite into your own search and discovery on the multitude of adaptations that exist out there. And if you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend Wallace and Gromit and the Curse of the Were-Rabbit. It’s full of British wit and lovely stop motion animation.

Until next week, the truth is out there. RAWR