Psychological Underpinnings of Homoerotic Themes in Tunguska (11/25/96)

>>              Mulder, Krycek, and shirtless Skinner...same room,
>> TOUCHING, the UST was INTENSE... life don't get no better than this....
>> 
>>                 XXXXXXXXXXXXXXgizzieXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
>> 
>> 
>
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>God, and I was only thinking about Mulder/Krycek. Now it seems we have 
>Mulder/Krycek/Skinner! Oh god. Bring me another towel!!!!!
>
I'm convinced.  I was enjoying all the jokes before the episode about the
Mulder/Krycek UST, but then I saw the ep, and in all seriousness, the UST
WAS THERE.  (This is my professional opinion :) ).  Of course, one factor
that heightened the perception of tension is that the entire episode was
one big S & M
fantasy (whips, horses, guns, fetish-y combat gear, bondage, bondage,
bondage, half-naked men by the
bucketload...my particular favorite would be bare-chested Skinner
manhandling Krycek -- while Mulder watches -- and then chaining him up)
but this UST is firmly rooted in M & K's actual interaction.
Think about it:  if Mulder had Cancerman totally at his mercy, would he
have acted the same way toward him?  I think not.  Maybe he would rough
him up a little in the first flush of anger, but I definitely picture
Mulder being disgusted at the thought of coming in physical contact with
Cancerman.  He hates him just as much as he hates Krycek (maybe more), but
I don't think he'd be constantly searching for excuses to strike him or
slam him up against walls (bodies pressed close together) and get in his
face.  M & K were completely physically aware of each other in every scene
they were in together (in comparison, M & S might as well not even have
bodies for all the physical tension _they've_ been generated together
lately -- AND DON'T GET ME STARTED ON M'S LATEST INTER-CONTINENTAL
DITCHING OF S).  The eye contact between M & K was sizzling.  Sure, sure,
you can try to explain it away as anger, but that's not the whole story
(and I've got a couple of different theories to explain the dynamics in
detail if anyone wants to hear more). 
EP

and a continuation...

>You are such a tease, Doc.  OF COURSE we want to hear more!  The
>upcoming, soon-to-be-seen, still-in-line-behind-X-Ville and the Perv
>Page renovations, Mulder/Krycek Romantics Web Page, needs your medical
>seal of approval.
>
>Portia
>Fantasizing about out-takes of Nick, MP and DD filming those scenes
>(you think THEY missed this subtext?  not likely. geez, it doesn't even
>qualify as *sub*text).
Well, one theory got posted already in reply to "Change in Mulder's
Deportment", so I hope y'all will pardon the overlap with this post.
Theory 1: Psychodynamics Strikes Again.  THis will come as no surprise to
many of you -- Mulder was uncharacteristically violent with defenseless
Krycek because HE LUSTS AFTER HIM.  This attraction is totally unpalatable
to his superego -- it must be repressed.  Violence represses awareness of
the desire in two different ways: (1) sublimation (unwanted feelings are
repressed by being channeled into acceptable form); by roughing up Krycek,
Mulder gets the physical contact he craves without having to admit the
desire. (2) Reaction formation (unwanted feelings are repressed by acting
out the opposite); by acting as if he really, really hates Krycek (like,
assaulting him without provocation) he can deny the desire.  But all of
these defense mechanisms only keep the desire from conscious awareness; it
was totally there in their body language in this ep.
Theory 2: The Two-Factor Theory of Emotion.  Mulder was
uncharacteristically violent with Krycek because HE LUSTS AFTER HIM.
Yeah, just like the Freudian explanation, but this one doesn't involve the
unconscious.  This theory says that many emotions (anger, attraction,
euphoria, embarassment...) consist of a generalized physiological arousal
(pounding heart, etc.) plus a cognitive label.  So, anger and euphoria
essentially *feel* the same; the reason you know which is which when you
experience them is that you look at the situation that evoked the emotion
and label it in a way that makes sense.  The flip side is that it is
possible to mislabel arousal, and attribute it to something other than
what really evoked it.  Thus, Mulder is getting one shot of physiological
arousal from his hate for Krycek, and another shot from his lust for him,
but he's attributing the whole double shot to hatred, which is the first
obvious label that comes along.  So Mulder feels like he's REALLY REALLY
angry, and punches the guy again.  This "misattribution of arousal" has
been demonstrated in tons of lab and field studies (there's a great one
about an attractive female researcher and the Capilano suspension bridge
in Vancouver...).
EP