NUMBER 8, NUMBER 8...
Watching the movie four times (yes, I’m a geek I admit it ^^) I was delighted by the intelligence of the story, and all the subplots and narratives developed in it… Ideas of God’s mercy, of forgiveness even when it comes with matters that are humanly defined as being absolute evil, the ability of mankind to forgive and forget the sins of some of their kind, forgiving the self and the errors or decisions taken in harsh moments (talking about Scully giving away her son, for instance)… Well fellows, you gave me back what I really missed while watching a movie or a show these last years: thinking! You didn’t give us the solution right under our noses like it’s usually done in other features/shows, but followed the "X-Files" inimitable style, as it was six years ago… the cleverness in the storytelling was there, and there’s no mistake in that, it’s so there (as Father Joe could say ^^). Even though I have to tell you one truth: you hurt a noromo fan with that kiss, but well, the majority of the crowd had to win, only a few of us still wanted it to be unresolved, even if we all know that they belong together… (Well let’s not go on that subject, too much has been said already!).
Enough with the chitchat, let’s move on to the real purpose of this e-mail: there were a few 8's scattered in the movie: first on Monica Bannan’s badge (held by Mulder in the car in their first ride with Father Joe), then as the hour for the hospital staff meeting scene, then at the end in Nutter’s feed, on some number plates on the wall behind the counter. The obsession began after watching it the second time, as I got sure the number wasn’t there randomly… So with some of my friends on our French board we began to speculate about the nature of these numbers: symbols, clues, dates, episodes…. Well, every theory that could be plausible was explored for days (damn you for messing with our minds that much) and I guess that we finally find what it could refer to.
The whole plotline deals with religion and belief, about words of God and God’s work through a human being. Passages of the Bible were quoted in the movie, and so we thought, what if it was a passage of the Bible? And we have among many others, an assumption about what could be the right interpretation of these mysterious numbers.
(following the passage of the Bible quoted in the movie )
Proverbs 8:8
All the words of my mouth are righteousness; there is nothing false or twisted in them.
I won’t quote the whole proverb, but from 8:1 to 8:20, all could be related to the plot of the movie. A reference maybe to Father’s Joe‘s vision, being the words of God through his mouth speaking to save those women and expiate his faults.
8 is also the number of infinite, and in Christianity, what is beyond 7 is what is beyond time (because the number 7 refers to the days of the week which repeat themselves, and the days God needed to create earth). Mainly it refers to anything beyond reality, beyond explanation, well any abnormal or paranormal thing (as Father Joe ‘s vision), the infinite being God itself.
It is also in Christianity the number of “Beatitudes," those blessed by God and who are destined to the Kingdom of heaven (I sustain that theory as 8 was on the victim’s badge). The Beatitudes imply also that people not normally considered blessed on Earth are in fact blessed by God and will experience the Kingdom of Heaven (maybe the ultimate fate of Father Joe’s soul being finally forgiven and destined to heaven and not hell as one should presume given his deeds as a priest).
Well, I guess that I won’t go into details any further, it’s already too much and well, the more you push the possibilities, the more you find, and others comes in between…
So are we right ? Are we anything close in debunking those mysterious numbers? Does it have anything to do with the bible or is it something else?
I guess that I have shown how much I enjoyed analyzing IWTB, how much we discussed about it, and to be honest, I really loved the inside jokes spread through the film. Clearly you made the movie for us, as there are plenty of things that the crowd didn’t understand… A woman during Skinner/Mulder’s scene clearly asked me why I was laughing!! (btw, that moment was absolutely precious!)!
For that I’ll be extremely grateful!
Asma, Paris
P.S. I was asked by the noromos and th UST french fans (lvei) to tell you that even though that boat scene and that kiss were very painful for us, we really love you all (the cast the crew, every single person who worked on IWTB and XF) and that all is forgiven ^^. This is silly, but I’m doing it anyway!
Fascinating post. You're not wrong, but I can't tell you that you're right, either. As far as I know, the uses of the number 8 in the film were not conscious.
conclusion le chiffre 8 à été mis inconsciemment... sans rapport avec quoi que ce soit...