In this essay, I suggest a different way of thinking about adaptation, which I call forensic adaptation. I use the term forensic in three ways. First, I mean forensic with its connotations to detective work as a means of exposing source texts in unmarked adaptations. Second, I draw on forensics in the sense of rhetorical debate to situate the act of adaptation within the framework of rhetorical narrative theory. Instead of an adaptation being an interpretation or reading of its source material, I look at it as a moment when a new speaker takes up elements introduced by a previous speaker and transforms them in various ways to fulfill a new rhetorical intent. Finally, I reference forensics specifically as it relates to debates in the public forum. Using this three-pronged approach, I take up the example of The X-Files: I Want to Believe (Chris Carter, 2008) in order to show how the film is actually an adaptation of a 1960 Roald Dahl short story "William and Mary." Whereas Dahl's story is a cynical meditation on marriage and revenge, I Want to Believe depicts powerful affirmations of faith, loyalty, and commitment, some of which are targeted directly at long-time fans of The X-Files television series. However, the film is quite cynical in the way that it presents arguments about several public sphere issues, including same-sex marriage, pedophile priests, and stem cell research.
