Talk:Gender Bender (The X-Files)

message: Can anyone identify the music used in the three or four dance club scenes that appeared in this episode? Was it original music produced by Mark Snow just for those scenes? 121.44.228.35 02:17, 15 July 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Added to the article now, it's from a previous film Mark Snow had worked on. GRAPPLE X 15:03, 27 July 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  Music used in the dance club scenes 

message: Will add comments later today. Cheers, TBrandley 14:05, 18 September 2012 (UTC)
replies: text: I've made a start on these but it's pretty late and I've an early morning; I'll be back Friday to continue with them. Thanks very much for taking the time to review it though. GRAPPLE X 04:34, 20 September 2012 (UTC)
replies: text: Welcome, please reply or leave your upcoming comments at Wikipedia:WikiProject The X-Files A-Class review/Gender Bender (The X-Files)/archive1 now. Thank you. TBrandley 03:28, 24 September 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  Comments for A-Class assessment 

message: This goes into rather intricate detail about some of the episode's themes and includes some random tidbits of information here and there.
:Unable to access that. Is there much content? If so I could order it up. GRAPPLE X 02:00, 7 October 2012 (UTC)
replies: text: I had reviewed that one; the cut and thrust of the source is about Scully but it does drop mention of this episode when mentioning the series exploring sexual themes. I wasn't convinced it was worth taking the tangent just to add an extra footnote for not much content. GRAPPLE X 02:00, 7 October 2012 (UTC)

text: Unable to access that; could be regional thing. If it's directly relevant (rather than just general Bowman stuff without specific mention of "Gender Bender") would you be able to add some of it? GRAPPLE X 02:00, 7 October 2012 (UTC)

text: Unable to access, as above. GRAPPLE X 02:00, 7 October 2012 (UTC)

text: Beyond mentioning that she returns I'm not really sure I want to get bogged down in specifics for other episodes. GRAPPLE X 02:00, 7 October 2012 (UTC)

text: The former source discusses gender in the series but only mentions "Gender Bender" as an example of an episode "begging" to be examined (without actually examining it; way to go Paul Cantor). The second one, again, offers a brief mention (focus on Scully, but "here's this other episode where gender is a theme, but back to Scully") that's no more than a sentence. It's a little frustrating because it throws up a lot of false positives when these mentions don't actually go into any depth. GRAPPLE X 02:00, 7 October 2012 (UTC)

text: All I can see is a listing saying "Drama, 1:00. A person who can switch genders at will is committing murders. Kate Twa, Brent Hinkley". Not sure that's of any real use. :/ GRAPPLE X 02:00, 7 October 2012 (UTC)

text: Thanks! I should be able to work some of this in, that should help things a lot. GRAPPLE X 02:34, 7 October 2012 (UTC)
replies: text: Actually, you wouldn't happen to know the page range for that? If you know the first page number I can work from there. GRAPPLE X 02:36, 7 October 2012 (UTC)

text: I tried searching the Nitpicker's Guide, but Google Books for me isn't bringing up anything but a snippet view (I'm in Ireland, I think there's regional differences in what can be seen). If you say 94 to 97 then I trust that; ready to go now. Thanks again! GRAPPLE X 02:57, 7 October 2012 (UTC)
replies: text: Final suggestion; I'm a simple creature. I like pretty pictures. I think this could function as a proper lead image. The rationale could be that it showcases the finales twist and reveals the nature of the episode's antagonists as aliens, and also reveals a notable geographical event discussed in the article. Etc etc Bruce Campbell (talk) 03:04, 7 October 2012 (UTC)
replies: text: While it does wonderfully convey how pointless the finale was; I'm still on the fence. Suggest it at the FAC; if there's broader support for a non-free file to be added then I'll fire it up. GRAPPLE X 03:05, 7 October 2012 (UTC)
replies: text: Oups; recounted and had someone else double check. The Nitpicker's Guide coverage actually begins on page 90 and lasts to 93. Had to screencap every 10 pages and check thrice, but I'm sure now. Bruce Campbell (talk) 03:23, 7 October 2012 (UTC)
replies: text: Amending now. Thanks for catching that. GRAPPLE X 03:29, 7 October 2012 (UTC)

text: Also, if we really want to get prettyful in here, we now have a great reason to showcase this handsome SOB. Bruce Campbell (talk) 03:57, 7 October 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  Extra, probably pointless stuff for the FAC 

message: I thought about the criticism of the aliens using "the English language when in private". It might not be incongruous, if it's interpreted not literally, but as a shorthand of accessibility for the English viewers. Since this technique (just maintaining a few fixed phrases from the original language, speaking in a heavy accent) has been so ubiquitous in mainstream Hollywood movies for decades, I'm not really bothered when it's also used for fictive alien species.<BR>
A friend noted to me an interesting, fairly clever, illustration of this shorthand, in the movie The 13th Warrior, Antonio Banderas plays what's supposed to be an Arab learning Old Norse by listening to conversations with vikings. The actors playing vikings speak, afaik, in different modern Scandinavian languages (Icelandic would be closer to Old Norse, but there's a far smaller pool of actors) but after a while, randomly insert various English words and phrases in their speech, to illustrate the character's increasing familiarity with the new language. It isn't meant to be taken literally in this case, it's a shorthand, like a theater play. 惑乱 Wakuran (talk) 10:04, 14 May 2013 (UTC)
replies: text: There's a reason the book is called "The Nitpicker's Guide"; some of its contents are quite pedantic but the (useful) overall impression they give is better imparted by showing the pedantry than paraphrasing it, I feel. That said, the series has never been shy when it comes to using non-English languages with subtitles when it wants to portray "otherness" literally—there's plenty of Japanese, Navajo, French and Romanian used elsewhere in the series, so it stands to reason a critic would pick up on the lack of a similar convention here. GRAPPLE X 10:10, 14 May 2013 (UTC)
replies: text: Valid points. 惑乱 Wakuran (talk) 13:36, 14 May 2013 (UTC)
thread_title: Use of the English language when in private

message: There are some similarities between this episode and the 1971 science fiction novel by Frank Herbert called Hellstrom's Hive. In Herbert's book there is a colony of humans who have tried to emulate social insects (like bees or ants, etc.), and part of what they do is send out emissaries into the normal human population to obtain genetic material to help in their genetic experiments. To do this they have specially-bred females who have naturally-enhanced pheromones that arouse the libido of their intended victims to such a great extent that they then have no control over their actions. After they obtain their victims DNA (through breeding with them), the victim succumbs to the overpowering pheromone rush and dies.
Without knowing any more about it, this seems to present a case that Herbert's book might have had some influence in the writing of this episode, at least partially. --Saukkomies talk  03:50, 7 July 2013 (UTC)
thread_title: Inspired by "Hellstrom's Hive"?