From Chris Snellgrove
| Published
If you are a TV lover from Vorwut, you probably remember the strange phenomenon of “very special episodes”. The types of stories that normally bring your favorite shows to a standstill so that you can hit them with obvious messages such as the dangers of smoking or anorexia. Every now and then experienced writers were able to raise awareness of important topics for society and at the same time told an astonishing story. Such a show is The X filesTheir season 1 episode “Young at Heart” was partially made to raise awareness of Progerie.
The X files “Jung in the heart”
Even if they are a hardcore X files Fan, you may need a short primer about what the hell “Young at Heart” was. In this episode, Mulder sees himself before the prospect that a deceased criminal, whom he once helped, somehow still be alive. This strange case leads him and Scully to discover that a sketchy doctor has carried out experiments with a progerie) an illness that causes an advanced aging) and that he may have found a way to reverse the aging process as a whole.
The script demanded old black and white material from the doctor with a child with a trouble. To enable this X files The producers contacted the ProGeria Society and with their help brought the young Courtney Arciaga to Vancouver to play in “Young at Heart”. She actually suffered from Progeria, and her presence has given one of the fantastic stories of the show a real authenticity.
While Arciaga was only on the set for a short time, she apparently had a big impression of everyone with whom she worked with. X files The Co-Executive producer RW Goodwin later said: “When we contacted the parents (from Arciaga), we found that they were big fans of the show, as was the little girl. It was almost like a “make a wish” stones: it was wonderful. ”
The X files The producer also gave another insight into the reason why Arciaga was something special for everyone involved: “We thought it was good because it was good because it made the disease visible, so it contributed to creating more public Awareness of this. “In this way, the show was able to simply achieve something positive for countless people who suffer from this disease by drawing fans to their existence and devastated effects.
In retrospect, The X files Writers and producers were able to thread the needle with “Young at Heart” and created a special episode that did not let the fans down or turned into a revised point. Of course, not every fan will agree, but we see this as the best way to raise awareness of diseases that society could otherwise overlook. In addition, this approach is more respectful for those who suffer from things like ProGeria, because it effectively normalizes their illness instead of hiding them behind a special episode that the audience has almost immediately forgotten.
When you look back The X files‘First season, admittedly, it is a bit uneven. Gor every immediate blast like “Squeeze” or “Beyond the Sea”, there was something ambitious and half -hearted like “room”. Fortunately, “Young at Heart” stops remarkably well and shows the incredible ability of the show, reality and fiction to combine in something captivating. And the fact that it was partially made to raise awareness of a real illness makes it all the more moving every time you use it.
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