When I first heard about Diana Fowley, I was actually excited. I thought it would be interesting to learn more about Mulder's past by having his ex-girlfriend (I never read her as his ex-wife) join the show. But I ended up being disappointed. I was deeply annoyed that the writers didn't really give us much of a backstory. I mean, it was never clear whether she'd worked on the X-Files as Mulder's partner -- which would make one wonder, wouldn't she be mentioned in some of the old X-Files reports? It seemed silly and unbelievable, then, that Scully couldn't seem to find any information on her. This, to me, showed that the writers really didn't care about coming up with a plausible story, and it felt as though Diana Fowley had just been introduced for cheap romantic tension, and just so fans would hate her. So I ended up feeling very negatively about the introduction of Diana Fowley to the storyline.
But I also started noticing a very troubling thing. People's hatred of Fowley went beyond the kind of criticisms I noted above. There was a distinct level of ugly sexism to the hatred. People would call her a "bitch," a "slut," or claim that she was too "ugly" for Mulder, and that there was something wrong with Mulder for being attracted to a woman that fans deemed "ugly." I think there are legitimate reasons not to like Diana Fowley. But if all you can do is spout sexist slurs at her, then I'm not very impressed.
Eventually, Mulder and Fowley's relationship began to fascinate me. It seems to have been longterm (at least, that's my interpretation -- the information about Mulder's past relationship with her, and his past in general, is pretty murky), and Mulder doesn't really seem like the kind of guy who would be good at maintaining a long term relationship. He's obsessive, work-focused, and can often be very self-centered. He also strikes me as someone who would be very difficult to live with. Don't get me wrong, I love Mulder, he's my favourite character -- but he just doesn't seem like prime relationship material (which is probably why I'm not a Mulder/Scully shipper, to be honest -- but that's another discussion for another time). So I'm just, I guess, fascinated by how the Mulder/Fowley dynamic would have played out, and it's something I like to explore in fic -- though, admittedly, I've only publicly posted one Mulder/Fowley fic to date, and most of these "fics" haven't even made it past the "idea stage" to be written down.
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Date: 2013-10-04 05:07 pm (UTC)But I also started noticing a very troubling thing. People's hatred of Fowley went beyond the kind of criticisms I noted above. There was a distinct level of ugly sexism to the hatred. People would call her a "bitch," a "slut," or claim that she was too "ugly" for Mulder, and that there was something wrong with Mulder for being attracted to a woman that fans deemed "ugly." I think there are legitimate reasons not to like Diana Fowley. But if all you can do is spout sexist slurs at her, then I'm not very impressed.
Eventually, Mulder and Fowley's relationship began to fascinate me. It seems to have been longterm (at least, that's my interpretation -- the information about Mulder's past relationship with her, and his past in general, is pretty murky), and Mulder doesn't really seem like the kind of guy who would be good at maintaining a long term relationship. He's obsessive, work-focused, and can often be very self-centered. He also strikes me as someone who would be very difficult to live with. Don't get me wrong, I love Mulder, he's my favourite character -- but he just doesn't seem like prime relationship material (which is probably why I'm not a Mulder/Scully shipper, to be honest -- but that's another discussion for another time). So I'm just, I guess, fascinated by how the Mulder/Fowley dynamic would have played out, and it's something I like to explore in fic -- though, admittedly, I've only publicly posted one Mulder/Fowley fic to date, and most of these "fics" haven't even made it past the "idea stage" to be written down.
Anyway: I hope your PhD is doing well!