Firefly

Firefly http://forums.televisionwithoutpity.com/index.php Sat, 21 Nov 2009 15:22:37 -0500 10 The Old Firefly Thread http://forums.televisionwithoutpity.com/index.php?showtopic=2868799
Thank you, Kispexi2, and likewise I'm sure.

Your Peter Pan theory is intriguing, though I had a slight guffaw imagining Zoe as Tinkerbell...If we're going for maximum amusement, I think Jayne should wear the Tinkerbell outfit, and Simon for maximum pretty!

Don't get me wrong, I like ALL of the Firefly cast, including beautiful Morena, and ADORE all the Firefly characters! In fact, it's a testament to how much I like the character of Inara that I see so much potential in her and want more character development and storyline.

One more geek-out before I go.

I think of Inara so far as more of a great concept and device rather than a fully fleshed-out character like Mal. Prostitutes of the future are not only not looked down on, but respected and influential? That's GREAT! And props to Joss for having the guts to put that on mainstream television! As a concept, I think it's liberating, empowering, and intriguing. I have some quibbles though, with the execution. It's interesting to me that though arguably, as a character, Inara may interest me the least, she's the one that makes me think the most about the Firefly futureverse society and how our heroes fit into it.

Aaack, I'm not doing a good job of explaining myself here.

Okay. I watched Firefly on the DVD's so I saw Serenity before I saw Train Job. And what's weird is that after watching the pilot, I got the idea that Inara was a prostitute, but I did not at all get the idea that she was respected, and was of higher 'rank' than the rest of the crew. In fact, from the way Mal treated her, and the way Book seemed to flinch from her, and, I'm not sure, something about Morena's body language and manner, elegant though it was (maybe she didn't have full grasp of the character yet either? this is all JMHO), and maybe just because I viewed it all from my own bound-by-the-conventions-of-my-time perspective, I got the impression that prostitution was just as looked down upon in the future as it is now. Also, the way she joked to Book later about being a 'lowly whore'. I came away from Serenity loving the show, of course, but thinking that Mal was a prudish hypocritical sexually repressed asshole for making fun of Inara's job, and that Inara, far from being the celebrated, respected, glamorous courtesan she's supposed to be, was just another variation on the cliche hooker-with-a-heart-of-gold character.

After seeing Train Job, which had that part at the end where she rescues Mal and Zoe from the police station, demonstrating her 'respectability' and status, I got more of a grasp of the idea, but I still kind of had to work at it. Shindig drove it home more, although I really wanted Inara to tell Mal more forcefully to stay out of her business arrangements, and jumped for joy when she told him in the hotel room that it was "her decision, not his." I thought, finally! the girl shows some spunk!

This is getting too long, so I'll try to wrap it up. Basically, I think the character of Inara and concept of Companion are great ideas that needed a little more time to cook. I think we needed to be shown more, and more forcefully, what a companion IS in that society. The Mal and Inara lovestory, I think, was meant to be a classic sort of 'Rugged Space Captain and Refined Space Princess' class-and-culture-clash sexual chemistry story with the added unconventional Joss twist: the princess in this future scenario is actually a courtesan, and she's just as respected and revered. It's actually a classic story embedded in our culture. I think it was too soon too fast though. In order for us to buy the star-crossed love story, we needed more of a handle on where these two were in relation to each other. The scene in Serenity makes more sense if I know that Inara can handle Mal's derogatory names because she is above him in class, and impervious to his worthless opinion. It's like populist Joe Schmo trying to bring Halle Berry down a peg by telling her she may have won an Oscar, but she's not all that different from or better than starlets starring in soft-core porn, selling her beauty to the masses for money. No offense to Halle Berry fans. Ehh, I've talked myself out and run out of steam.

Have a Happy New Year All Browncoats!!!!]]> Wed, 31 Dec 2003 19:36:14 -0500 http://forums.televisionwithoutpity.com/index.php?showtopic=2868799 Firefly Survival Game http://forums.televisionwithoutpity.com/index.php?showtopic=3137035
All of the characters start off with 15 points. TWoPpers can then cast either a (++) vote to give someone 2 points, or a (--) to take away 2 votes. Each TWoPper can only cast his/her votes once a day. That's a calendar day, not 24 hours between votes. So, for example, you can vote at 11:59pm, and again 2 minutes later at 12:01am. You can vote for 3 people at a time. When a character's vote total reaches 0, he/she is eliminated. When half of the field is eliminated, then characters will only be allowed to receive 1 + vote, while still potentially receiving 2 -- votes. This is to ensure that the game doesn't last forever.

Also, you can't vote for one person multiple times in a day (i.e. you can't take away six points from Saffron in just one day, though I'd certainly like to!) You have to add or substract points from three different people.

Please also post the new standings with your vote, in rank order. It makes it easier to do the math and prevents an overkill/waste of vote.

The poster who votes someone dead gets to concoct and describe the method of death. This can be as painless or brutal or speedy or horrendously drawn out as the poster sees fit.

Here's the list of characters I came up with. I didn't bother with characters who only appeared in 1-2 episodes, as its hard to compare them to the characters we've spent so much more time with. If I've failed to include someone, feel free to add him/her before the game really gets going:

Mal - 15
Jayne - 15
Simon - 15
River - 15
Wash - 15
Zoe - 15
Kaylee - 15
Inara - 15
Book - 15
Saffron - 15

Since the list is so short, if you guys want we can also include villains/guest stars of the week/characters from the movie (like Mr. Universe). Just add anyone you'd like! Meanwhile, I'll start the voting:

Simon ++ (My favorite FF character by far. He's wonderfully snarky, loyal, complex, smart...and, oh yeah, also pretty easy on the eyes!)

Inara -- (I just never warmed up to her. She's got a certain air of haughty superiority that really irks)

Mal ++ (Sure, he can be a total ass...but a very intriguing one. I think he's an extremely well-developed, complex anti-hero and I'm fascinated by his interactions with every single other character)

Simon - 17
Mal - 17
Jayne - 15
River - 15
Wash - 15
Zoe - 15
Kaylee - 15
Book - 15
Saffron - 15
Inara - 13]]> Sat, 11 Mar 2006 15:01:27 -0500 http://forums.televisionwithoutpity.com/index.php?showtopic=3137035 Simon and ... Dawn? Cast appearances in other roles http://forums.televisionwithoutpity.com/index.php?showtopic=3136838
Gotta say, of the ones I know of, the most unique one was Jewel in Stargate: Atlantis, because the only way to tell it was her was by watching the credits, or listening to her voice. The prosthetics were that huge.]]> Fri, 10 Mar 2006 10:41:40 -0500 http://forums.televisionwithoutpity.com/index.php?showtopic=3136838 Some People Juggle Geese: The Quotable Firefly http://forums.televisionwithoutpity.com/index.php?showtopic=3136953 A place for everyone to post their favorite quotes from Firefly and the BDM. Fri, 10 Mar 2006 18:08:31 -0500 http://forums.televisionwithoutpity.com/index.php?showtopic=3136953 <![CDATA[2-1: "Serenity: The Big Damn Movie"]]> http://forums.televisionwithoutpity.com/index.php?showtopic=3136809
Of course, now I want to know what happens next!]]> Fri, 10 Mar 2006 08:50:49 -0500 http://forums.televisionwithoutpity.com/index.php?showtopic=3136809 <![CDATA[Oh Nathan, You Adorable Whore: Cast & Crew In Real Life]]> http://forums.televisionwithoutpity.com/index.php?showtopic=3137058 queenb in the HoYay thread.

Who's dating who? Who's feuding with who? Who's pursuing projects outside the screen? What's up with the gap in Joss's teeth? This is the place to discuss.]]> Sat, 11 Mar 2006 22:42:22 -0500 http://forums.televisionwithoutpity.com/index.php?showtopic=3137058 <![CDATA[Can't Stop the Signal: Firefly in the Media]]> http://forums.televisionwithoutpity.com/index.php?showtopic=3137232 On the small screen, it's a small world from Newsday.com. Talks about his appearance on Bones and other things.

Although he's "branching out now to ABC," Baldwin still keeps in touch with his "Firefly" buddies, including star Nathan Fillion.

"We just had a party over at Nate's house," he says, "and Joss showed up, so we had some nice reminiscences. He's still down in the salt mines writing 'Wonder Woman,' and when he will finish with that, we don't know. I have no idea what's in his head."

]]> Tue, 14 Mar 2006 17:15:38 -0500 http://forums.televisionwithoutpity.com/index.php?showtopic=3137232 <![CDATA[Oh, That's Not Right: Firefly Fan Fiction]]> http://forums.televisionwithoutpity.com/index.php?showtopic=3136871 Fri, 10 Mar 2006 13:10:43 -0500 http://forums.televisionwithoutpity.com/index.php?showtopic=3136871 Flying Solo: Unpopular Firefly Opinions http://forums.televisionwithoutpity.com/index.php?showtopic=3146166
I'm not as big a Firefly fan as many on these boards, but I've definitely seen the series and movie enough times to develop some opinions that seem to be unpopular. Here are a few to start us off, though I'm sure I'll be back to ramble more later on:

The more I watch FF, the less I like Inara. In fact, at this point it's no exaggeration to say that I strongly dislike her. No matter what Joss was attempting to convey with his idea of a 'companion', IMO Inara's role and status was so poorly and inconsistently explained that it still seemed like nothing more than the typical 'hooker with heart of gold' that's been done a million times before.
I also find her character extremely arrogant, conceited and haughty, though that could be attributed to the actress's affect and delivery. Finally, her typical 'on the surafce it's advesarial but, gosh gee, they really care for each other underneath' relationship with Mal is highly annoying to me. If I could get rid of one FF character, it would be Inara in a heartbeat.

Kaylee more often annoys than delights me.

I dislike River only a little less than Inara. I find her 'crazy genius' thing overdone and sort of out of place with the rest of the characters and more subtle themes on this show.

A more positive UO: I know many feel that FF has a really incoherent premise and nonsensical 'verse, but for some reason the idea of 'independents' retreating to the edges of society has always made perfect sense to me. i wish we could see more of it...especially if they brought my beloved Wash back to life and got rid of River and Inara!

As much as I love Mal, if I had to pick just two favorite characters who I never tire of watching, it would be Jayne and Simon.

I prefer The Train Job to Serenity (the episode). Speaking of which, I prefer the movie to the TV series.

This is both unpopular and surprsing, given how much I've always admired Joss Whedon's dialogue, but I still can't get past the awkward combination of 'down home' western speak, contemporary English and random Chinese phrases. The frequently tossed out 'basic but grammatically incorrect pearls of wisdom' feel so false to me, and don't even get me started on the constant use of 'ain't'!]]> Tue, 19 Sep 2006 13:02:06 -0400 http://forums.televisionwithoutpity.com/index.php?showtopic=3146166 <![CDATA[You Know You're Obsessed With Firefly When...]]> http://forums.televisionwithoutpity.com/index.php?showtopic=3136996
YKYOWFW... in your history class, your teacher refers to the New Mexico territory as "this land," and the first thing you do is look over to the friend you converted, and tell her that it should be called her grave.

...someone mentions the doctor on Lost (which is one of your favorite shows) and your first thought is, "But Simon isn't on the island..."

...a perfectly normal conversation is about whether or not a gaseous planet like Jupiter could be terraformed.

...your friend asked you how you are doing. Even though you are having a good day, you tell them it is not your best day ever.

I have so many more but these are the only things I can think of right now.]]> Sat, 11 Mar 2006 01:04:21 -0500 http://forums.televisionwithoutpity.com/index.php?showtopic=3136996