Joss Whedon's 'Firefly'

dolores haze said:

I just googled Cowboy Bebop and it looks fab. Do you recommed the series or the movie? Is it, in your opinion, suitable for children?

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Series and movie. The movie takes place in the middle of the series, but if you start out with only one, go for the series, so you can get introduced to the main characters. The series is more varied musically than Firefly, with most episodes being styled after a certain musical genre (blues, jazz, waltz, ballad, etc).

With the level of violence, and some drug use, I wouldn't recommend it for young children. Older ones, maybe (teens, definitely), and some episodes may be friendlier than others (and some definitely unfriendly). Definitely watch it without any little ones first.

I'll agree somewhat with the "i didn't like Inarra" statements. While I thought her character had potential, they didn't give her much to DO. She seemed mostly ornamental. I loved Wash, because he made me laugh, and I loved Jayne because he was... Jayne, and I loved most of the other characters... but honestly, if they had left Inarra out of an episode, I probably wouldn't have even noticed.

And the Reavers scared the bejesus out of me. Hell, you don't even have to SEE 'em to be scared of them.

Oh, and I really liked Jayne.

Another thing I loved about the series was the complexity of the dialogue. Much like HBO's "Deadwood", the characters in "Firefly" speak in their own distinct patois, and it's almost Shakespearean.

Did I mention I like Jayne?

Some people have asked me about The American Astronaut, here is the trailer. It's pretty much described as a Firefly Musical with Flash Gordon serials props

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFxV3s3CaQ8

I'll agree somewhat with the "i didn't like Inarra" statements. While I thought her character had potential, they didn't give her much to DO. She seemed mostly ornamental. I loved Wash, because he made me laugh, and I loved Jayne because he was... Jayne, and I loved most of the other characters... but honestly, if they had left Inarra out of an episode, I probably wouldn't have even noticed.

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I'm also agreeing with Inara. I didn't get the attraction between her and Mal. I mean, I can understand the idea of them in the sense that their "love" would have been some kind of forbidden and socially unacceptable, but I didn't see any real connection between the two characters to make me actually want them together. Inara was just kind of blah.

I loved what they did with Kaylee--she was a girly-girly at heart but still kicked ass and had her tomboy side. A nice realistic balance instead of always having either the "girl" girl or the tomboy.

dolores haze said:

I just googled Cowboy Bebop and it looks fab. Do you recommed the series or the movie? Is it, in your opinion, suitable for children?

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I agree with kuwisdelu, I watched when I was 13 or 14 and blew my mind...

In a dystopian universe, overrun with statism and oppression, a few brave souls seek their own visions of utopia, and do a fair job of achieving their goal. What's not to love?

[tinfoil hat]
Firefly was cancelled because it showed happy, capable people who didn't bow down to authority, thereby giving people hope, and showing them it's possible to live in relative freedom on the fringes of an authoritarian society.
[/tinfoil hat]

The only TV series ever that I would have traded for my real life. The only place I'd rather live is in Galt's Gulch. It was one of the philosophical factors in my decision to Shrug and quit spending almost half of each year earning money that I had to hand over to the 'Alliance.'

Don said:

Firefly was cancelled because it showed happy, capable people who didn't bow down to authority, thereby giving people hope, and showing them it's possible to live in relative freedom on the fringes of an authoritarian society.'

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Nope, there are plenty other anti-establishment shows that never got cancelled.

Anybody heard of the radical feminists protesting and boycotting Firefly and Joss Whedon in general?

Lots of Inara Bashing going on.

I don't think it's warranted. To me, her character was 'ok'. She added a nice variety with your typical stories, I mean, how many shows have a traveling 'companion'

Remember, not every character can be a Snoopy. In good story telling, you need a few semi-bland characters to contrast things against. Otherwise, without contrast, it is harder for your other character's personalities to come out.

For instance, Kaylee was an absolute doll. I really liked her (and would love to meet a real live version with that personality). But which characters on Firefly enable the opportunity to best see certain aspects of her character?

Inara.

There were many scenes when they were alone in companion shuttle being 'girly'. Can you have those same scenes with River? No. What about Zoe? No.

Conversely, there were a few great scenes that showed Jayne's character. When Inara and a female client went into the companion shuttle, Jayne turns around and says, "I'll be in my bunk" and leaves, and you know exactly what he is going to do. That moment of mirth was made possible because of Inara.

In short, Inara was not snoopy, but she still added to the story and without her, Firefly wouldn't have been as good. Plus, she had lots of potential to come into her own. Overall, I liked her. She added a dynamic that would have been hard to duplicate by other means.

Mel...

dolores haze said:

Really? Got a link?

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http://users.livejournal.com/_allecto_/34718.html

It's one of those wackos that say that any form of heterosexual sex is rape while Lesbian rape is not real. Also she erases any comment from people that doesn't agree with her since is either by rapists or brainwashed women

Am I like the only one here who actually really really liked the first season of Babylon 5?



Guess so!

Anywho, Firefly has another really awesome thing I love to death about it. Everyone is so confused and bamboozled because Wash is a whimp and Zoe's a fighter.

But no one, not even us commentators out in the real world, have mentioned that...she's black and he's white.

I just really like that.

Also, my Uncle had a good word for fundamentalists. Whether its fundamentalist Christians, fundamentalist feminists or fundamentalist star trek fans, he called them: Funny-mentalists.

Dear god, does this woman know ANYTHING about the millitary?

MAL is a SERGENT! ZOE IS A PRIVATE! YOU SAY SIR TO SARGENTS OR THEY FFING CHEW YOU OUT!

ARARARAGuiNS SV OAdb;oflaeb'o/

ARGH! SHE DOSN'T UNDERSTAND IRONY EITHER!

ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGH! Here is someone so divorced from reality that I'm VERY tempted to get my bowel disruptor gun!

dolores haze said:

Hmmmm. Political analysis of 'Firefly'. Interesting. I had a hard time seeing The Alliance as villains. They just seemed like neatly dressed bureaucrats to me.

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You haven't read much of me in P&CE. Bureaucrats, neatly dressed or not, ARE villains.

Seriously, though, did we watch different series? River's treatment at the hands of the Alliance... hands of blue... questioning people, then killing them to cover their tracks... betraying Jayne after he betrayed the crew... refusing treatment to Book until they discover he's someone of importance... and on and on...

Well, see, the American goverment has done a lot of bad things...but I don't think they're "evil".

Just incompetent. And there are people within the goverment who are evil. Just as there are people in the goverment who are good.

The Alliance is less about evil and good, and more about...forcing your views on someone else. I'm sure all the people living on the Core Worlds are happy and fine. But the people who want to live somewhere else should have the right to do so.

Its exploring the ideal of the Civil War that was lost: Not just slavery, but Federal meddling. A large part of the Civil War was fought over hte rights of the States over teh rights of the Union.

Dong ma?

Zoombie said:

Dear god, does this woman know ANYTHING about the millitary?

MAL is a SERGENT! ZOE IS A PRIVATE! YOU SAY SIR TO SARGENTS OR THEY FFING CHEW YOU OUT!

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Maybe the Army is different but in the Navy you say sir to Officers and that's it. A Sargeant is just another enlisted. Only in bootcamp do you address them as sir.

Hmm...

I'll need to check, but still, Mal was doing the job of Lieutenant at that time cause all the officers...were dead.

Zoombie said:

ARGH! SHE DOSN'T UNDERSTAND IRONY EITHER!

ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGH! Here is someone so divorced from reality that I'm VERY tempted to get my bowel disruptor gun!

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Don't worry, a lot of the SF community around the internet have made fun of her. A LOT!.

Here is an example of a parody of that very same... I can't call that a critique... rant, that's the word:

http://aic-weirdo.livejournal.com/589119.html

Okay, I've read the whole thing.

And the worst thing is?

PEOPLE AGREE WITH HER!

Apolonias Christ!

Okay, Maxy, that's the single greatest parody I've read in the last five minuets.

In short, Inara was not snoopy, but she still added to the story and without her, Firefly wouldn't have been as good. Plus, she had lots of potential to come into her own. Overall, I liked her. She added a dynamic that would have been hard to duplicate by other means.

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And this is why I didn't hate or even dislike Inara, but at the same time I didn't care for her. But I do agree potential was there. Given more time on the series as a whole, I probably would have grown to like her. (I liked her better, in fact, in the film than the series.)

maxmordon said:

http://users.livejournal.com/_allecto_/34718.html

It's one of those wackos that say that any form of heterosexual sex is rape while Lesbian rape is not real. Also she erases any comment from people that doesn't agree with her since is either by rapists or brainwashed women

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Wow, reading that was like watching a plane crash. It was ugly, and scary, and I couldn't take my eyes away.