The Post-Modern Prometheus Kiss Scene

The The Post-Modern Prometheus Kiss Scene is a fandom myth that is perpetuating in the X-Files Fandom since the late 1990s that there is an alternative scene that shows an unscripted kiss between Mulder and Scully at the end of the season 5 episode The Post-Modern Prometheus. Until this day, no video material of this alleged scene has appeared.
==Origin==
The myth has been around since the late 1990s. It's primarily based on alleged screengrab from the episode that looks like Mulder and Scully are kissing. The picture is very likely a photo manip created by MSR-Shippers.
===Source of the confusion===
====Version for the episode====
Actually there are two version of the ending scene. The version that was aired in the episode shows Mulder extending his hand to Scully and them dancing for a few seconds.http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lmhk2slD6v1qhznlx.gif
====Version from the Season 5 special====
At the end of a one-hour television special (that was also included in the Season 5 VHS and DVD collections) called The Truth about Season 5 showed an alternate take of the dancing scene. In this Duchovny twirls Anderson around before dancing for a few seconds.Post-Modern Prometheus lost dance scene
====Presumibly false memory by X-Files executive producer Frank Spotnitz====
In the 2010s, X-Files Executive Producer Frank Spotnitz answered Fan question on a section of his website called the Mailbag. On Fan asked him about the picture (that they provided in their question) and whether the kiss was real. Spotnitz replied that is was an unscripted scene:
====Faked animated Gif====
In a discussion on the X-Files Universe message board,5.5 The Post-Modern Prometheus User SpecialAgent88 posted on June 14, 2011 three animated gifs of the dance scene. The first two show the aired version from the episode and from the season 5 special. A third gif has been edited to make it look like the rumored kiss scene.http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lmhk236Ecz1qhznlx.gif All three gifs were credited from being take from the tumblr blog of a user called scullymementomori.
A careful analysis, however, shows a weird/impossible placement of shadows which show that the gif, just like the Photoshop altered image, to be fake.
===Analysis===
While many fans believe that the picture is real and that they have indeed seen a video of this scene ("on Youtube", "on television", "it was aired in a special", "I have a recording of it on a VHS in my cellar"), nobody was able to actually proof the existence of this kiss/scene since today by uploading/sharing a video of the scene.
Since the resolution of the picture is rather poor and editing is quite well done, it does looks real, but won't hold a detailed comparison with the actually screen grabs of the scene as done by tumblr user fuckyeahdavidgillian:
==Explanation==
The Post-Modern Prometheus Kiss can be taken as perfect example of a False memory which is shared by several people. Wikipedia quotes: "In 2010 the phenomenon of collective false memory was dubbed the "Mandela Effect" by self-described "paranormal consultant" Fiona Broome, in reference to a false memory she reports, of the death of South African leader Nelson Mandela in the 1980s (when he was in fact still alive), which she claims is shared by "perhaps thousands" of other people."
Ironically, the Mandela Effect was also a topic of a Season 11 episode written by Darin Morgan.
The dance scene seen in the episode, however, was an impromptu take on the scene that according to the official FOX website for The X-Files' 25th Anniversary that episode's director Chris Carter liked so much that it was kept in the episode. This might explain Spotnitz' who served as Carter's right hand during that time and was heavily involved in the production process as a co executive producerFrank Spotnitz on IMDB) false memory about the scene mention above. On the other hand, Carter had repeated several times, that he never wants to get Mulder and Scully romantically involved, but yet enjoyed teasing the audience with close near-miss encounters like the Hallway scene in the first X-Files feature film.
==See also==
* TwirlGate
==References==
Category:1990s
Category:2000s
Category:2010s
Category:X-Files