The X-Files’ 11th season is currently filming, cobbling together the full cast of the original series for another trip into the unknown. But stars Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny took a break yesterday to take a knee in solidarity with the hundreds of athletes who have recently been moved to do the same, for varying reasons and to varying ends.
What started as a pointed protest last year by Colin Kaepernick about the murder of young black men by police has, somehow, dilated, sucking in other issues depending on the viewer’s rhetorical needs. It has been willfully misinterpreted as a show of disrespect to the armed forces, or as a blanket protest to the policies of Donald Trump, or as a bland “show of unity” among the more opportunistic forces in football.
Still, Anderson has been an outspoken activist for progressive issues throughout her career, recently rallying to create a more gender-balanced writing staff on The X-Files itself. The notion that “police shouldn’t kill black men” has, if you look at the response to the tweet itself, become so fractious that it could turn some viewers away from the upcoming season, the ratings for which will surely be a matter of great concern to our commander in chief.