An X-Files expert on the show's enduring appeal – 30 years on

• Ostensibly a show about aliens, The X-Files swiftly became part of the cultural lexicon and remains there to this day.
• After all, it was the X-Files fandom that invented the term “shipping” (rooting for characters to get together romantically).
• It also coincided with Bill Clinton becoming president – marking the end of more than a decade of Republican leadership.
• These themes reflected growing concerns about government agencies using technology to both spy on and influence the public.

The X-Files’ enduring appeal

• As one fan explained: “The cultural context of conspiracy theories has changed since the beginning of X-Files.
• They, tells Mulder that “no one can tell the difference anymore between what’s real and what’s fake”.
• In the second season episode Ascension, Mulder pulls a phone book off a shelf in his search for Scully – now we’d use Google.
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