Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Scully, we salute you

Here's a fun little tribute at Salon in celebration of the X-Files' Dana Scully.

"In an entertainment world where women are disappearing from multiplexes, where men bulk up as superheroes while women don't eat but sip pink drinks, we need to remember that there was once a very short heroine who hunted monsters and talked about Einstein, who kicked ass and questioned her faith, who went to work with a man she loved but didn't rip his shirt off over lunch, who didn't want to believe, but opened herself nonetheless to possibility. We need Scully back, even for a moment."

Not to mention that Gillian Anderson is a damn good and underused actress.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

She was excellent in the very underseen House of Mirth (if she had Daniel Day Lewis as Selden instead of the workable but meh Eric Stoltz- wow. And she was also wonderful in Bleak House on TV.

K. Bowen said...

After House of Mirth, I thought for sure she would win an Oscar within five years. It's not too late. Here's hoping that she gets her groove back.

And I hate it when movies make me feel nostalgic.

K. Bowen said...

Oh, and the last thing I saw her in was The Last King of Scotland. And hell if she wasn't great in a really short role. She leaves the film not too far in, and I wanted more.

Anonymous said...

She just doesn't get cast. She's relatively subtle and has a certain sophistication/repression vibe going on. She certainly doesn't seem to fit the stereotypical mom/sister role. Perhaps she is getting typecast as distant and conflicted.

Anonymous said...

I love her, being a former X-Phile geek in the worst way back when I was from around 9-14 or so. And you two are right, she was unbelievably brilliant in House of Mirth, and I too wanted much more of her in The Last King of Scotland (partly in that case because I'm beginning to think that James McAvoy is a black hole--every film I see him in, within days I may remember parts of the film but none of them have anything to do with him).

K. Bowen said...

It's interesting. In just looking at her filmography, she went five years after HofM without a film appearance. She was on stage in London and in Bleak House, but no films.