Florida Today from Cocoa, Florida • Page 44

2E FLORIDA TODAY, Sunday, May 19, 2002 I win TV classic 'X-Files' closes last case I affi i has assured him they've got no little green men at local facilities. But how can he know for sure? For that reason, he predicts The X-Files" and its "mythic arc" are guaranteed an enduring legacy in American culture. "Ultimately, there is an objective truth, but we can't know it because we're human," Farrelly says. "With The it's the quest that dominates, not the revelation. And before you can question authority, you have to get educated.

That's really the point isn't it?" I Photos by AP A real-life UFO storyline in the '90s provided a backdrop for the prime-time drama. In 1997, two weeks before the 50-year anniversary celebration of the Roswell Incident that drew tens of thousands to New Mexico, the Air Force issued its Roswell Report Case Closed update. It stated rumors of alien bodies being recovered could be traced to military crash-test dummies air-dropped across the desert. across the desert beginning in 1953. But if The X-Files" made a living off distrust of government is part of the American spirit," reminds TV Guide's Roush), its fans evidently viewed the show's apocalyptic vision with discernment.

Although a 1996 Gallup Poll indicated 71 percent of Americans believed the government knew more than it was telling about UFOs, organized paranoia crumbled dramatically during the decade, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery, Ala. SPLC spokesman Joe Roy said the terrorist bombing of Oklahoma City's federal building was responsible for the decline of the militia movement whose 158 functioning entities nationwide are a far cry from the 900-plus blips on the radar map in 1995. The distrust of government is still there, they still rail against the New World Order, and they're still looking for scapegoats," Roy says. "But it's one thing to conduct military training exercises in the woods and fantasize with drinking buddies, and quite another when real people start dying like they did in Oklahoma City. The Internet may have initially expanded the recruitment base for some of these groups, but when Y2K came and went and nothing happened, a lot of these guys decided to get a job, get a date and move on." Not far away from Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio the rumored repository of recovered alien hardware inside Hangar 18 Dayton University English professor Dr.

Jim Farrefly jokes how the military phere to test for nuclear fallout But the GAO could not confirm that claim, because the military's dispensation records of the Mogul debris had been destroyed. In 1997, two weeks before the 50-year anniversary celebration of the Roswell Incident that drew tens of thousands to southeast New Mexico, the Air Force issued its Roswell Report: Case Closed update. This version stated that rumors of alien bodies being recovered could be traced to military crash-test dummies air-dropped Ginny's Gang Carnival Nail Play All Day, 1 18 Games Plus Day Sundays, Last Sundays Of Every Month 10 OFF, Gifts Drawings SATSUN Mat 12pmEve 5:30 A 6:15 WUReg 7pm 'X-Files', From IE paranormal activity often classified above top secret. With Scully wed to science and Mulder to intuition, their platonic relationship was energized by the attraction of oppo-sites, and compressed by unremitting assaults on their respective belief systems. In its final years, The X-Files" had relocated its set to overexposed Los Angeles, and morphed into a Hollywood movie that merely added another layer of density.

David Duchovny (Mulder) had pretty much split, Gillian Anderson (Scully) worked without her foil, and Carter had diluted his energies to spinoffs "The Lone that never found their footing. But, by the end of an era populated with shapeshifters, parasites, mutants, telekinetic prodigies and assassins, "The X-Files" had racked up crates of awards. And its mantra became the stuff of bumper stickers: Trust No One. Deny Everything. The Truth Is Out There.

Like "The X-Files," there are no simple answers for why the show crossed over from cult hit to T-shirt factory, but there are theories galore. What some critics agree on is that at the height of its popularity, the "X-Files" fan base formed an eerie mirror of classic sci-fi TV series "Star Trek" devotees enthusiastic, communal, but a reverse image of the tetter's "celebration of the can-do spirit of the '60s," says Dr. Jeffrey Hyson of St Joseph's University in Philadelphia. "The Trekkies loved to get together and talk shop, but the only way they could do that was through newsletters or conventions," says Hyson, a history professor who specializes in entertainment and TV culture. The on the other hand, debuted at precisely the moment the World Wide Web went online.

And one of the things the Web does is create virtual communities, where fans can come together and discuss things immediately." Hyson says he watched in fascination as scores of sites traditional fan sites, chat rooms, viewer-generated plotlines began multiplying and infesting the Internet "People were responding avidly to a show that takes a very skeptical view of authority, which is a theme that works whether you're on the far left or the far right And it came during a moment of prosperity, with this very jovial fellow in the White House and a post-Cold War feeling that there's nothing we can't handle." Syracuse University history professor Dr. Robert Thompson argues The X-Files" success wasn't so much about timing as it was about Carter's instinct for exploring the conspiracies and everyday freakishness that permeate main-; stream consciousness. Although flesh-eating bacteria, the Colum-. bine massacre, Gulf War Syn-. drome, Heaven's Gate suicides and the Raelian clone movement made headlines in the 1990s, Thompson says The X-Files" owes no particular allegiance to that decade.

"No matter what the political temperature is, no matter how in control we think our politicians are, there are always going to be school shootings and developments that defy rational thought" says the former president of the International Popular Culture Association. The STAR WARS PG (9:45) 12:45 3:45 6:45 9:45 SPIDER-MAN (pg-13) 'On 2 Screens (10:30) (11:00) 1:15 1:454:004:30 6:45 7:15 9:30 10:00 UNFAITHFUL R) A.AC A. AC ft' AG () Indicates Sat. Sun. only 1 iwfiMiiwiiiii todiunaatingjnluc SPIRIT 300 (G) STAR WARS: EPISODE PASSES 10:03 10:451145 THE SCORPION KING 11011:153:305:45800 10:20 (PG-13) MURDER BY NUMBERS 2055:057:55 10:35 B)-C REQUIRED CHANGING LANES 1:053:20 5:408:00 10:20 (R ID REQUIRED SWEETEST THING 8:1010:05 (R)-10 REQUIRED HIGH CRIMES 1:20 4:507:35 10:10 (PG-13) PANIC ROOM 1:504:357:109:45 (R)-B REQUIRED THE ROOKIE 10:30 (G) E.T.

2105:15 (PC) ICE AGE 1:00 3:055 107:109:10 (PG) MONSOON WEDDING 5:00 10-15 (R) ID REQUIRED 300 3:45 7:45 830 9-30 10:15 1045 (PG) ABOUT A BOY 10:301:06 3:30 5:50 6:15 10:30 (PG-13) UNFAITHFUL 10:0012:30 5:00 7:35 1(t10(R) 10 REQUIRED THE NEW QUYt' 1.1:10 1:15 3:30 5.45 8:00 1020 (PG-13) SPIDER-MAN 10:15 10:45 1130 12:15 1:00 1:45 2:303:154:00 4:45 5:30 6:15 1M 745 9:15 lOfl0 1045 (PG-1!) HOLLYWOOD ENDING 2:00 4:45 7:25 9:55 (PG-13) DEUCES WILD 1:103:255:508:101030 (R) 10 REQUIRED JASON 153:305:458:1510:40 (R) -K) REQUIRED LIFE OR SOMETHING LIKE IT 1:404:4072050 (PG-13) VA til STAR WARS: SPIDER-MAN or. 1 EPISODE lllSHGMSSQ. Scr-n. o2Scn 1 2:45 1 :30 4fl0 4:45 6:45 7:45 12303:45 7:00 10:15 (PG) 9:30 10:30 (PG-13) UNFAITHFUL THE SCORPION 1:00 4:157:151000 (R)-D KING REQUIRED 1:154:307:30 45 (PG-13) STAR WARS: EPISODE II (PG) dig (1200 100 320 420) 700 730 1015 1045 THE NEW GUY (PG-13) (1210215 425)745 945 OTHER SIDE OF HEAVEN (PG) (1215 235 455)725 1000 UNFAITHFUL (R) ID REQUIRED (1230 415)720 955 SPIDER-MAN (PG-13) bg(1205 140 230 425 500) 700 730 9401010 MURDER BY NUMBERS (R ID REQUIRED (1220430) 715950 THE SCORPION KING (PG-13) (1205 205 435)735 935 CHANGING LANES (R) R3 REQUIRED (1225 230 440) 705 925 STAR WARS: EPISODE ll(PG) dig (1200 100320 420)700 730 1015 1 0451 THE NEW GUY (PG-13) (1230 245 500)750 1020 UNFAITHFUL (R)-ID REQUIRED (1250 405)710 945; SPIDER-MAN (PG-13) (1215 1245 340 445)715745 1000 1030 MURDER BY NUMBERS (R ID REQUIRED (1235 400) 650 940 THE SCORPION KING (PG-13) (1225 235 455)740 950 CHANGING LANES (R)- ID REQUIRED (1220 240 505) 735 1005 THE ROOKIE (G) (1240 350)705 955 STAR WARS: EPISODE II (PG) (1200320) 7001015 SPIDER-MAN (PG-13) dig 1100 400)700 940 (130 430)730 1010 UNFAITHFUL (R) ID REQUIRED (120 405) 715 955 THE NEW GUY (PG-13) (1230 240 450)710 925 MURDER BY NUMBERS (H)-ID REQUIRED(110355)655945 THE SCORPION KING (PG-13) (145 410) 725 935 CHANGING LANES (R)-ID REQUIRED (125 415)710 950 THE ROOKIE (G) (115 405)655 940 ICE AGE (PG) (1215 230 505)700 900 Piano Place Beach Adult Video! All DVD's Outlet 19.95! BIockEast ofAU on SR520 DINGO KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS $3,400 IN PRIZES, DOORS OPEN AT 3 PM SNACK BAR 5 PM, E.B. 6:30, REG.

6:45 PM I nufe (14 ni OA "I rnuj. 9 1 9n, EVERY WEDNESDAY I SUNDAY 2150 S. DAIRY W. MEIB. 725-8064 11017 TO TAKE OFF THE POUNDS www.healthtothebody.com i Cameron Oiaz Christina Applegate THE SWEETEST THING ro.u) 515 7:45 945 Asmey Judd Morgan Freeman HIGH CRIMES (PQ-13) 2:00 4:30 7:00 MONSTERS.

ITIC. 1:46 3:45 BLADE 2 (H) 9:30 cillEfilAWORLD 4345 W. New Haven An. Watt Melbourne 32904 (321) 723-S211 www.cinemaworld.orii All Theatres Stadium Seating Handicap Accessible All Theatres Dolby Digital Sound Hearing Assistance Devices Available 'STAR WARS EPISODE li (PQ) (Digital Light Projection DLP) 10:301:30 4:30 7:30 10:30 'STAR WARS EPISODE II (PQ) 10:00 11:30 12:30 1:00 2:30 3:30 4:00 5:30 6:30 7:00 8:309:3010:00 AB0UTAB0Y(PG-13) 10:451:153:45 6:45 9:15 UNFAITHFUL (R) 1:45 4:45 7:3010:15 THE NEW GUY (PQ-13) 11:152:00 5:00 7:159:45 SPIDER-MAN (PG-13) 10:15 10:45 11:30 1:15 1:45 2:00 3:45 4:45 5:00 7:1 5 7:45 8:00 9:45 10:15 1 0:30 CHANGING LANES (Ft) 11:15 2:00 5:00 7:15 9:45 THE SCORPION KING (PG-13) 11:152:00 4:156:30 9:00 HOLLYWOOD ENDING pg-13) 10:151:00 7:00 MURDER BY NUMBERS (Ft) 4:00 9:30 THE ROOKIE (Q) 10:161:00 7:00 PANIC ROOM (R) 4:00 7:009:30 ICE AGE (O) 11:301:45 THE LORD OF THE RINGS (PQ-13) 3:30 9:30 SNEAK PREVIEW SUNDAY 51902 SPIRIT (Q) 3:30 DerojejiBjjianaomen Tiie so IIP1 PER PERSON KSfflB fill tfM STEPHEN HOLDEN.THE N.m:u:V:ji:m in Palm Bay Plaza on US1 SatVSun. Mat.

COME PLAY "MAGIC BINGO" We offer full service dell, charge or debit card service and Florida Lottery. Proceeds to CCAS SCEl a NEW YORK TIMES 3- w.Dntiiibfulmorit.csm liili TTkTr A TTTTTTTT 5 jd AMC REGAL CINEMAS REGAL CINEMAS MERRITT SQUARE 12 OAKS 10 ROXY10 777 E. Memtt and Causeway (321) 459-2550 1800 W. mms (321) 676-0880 Palm Bay Rd. V.

of Baboock (321) 722-0770 inexplicable is always raising its sometimes frightening head on the fringes of American life." But for media scholar Dr. Horace Newcomb, who directs the Peabody Awards Program at the University of Georgia, the primary allure was simply "a cliff-hanger serial narrative" driven by "compelling central characters with sex appeal, with adventure and the possibility of romance." That same formula, Newcomb says, accounted for the success of The Sopranos" on HBO, whose numbers rose on Sunday nights just as The X-Files" began to lose its viewers when Duchovny left the show two years ago. And then there are those like Joe Jordan of Port St. John, for whom The X-Files" delivered exactly what it advertised: the search for truth about aliens and unidentified flying objects. As state section director for the Mutual UFO Network, Jordan was impressed by the amount of research that went into The X-Files," which often spun plot lines off of documented incidents.

The X-Files' actually made it easier to talk about UFOs at work," says Jordan, employed by Sea Ray boats. "I began noticing people who weren't interested in the subject coming up to me and asking, "Did you see The X-Files' last night? Did that really And then I'd refer them to a particular case report. So I think The X-Files' did a pretty good job of raising awareness." In fact, a real-life UFO storyline in the '90s provided the perfect backdrop for a prime-time drama obsessed with conspiracies. As the decade began, prodded by constituent queries, Rep. Steven Schiff (R-NM) pressed the General Accounting Office to pry answers out of the Air Force concerning the so-called Roswell Incident In 1947, after initially claiming it had recovered a crashed flying saucer near Roswell, N.M., the Army Air Force reversed itself and announced it had retrieved a common weather balloon.

In its 1994 response to Schiff, the Air Force amended the story to say the balloon belonged to Project Mogul, a classified study of the upper atmos 1' Miss Manners 'Si Martin uV make etiquette rules, because they fail to consider any but the immediate effects. A second wife may or may not be called a stepmother by her husband's children for any number of reasons, including the age of the child, the closeness of the relationship and how the child and the lady feel about the term. However, it is not up to the former wife to decide, based on her assessment of how much mothering is done. It is true that should your father take a bride, you could decide not to call her your stepmother. Should you marry again, Miss Manners doubts you would care to be given a rating and a designation by your bridegroom's former wife.

She begs you to seek the deeper satisfaction of rising above this issue. Dear Miss Manners: Whatever do you do when a person from your long-ago past unexpectedly confronts you with, "Do you know who I am?" Gentle Reader: "How could anyone forget you?" Should the lady be so rash as to pass up the opportunity to accept this gracefully and ask, "Well, then, who am Miss Manners gives you leave to say gently, "Surely you can tell me." Write to Miss Manners, United Media, 200 Madison fourth floor, New York, NY 10016. Her column appears Sunday and Wednesday in Florida Today. Whether to give stepmother the title isn't up to first wife You Only Get 18 Summers With Them Time's Short PUT IN A POOL "Plus" over 200 Guitars on Sale Keyboards Organs Music Lessons Band Instruments Drums Guitars Violins MarionMusic Mill SATELLITE BEACH PALM BAY 777-2812 676-0916 www.aquabluepoolsandspas.com 984-24704970 Stack Plaza ii.iii.ii.iii.iijii.ii.Hi li il hi it ill ii i i OKYLIUrl i nismnnf SiiDerrpnfer wvmu Wl WWIItVI Give your family a permanently bright beautiful home. Let the sunshine in! Sizes 10" to 22" from $295 plus installation.

Solar Powered Attic Fans tor lowering your air conditioning costs, lifetime Leakfree Warranty with Installation ch7im 645 S. Plumosa St. Merritt Island Dear Miss Manners: Is it inevitable that the wife of one's father by another marriage must be called one's stepmother? I know that is what the dictionary says. Is any mothering required? As you might have guessed, I am the first wife (now ex-wife) of a man who has remarried. During the past 10 years, he and his wife have never spent more than a few days a year with my daughter, who is soon to be married.

Yet I hear the term "stepmother" applied to his wife. This woman has not acted as a mother to my daughter. I have accepted her as my former husband's wife. I am polite to her when I see her. Most certainly she will be included in the wedding events and photographs, but I do not consider her any kind of a mother to my daughter.

Nor would I consider anyone my 80-year-old widowed father might marry now my stepmother. Heavens, I am older than 50. She would be my father's wife. I'm sure she would be a lovely person, but she would not mother me, so I would see no reason to call her my stepmother. Does one's father's subsequent wife require the appellation "stepmother" irrespective of any mothering she has done? If so, I will yield the point And if not, I promise to continue to behave politely.

I will simply have the satisfaction of knowing Miss Manners thinks as I do mothering is required to be a stepmother. Gentle Reader Of course, Miss Manners guessed immediately that you are the first wife. She can always spot interested partjes when they attempt (Palm Bay Rd.) MelbournePalm Bay lit ii in ii in ii.iii.ii.iii ii ill li 111,11 111 11,111 II 111 II III II 111 4. SOLATUBE TTENERGY" A.V.S KYLIC1HTS COMPUTER "America's Computer Service Storr more! 1 I I xnetfr Technology Services Your New technology Service the old fashioned way I AT THIS THEATRE CINEMA CINEMAW0RLD 16 4345 W. New Haven Avenue West Melbourne (321) 723-521 1 Fri Sun 1 0:30 AM 1 :30 PM 4:30 7:30 1 0:30 PM Also on 3 Non-Digital Screens FREE Computer cleaning I I AMC REGAL CINEMAS REGAL CINEMAS MERRITT SQUARE 12 OAKS 10 R0XY 10 777 E-Memtt Band Camay (ill 459-2550 18M.WKaJS(321)676-O8a0 Pain Bay Rfl.

W. of Babrack (321) 722-0770 ati wm ota mem In-store only. With coupon. Expires 5312002. 8265 N.

Wickham Melbourne, FL (321) 254-4120 www.expetec.biz.