Boaz
Happy Easter!
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- Jul 14, 2005
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Spoiler Alert for Firefly and Serenity.
I was introduced to Firefly a year ago and I just re-watched the series and the movie again this week. I've got a few comments to make, but since this forum sees little action ten years after Fireflyaired, I'll put them all in this thread.
The show uses some great story telling devices. These are not independent... they seem to stem from each other. A boat, a fishbowl, Robin Hood and Jean Valjean.
Life on a ship... they travel to new places, yet they are always home, like The Loveboat. [No, Boaz! You did not just compare Firefly to that 70's junk.] Yeah, I did. Comparing it to Star Trek and the Enterprise is too obvious. But that is the brilliance of a cruise ship... you travel to exotic places and have adventures, but you sleep in the same bed every night. The mission of the Enterprise was to deal with whatever came their way, but the underlying motivations for Mal and crew are to find serenity, i.e. love, acceptance, peace of mind, shelter, forgiveness... and that is what the passengers on the Loveboat were looking for. I could compare Firefly to Wagon Train or Rawhide. They were both westerns on a continuous journey. But the never ending wagon train and cattle drive don't really allow for viewers to chart progress in character development as they can in Firefly.
Also, life on a ship is a strong message in and of itself that life is a journey. Does the destination matter as much as how you behave along the way? Here's the first verse and chorus of the old Keith Green song, Run to the End of the Highway,
Another device that Firefly utilizes is the fishbowl. There's probably a literary term for this, but I don't know it. What I mean by fishbowl is that there are very differnt types of characters with antithetical behaviors forced to live together. This has been done ad naseum in American TV. It is the main device for every American sitcom, but rarely are the confines of the bowl plausible. Firefly more or less makes sense why each of the crew stays. The characters with the least plausible reasons for staying are obviously Book and Inara. But with all the story telling and character development in that one season, those two characters were purposely left as enigmas. We hardly got any background on Kaylee and Wash either, but their characters are so simple and basic that we understand immediately who they are without any real explanation.
But back to the fishbowl... Mal has opposites in Book, Inara, and Simon, i.e. those with the closest ties to the Alliance. Zoe is against anyone who crosses Mal or Serenity and she is the voice of reason to Mal's passion and Jayne's whining. Jayne is the opposite of, well, everyone, but especially Simon. Kaylee's plucky attitude and openess contradict Mal's secretive dealings and Simon's repressed emotions. Wash's carefree spirit and insecurities fly in the face of Jayne's small mindedness, Mal's schemes, and Zoe's pragmatism. Book's patience and morals seem incompatible with Jayne's animal instincts. Inara's grace and elegance is in direct contrast with everyone's peasant garb and hillbilly manners. Simon's social conservatism and education seperate him from the entire crew. And what of River? Even if she wasn't completely rewired by Nazi, err, Alliance scientists, what would she have in common with the crew?
The third device is the Robin Hood legend. Robin Hood and his Merry Men had a common cause. The oppression of the government led them to live outside the law and to provide justice to the widows, orphans, poor, i.e. the marginalized of society. The band of merry men seems to be incompatible with the previous fishbowl concept, I admit. But the crew of Serenity need a plausible reason to stay together and the unjust rule of the Alliance provides it. Mal and Zoe are vets from the wrong side of the civil war. Jayne, Wash, and Kaylee seem to have been raised on outer rim worlds far from Alliance education and society... and as bumpkins, they'll never fit in. Simon, River, Inara, and Book all seem to have strong ties or origins in the core worlds... yet for various reasons (all are probably feeling a sense of betrayal) they've left. So, if the crew can thumb their noses at the Alliance (or any bullies) by helping the helpless, they'll do it in a heartbeat.
The final story telling device that intrigues me is from Les Miserables. Les Mis has the Red and the Black... strong colors. The Red and Black rebel against oppressive government, but are decisively defeated. In effect, they changed nothing.... but one man decides to do the one thing he can. Jean Valjean cannot win the war. He cannot overthrow the government. He cannot provide justice for millions. He cannot feed and clothe everyone. But he knows he can save one child. So he gives up everything to redeem one abused orphan girl. He lost his reputation. He lost his political status. He lost his future. Even though he is continually hunted by the police and plotted against by bandits, he strives to raise the child to know grace, forgiveness, and beauty.
With the Robin Hood and Jean Valjean in a travelling fishbowl premise, the actual plots of the episodes become almost irrelevant. Whether the crew is robbing a train, defending a brothel, negotiating a sale, or out of gas, the story only serves to provide a focal point for the characters learning to live together.
Mal is a man trying to generate his own view of independent life. He's only able to do this consistently aboard his own little boat, but Serenity is where he'll always make his last stand. The Alliance will never make him submit. Therefore, anyone who joins him becomes part of his independent nation and all it's benefits... and ills.
Malcolm Reynolds is a great character. He is forced to live amongst his conquerors, but he's bound and determined to not be one of them. He never sought greatness, but his followers revere him as a leader. He never leaves any of his crew to languish or suffer without him. His sense of justice is Robin Hood-esqe... he robs, but only from those who deserve it. He kills, but only those who asked for it.
Zoe is not a popular character, I know. She's not charismatic. She's not flashy. She's not the best at anything... but she is second best at almost everything. When Mal is absent, she leads. When they fight, Zoe, Jayne, and Mal carry the load. When the doc is hurt, Zoe is the surgeon. She's the second best pilot. She's probably the third mechanic on Serenity. She can negotiate. She can plan. She has tremendous street smarts.
You know what? She is the best at three things... she's the most versatile. She's the most pragmatic. Sure, Jayne looks immediately at the bottom line, but Zoe realistically sees the whole picture for every situation. And finally, she's the most loyal.
Jayne is hugely popular with viewers. Jaynestown was an awesome episode. I am not demeaning Adam Baldwin's performance, but Jayne is a simple character that viewers can immediately understand. There is no conundrum with Jayne. What you see is what you get? Uneducated, dim witted, big, strong, violent, greedy, with a strong sex drive. If Baldwin was replaced with an orc, you'd have the same character. But with the complicated characters of Mal, Simon, and River and the mysteries surrounding Wash, Kaylee, Book and Inara, Whedon had to give us one strong character we could immediately identify with. I loved all Jayne's dialogue and his idiosyncracies, but my favorite moment was when he was the first through the airlock and onto Niska's station. Also, upon first glance, he'd be the last one to bond with Book, but he and the Shepherd form a bond from lifting weights. Crazy.
Kaylee. Hmmmm. Like Jayne she is a character whom the audience can immediately comprehend. She's the plucky little sister. She's so ready to grow up. She thinks she's grown up now that Mal has taken her across the verse, but she progressively learns the opposite when she cannot make headway with Simon, when she finds out she knows nothing of fashion, and when she is faced with combat for the first time. She's a sweet little sister to Inara and fun older sister to River.
Wash is the comedic relief. I know that his background is a mystery, but he provides a normalcy of life for Zoe, through humor, that Mal never can. Seinfeld and Everybody Loves Raymond were huge successes not because of the formidable acting skills of the title characters. I would not even qualify the emotive abilities of Jerry Seinfeld nor Ray Romano as adequate. The secret lies in great writing and superb supporting actors. Only Book is less developed than Wash, yet everyone loves Wash because of Alan Tudyk. Tudyk is awesome in every show I've seen him. Most of you saw A Knight's Tale, but he's over the top in 28 Days. I think it's in the final scene of 28 Days where he has Sandra Bullock not acting, but just trying to keep from laughing out loud like Carol Burnett at his Tim Conway antics.
If Whedon was ever to do a continuation of the story, Firefly: Twenty Years After or Serenity: The Search for Wash, I'd hate to see Wash. Wash died in Serenity. It would be a major cop out to bring Wash back. Now that does not mean Alan Tudyk should be left out. Sure, bring on Wash's twin brother, but give him a completely different personality from Wash.
[Boaz, how long is this post going to be?] I know. Sorry.
River. Let me paraphrase her by saying, Boaz understands, but he doesn't comprehend.
Book. Is he a former Alliance assassin? Was he a church sponsored Van Helsing? Is he even a real Shepherd? I'm kind of glad he remains a mystery.
Inara. I love how she is always portrayed as graceful. She's always dressed to the nines, except when Early catches her in bed. Her makeup is always perfect. She never hurries, unless lives are at risk. She never screams. She never breaks character from the perfect consort... except when she kissed Mal, passed out, and lied about it. Her character at the end of Our Mrs. Reynolds was not elegant, she was a human. Great story telling.
I've never seen a female character continually portrayed as elegant withought coming across as an Ice Queen. Morena Baccarin is the only one I've ever seen be both graceful and gracious for that length of time. She was the Dejah Thoris of my imagination.
Her relationship with Mal is reminiscent of Benedick and Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing. And it seems that Joss Whedon's verion of this Shakespearean classic (starring Nathan Fillion) is due out later this year. I love how Inara almost gives as good as she gets with Mal. The only reason that she does not give better is that 1) she has learned control that Mal never has, 2) she's resolved not destroy his self-image of master and commander, and 3) she loves him.
It's every man's fantasy to have the love of an intelligent, gorgeous, and pure of heart yet experienced woman.... with long legs.
Or at least it's my fantasy. So I love Inara.
[Boaz, Robin Hood did not love an experienced woman. He name was Maid Marian!] True. But it's also a man's fantasy to be a redeemer. And that brings me to Jean Valjean.
Simon, in Firefly, is Jean Valjean. Once he figured out that River was in trouble, he commited his life to her redemption. He threw away his promising career. He threw away his future comforts, which were many. He threw away his parents who refused to believe him or help him. He spent whatever resources were needed to secure River's release... he even put his own life in imminent danger. He sacrificed his identity in every way, except that he was her brother.
His parents forced him to choose between them and River. Well, since his parents could take care of themselves and River was a helpless child being abused... it was a no brainer for Simon.
Who are the heroes of Firefly? I imagine each of us identifies with one character or at least aspects of multiple characters. Kaylee may be a hero as a girl risen far above her birth... a real optimist. Book may be a hero to seeking to show grace and blessings to everyone they meet. Jayne may be a hero to those seeking atonement... to those who need a second chance. Inara may be a hero of composure in mayhem. Zoe may be a hero to those who seem to be overlooked despite their faithful service. Wash may be a hero as a solid rock for a spouse in tumultuous times. River may be a hero to anyone abused, misused, forgotten, or left out. Mal may be a hero to anyone called upon to lead, yet who feel overwhelmed.
To me, Simon is the hero.
I was introduced to Firefly a year ago and I just re-watched the series and the movie again this week. I've got a few comments to make, but since this forum sees little action ten years after Fireflyaired, I'll put them all in this thread.
The show uses some great story telling devices. These are not independent... they seem to stem from each other. A boat, a fishbowl, Robin Hood and Jean Valjean.
Life on a ship... they travel to new places, yet they are always home, like The Loveboat. [No, Boaz! You did not just compare Firefly to that 70's junk.] Yeah, I did. Comparing it to Star Trek and the Enterprise is too obvious. But that is the brilliance of a cruise ship... you travel to exotic places and have adventures, but you sleep in the same bed every night. The mission of the Enterprise was to deal with whatever came their way, but the underlying motivations for Mal and crew are to find serenity, i.e. love, acceptance, peace of mind, shelter, forgiveness... and that is what the passengers on the Loveboat were looking for. I could compare Firefly to Wagon Train or Rawhide. They were both westerns on a continuous journey. But the never ending wagon train and cattle drive don't really allow for viewers to chart progress in character development as they can in Firefly.
Also, life on a ship is a strong message in and of itself that life is a journey. Does the destination matter as much as how you behave along the way? Here's the first verse and chorus of the old Keith Green song, Run to the End of the Highway,
Another device that Firefly utilizes is the fishbowl. There's probably a literary term for this, but I don't know it. What I mean by fishbowl is that there are very differnt types of characters with antithetical behaviors forced to live together. This has been done ad naseum in American TV. It is the main device for every American sitcom, but rarely are the confines of the bowl plausible. Firefly more or less makes sense why each of the crew stays. The characters with the least plausible reasons for staying are obviously Book and Inara. But with all the story telling and character development in that one season, those two characters were purposely left as enigmas. We hardly got any background on Kaylee and Wash either, but their characters are so simple and basic that we understand immediately who they are without any real explanation.
But back to the fishbowl... Mal has opposites in Book, Inara, and Simon, i.e. those with the closest ties to the Alliance. Zoe is against anyone who crosses Mal or Serenity and she is the voice of reason to Mal's passion and Jayne's whining. Jayne is the opposite of, well, everyone, but especially Simon. Kaylee's plucky attitude and openess contradict Mal's secretive dealings and Simon's repressed emotions. Wash's carefree spirit and insecurities fly in the face of Jayne's small mindedness, Mal's schemes, and Zoe's pragmatism. Book's patience and morals seem incompatible with Jayne's animal instincts. Inara's grace and elegance is in direct contrast with everyone's peasant garb and hillbilly manners. Simon's social conservatism and education seperate him from the entire crew. And what of River? Even if she wasn't completely rewired by Nazi, err, Alliance scientists, what would she have in common with the crew?
The third device is the Robin Hood legend. Robin Hood and his Merry Men had a common cause. The oppression of the government led them to live outside the law and to provide justice to the widows, orphans, poor, i.e. the marginalized of society. The band of merry men seems to be incompatible with the previous fishbowl concept, I admit. But the crew of Serenity need a plausible reason to stay together and the unjust rule of the Alliance provides it. Mal and Zoe are vets from the wrong side of the civil war. Jayne, Wash, and Kaylee seem to have been raised on outer rim worlds far from Alliance education and society... and as bumpkins, they'll never fit in. Simon, River, Inara, and Book all seem to have strong ties or origins in the core worlds... yet for various reasons (all are probably feeling a sense of betrayal) they've left. So, if the crew can thumb their noses at the Alliance (or any bullies) by helping the helpless, they'll do it in a heartbeat.
The final story telling device that intrigues me is from Les Miserables. Les Mis has the Red and the Black... strong colors. The Red and Black rebel against oppressive government, but are decisively defeated. In effect, they changed nothing.... but one man decides to do the one thing he can. Jean Valjean cannot win the war. He cannot overthrow the government. He cannot provide justice for millions. He cannot feed and clothe everyone. But he knows he can save one child. So he gives up everything to redeem one abused orphan girl. He lost his reputation. He lost his political status. He lost his future. Even though he is continually hunted by the police and plotted against by bandits, he strives to raise the child to know grace, forgiveness, and beauty.
With the Robin Hood and Jean Valjean in a travelling fishbowl premise, the actual plots of the episodes become almost irrelevant. Whether the crew is robbing a train, defending a brothel, negotiating a sale, or out of gas, the story only serves to provide a focal point for the characters learning to live together.
Mal is a man trying to generate his own view of independent life. He's only able to do this consistently aboard his own little boat, but Serenity is where he'll always make his last stand. The Alliance will never make him submit. Therefore, anyone who joins him becomes part of his independent nation and all it's benefits... and ills.
Malcolm Reynolds is a great character. He is forced to live amongst his conquerors, but he's bound and determined to not be one of them. He never sought greatness, but his followers revere him as a leader. He never leaves any of his crew to languish or suffer without him. His sense of justice is Robin Hood-esqe... he robs, but only from those who deserve it. He kills, but only those who asked for it.
Zoe is not a popular character, I know. She's not charismatic. She's not flashy. She's not the best at anything... but she is second best at almost everything. When Mal is absent, she leads. When they fight, Zoe, Jayne, and Mal carry the load. When the doc is hurt, Zoe is the surgeon. She's the second best pilot. She's probably the third mechanic on Serenity. She can negotiate. She can plan. She has tremendous street smarts.
You know what? She is the best at three things... she's the most versatile. She's the most pragmatic. Sure, Jayne looks immediately at the bottom line, but Zoe realistically sees the whole picture for every situation. And finally, she's the most loyal.
Jayne is hugely popular with viewers. Jaynestown was an awesome episode. I am not demeaning Adam Baldwin's performance, but Jayne is a simple character that viewers can immediately understand. There is no conundrum with Jayne. What you see is what you get? Uneducated, dim witted, big, strong, violent, greedy, with a strong sex drive. If Baldwin was replaced with an orc, you'd have the same character. But with the complicated characters of Mal, Simon, and River and the mysteries surrounding Wash, Kaylee, Book and Inara, Whedon had to give us one strong character we could immediately identify with. I loved all Jayne's dialogue and his idiosyncracies, but my favorite moment was when he was the first through the airlock and onto Niska's station. Also, upon first glance, he'd be the last one to bond with Book, but he and the Shepherd form a bond from lifting weights. Crazy.
Kaylee. Hmmmm. Like Jayne she is a character whom the audience can immediately comprehend. She's the plucky little sister. She's so ready to grow up. She thinks she's grown up now that Mal has taken her across the verse, but she progressively learns the opposite when she cannot make headway with Simon, when she finds out she knows nothing of fashion, and when she is faced with combat for the first time. She's a sweet little sister to Inara and fun older sister to River.
Wash is the comedic relief. I know that his background is a mystery, but he provides a normalcy of life for Zoe, through humor, that Mal never can. Seinfeld and Everybody Loves Raymond were huge successes not because of the formidable acting skills of the title characters. I would not even qualify the emotive abilities of Jerry Seinfeld nor Ray Romano as adequate. The secret lies in great writing and superb supporting actors. Only Book is less developed than Wash, yet everyone loves Wash because of Alan Tudyk. Tudyk is awesome in every show I've seen him. Most of you saw A Knight's Tale, but he's over the top in 28 Days. I think it's in the final scene of 28 Days where he has Sandra Bullock not acting, but just trying to keep from laughing out loud like Carol Burnett at his Tim Conway antics.
If Whedon was ever to do a continuation of the story, Firefly: Twenty Years After or Serenity: The Search for Wash, I'd hate to see Wash. Wash died in Serenity. It would be a major cop out to bring Wash back. Now that does not mean Alan Tudyk should be left out. Sure, bring on Wash's twin brother, but give him a completely different personality from Wash.
[Boaz, how long is this post going to be?] I know. Sorry.
River. Let me paraphrase her by saying, Boaz understands, but he doesn't comprehend.
Book. Is he a former Alliance assassin? Was he a church sponsored Van Helsing? Is he even a real Shepherd? I'm kind of glad he remains a mystery.
Inara. I love how she is always portrayed as graceful. She's always dressed to the nines, except when Early catches her in bed. Her makeup is always perfect. She never hurries, unless lives are at risk. She never screams. She never breaks character from the perfect consort... except when she kissed Mal, passed out, and lied about it. Her character at the end of Our Mrs. Reynolds was not elegant, she was a human. Great story telling.
I've never seen a female character continually portrayed as elegant withought coming across as an Ice Queen. Morena Baccarin is the only one I've ever seen be both graceful and gracious for that length of time. She was the Dejah Thoris of my imagination.
Her relationship with Mal is reminiscent of Benedick and Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing. And it seems that Joss Whedon's verion of this Shakespearean classic (starring Nathan Fillion) is due out later this year. I love how Inara almost gives as good as she gets with Mal. The only reason that she does not give better is that 1) she has learned control that Mal never has, 2) she's resolved not destroy his self-image of master and commander, and 3) she loves him.
It's every man's fantasy to have the love of an intelligent, gorgeous, and pure of heart yet experienced woman.... with long legs.
Or at least it's my fantasy. So I love Inara.
[Boaz, Robin Hood did not love an experienced woman. He name was Maid Marian!] True. But it's also a man's fantasy to be a redeemer. And that brings me to Jean Valjean.
Simon, in Firefly, is Jean Valjean. Once he figured out that River was in trouble, he commited his life to her redemption. He threw away his promising career. He threw away his future comforts, which were many. He threw away his parents who refused to believe him or help him. He spent whatever resources were needed to secure River's release... he even put his own life in imminent danger. He sacrificed his identity in every way, except that he was her brother.
His parents forced him to choose between them and River. Well, since his parents could take care of themselves and River was a helpless child being abused... it was a no brainer for Simon.
Who are the heroes of Firefly? I imagine each of us identifies with one character or at least aspects of multiple characters. Kaylee may be a hero as a girl risen far above her birth... a real optimist. Book may be a hero to seeking to show grace and blessings to everyone they meet. Jayne may be a hero to those seeking atonement... to those who need a second chance. Inara may be a hero of composure in mayhem. Zoe may be a hero to those who seem to be overlooked despite their faithful service. Wash may be a hero as a solid rock for a spouse in tumultuous times. River may be a hero to anyone abused, misused, forgotten, or left out. Mal may be a hero to anyone called upon to lead, yet who feel overwhelmed.
To me, Simon is the hero.
