What Serenity Does

So what does Serenity do for Firefly fans who watch it after finishing the show? Seeing as I fit into this category, I'm going to approach the topic from a personal perspective. I realize that Serenity was also influential in spreading Firefly's influence and increasing the show's fan base, but, as I've already said, that was not my experience. Before even watching any Firefly episodes, I knew there was a film because the same friends who kept telling me I needed to watch the show also tried to use Serenity as bait to get me on the Firefly bandwagon (I'm usually more of a movie person, TV shows just take too much time to finish). After finally making the fateful decision to acquiesce to my friend's demands (one of the best decisions I've made in a while), I started and finished Firefly within a fairly short time span. The fact that Firefly was all but over was a disturbing thought, but I was consoled by the knowledge that Serenity, an entire film of Firefly goodness, was waiting for me.

So, Serenity's first major contribution for new-born Firefly fans is simply the promise of more, specifically in a more climactic and conclusive manner, at least we hope (and our hopes are not, in my opinion, let down. Serenity really ushers Firefly out with a bang, providing viewers with a truly epic space battle and some major character deaths), than the final TV episode "Objects in Space." The next thing that Serenity gives fans is a character history lesson in the form of visual footage of Simon rescuing River. Windows into past events in our favorite character's lives are always good things, and it is a joy to witness the success of Simon's daring rescue plan. The final two things that Serenity accomplishes, in my opinion, go hand in hand. Basically, the film takes Mal and his crew and, by its end, breaks and reshapes them, resulting in the truly unfortunate loss of Wash, but also a crew and their captain who have fought without hope before the very gates of death and returned to tell the tale. Serenity brings Firefly's characters together and reforges them into a new family where River and Simon are just as home as Zoe and Mal. So, in the end, the film gives its viewers both a ship's crew united (I ecspecially like the image of River taking over the helm from Mal) and a conclusion that is more solid than the TV show's (seen in a new Serenity, with a somewhat new, more tightly knit crew, and the promise of adventure without leaving the viewer with large, unanswered questions).

The new Wonder Woman

Because there's a Buffy reference in it...

and because it's a very funny piece...

and because I love Adrianne Palicki (formerly of Friday Night Lights, one of the best TV shows ever...), who will be playing the new Wonder Woman...

and because it makes some great points about woman super heroes...

I am linking to this column about Wonder Woman's wardrobe. (Yeah--it's a doozy.) Good stuff.

Spoiler Alert

I just sent you all an email about this, but I thought I'd repeat it here: This maybe coming too late for some of you, but if you haven't seen Serenity before and haven't read "Mal's Morals," the essay I handed out in class on Tuesday, and you don't want to have the film's ending spoiled, STOP reading at page 16. You'll be just fine if you only read up that point.

Fringe vs. Firefly

Take a look at this interesting piece about Fringe's (rather surprising) early renewal for next season. The piece's author explores how the TV landscape has changed since the days of Firefly. He also discusses the roles fans can play in "saving" a show.

Some important selections:

"Not so long ago, TV shows like 'Firefly,' 'Wonderfalls,' 'Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles' and 'Dollhouse' were mourned by science fiction fans as having been canceled before their time, due -- as it always is -- to low ratings.

Another thing each had in common: They aired on Fox on Friday nights.

So observers of the TV world were surprised Thursday to learn of the network's renewal of the series 'Fringe' for a full fourth season after two months in a Friday timeslot."

Again, an interesting read--and perhaps something we can discuss in class.

What's love got to do with it?

In Firefly, love is an important emotion even if it isn't talked about or shown much throughout the series. In the movie today we got to see many love relationships. The most significant relationship on the ship is between Simon and River, if you ask me. We saw today that he gave up everything, his job and his future, to go and save his sister. Now, he is risking his life everyday to keep her alive and with him. Simon clearly loves his sister. There is also the relationship between Mal and Inara, but he is a typical male character who is incapable being in touch with his feelings and expressing himself. I do believe that Mal likes Inara, and possibly even loves her. Then, there is the premature relationship between Kaylee and Simon which hasn't had the opportunity to develop. The most significant love relationship is the love between the characters. They are stuck with each other on the ship, and they really are like a family. While they fight and don't always get along, I think it is evident that they care about and love one another.

Prompts for Response Paper #10

Well, there are no prompts for Response Paper #10. Simply write a decent, thesis-driven, abd documented response to Serenity. (Yes, you should have a work/works cited page.) Due in class on Tuesday, April 5. Copies due on turnitin.com before class begins.

Challenging Perceptions in Firefly

So, I just finished watching the entire series and rewatching the final episode - I saved the movie for class (but then, I've already seen it two or three times already).

After having seen everything in order now, I found a certain level of depth and seriousness in the series that I hadn't realized existed before. In every single episode, I noticed something very interesting that begs consideration and revisitation while rewatching the series in its entirety: in every episode, Whedon seems to challenge something taken for granted - something about the series, something about the characters, or something about life in general.

My personal favorite is the character of Jayne. My concept of Jayne completely changes in this episode, only to be challenged two episodes later when he betrays Simon and River – and ultimately Capt Mal in favor of earning some extra cash. Though Jayne seems to be a simplistic character, my perception of him is constantly challenged and reaffirmed which makes him a surprisingly complicated – if not always surprisingly deep.

Children and guns

Early in the episode "Objects in Space" River is wandering the decks of Serenity. We eventually (on the ssecond view at least) figure out that we are experiencing the crew and the ship through River's altered and enhanced perceptions. After seeing each character and hearing a private thought from each of them, River finds herself in the main hold. She perceives a stick sitting on the deck, odd. The camera angle shifts and we see that the deck is covered in autumn leaves, even more odd. If we hadn't picked up the weirdness of the sequence before this moment, we certainly know something is up now. River says "It's just an object; it's not what it seems." We then see that the stick isn't actually a stick, but is actually one of Jayne's (very large) handguns.


The visual of the scene made me laugh a little and remember back to when I was a kid and my mother wouldn't let me have toy guns. Naturally,  everything that I could find that had a 90-degree angle turned into a gun. Even sticks; especially sticks. If the stick was too straight for a gun then it was a sword. I imagine that this is a somewhat common experience for little boys everywhere, and is thus immensely amusing when River's imagination sees a stick in the place of a gun. This is something that Whedon has constantly given us, we see something and attach a meaning to it. He strips it down, reverses the meaning and throws it back at us to react to. I only expect him to continue to doing brilliant things. Excuse me while I go and watch Serenity again.

Gag Reel

This is kind of cool!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9jAS8giUNo&feature=related

Jubal Early: A historically significant name

For this week's episode "Objects in Space," what stuck out for me the most was the name of the assassin that is able to board the ship, Jubal Early. For those of you in the class that aren't familiar with Civil War history, that was also the name of Confederate General Jubal Anderson Early. He stood out as a prominent officer to the Confederate cause, working with Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee throughout the war. At the war's conclusion many of General Early's writings (including his farewell order to the Army of Northern Virginia) advanced the idea of a "Lost Cause" theme inherent with the South's loss and the Union's subsequent occupation. This theme would come to characterize many literary works in the antebellum South, demonstrating the "lost cause" of the Confederacy that left such a deep wound in the region.

The fact that the writers of Firefly would use the name Jubal Early to describe their assassin character for the last episode of the series that they would never write for again serves as something ironic for the viewer to take in. I just found it interesting that the name of a Confederate general who advanced the "lost cause" theme in literature would be used for the central character of a show that was cancelled. I suppose the writers felt that Firefly was their own lost cause.

Humor in Space

I’m very sad that “Objects in Space” is the last episode of Firefly. As someone who was on the fence about Joss Whedon after experiencing Buffy and Angel, I was pleased to see he redeemed himself with Firefly. The last episode is truly enjoyable which makes it that much sadder that it’s the last one. While the trippy camera angles and plot line are fun to watch, the best part is the humor. I feel like the dry humor is a constant theme throughout Whedon’s shows. The one-liners and character banter always seem to cut the tension on the ship. “Objects in Space” would be far too intense if it wasn’t for the comedic undertone. Early threatens the crew and wants to kidnap River, but his humor makes him much more likeable than the average bad guy. It’s weird when viewers aren’t totally against the bad guy in the show. After the “Am I a lion? I don't think of myself as a lion.” comment, I found myself not wanting him to be defeated. The way the doctor reacts to Early makes it even better. he is completely calm and makes Early feel less harmful and threatening. Perhaps it makes me seem a little messed up but when characters, even bad guys, are funny it makes me feel more comfortable with them. Maybe that is why Whedon made Early funny. Maybe he didn’t want to end the show on a bad note or make the last episode too ominous, either way, I this he did an excellent job with the last episode.

"We're All Just Floating..."

Before I write about this week's episode, "Objects in Space," I feel obliged to let all of you know that I have officially been converted into a Firefly fan, and have bought the DVD. Call it the power of pursuation or merely being intrigued by the mind of Joss Whedon, take your pick. ;)


Being inspired by Cait's post got me thinking about Whedon's motives for Firefly as well. Having watched every season finale and both series finales of Buffy and Angel, Whedon always concocted some epic ending for each of them. Whether it was blowing up a high school, or sinking the protagonist to the depths of the Pacific Ocean for an entire summer, Whedon always came up with some cliffhanger of sorts that kept the audience guessing after the screen faded to black. Even knowing that Firefly wouldn't return for a second season, I expected Whedon to come up with something! Perhaps he was trying to show, for a final time, how different this series was from Buffy and Angel and give Firefly an anticlimactic ending. Still, I wanted more than the final shot to convey the "Life goes on" theme for the Firefly crew. After 13 episodes of fighting and running from the Alliance, didn't they deserve a better finale? Obviously, I'm focusing solely on the TV series because I have no idea how the Serenity movie will play out.


However, shifting thought a bit, I kept thinking about Early long after the episode was over. He was definitely one of Whedon's creepiest villians ever, and he needed no monster make-up to do the job. Early's most alarming line that really grabbed my attention was the question he asked Kaylee, "You ever been raped?" It was asked calmly, and without eye contact. Early knows he is in a position of power, and doesn't have to raise his voice or physically hurt her before saying it, and that's what makes him so terrifying. Thankfully, River is able to dish out her own psychological medicine on Early and turn the tables. She does so in a playful manner, giggling like a child playing a simple game. The power shifts to River as she disects many of Early's layers and is successful in making him vulnerable and afraid.


"We're all just floating..." an ironic line that the audience hears Early say in the opening of the episode. It's ironic because that's exactly what his character ends up doing at the closing of the episode. :) It also brings me back to my earlier point of Whedon's intentional ending; the Firefly crew is last seen floating along in space with no particular mission ahead but to continue as they have. Perhaps this can also be interpreted for our world. All of us go on with our lives forever seeking something that makes us feel complete; we go through the motions until some of us achieve a given purpose set in life, while others spend their existence chasing after one.

I'm Alone but I'm not Lonely

Sometimes we walk with people. And other times we walk alone.
Whether we've been rejected by family or friends or society each of us has experienced the feeling of utter isolation and alienation from those around us. Thus, to me, space is an excellent setting and overall metaphor for the concept that, much as we may deny it, our lives are free-floating and vast and unpredictable as the cosmos we look up at during the night.

In the episode "Objects in Space" especially, the idea that out in deep space if the littlest thing goes wrong, a person can be lost forever. And never discovered, like he or she never existed at all.

Just...lost.

Each person on board Serenity has always struck me as being a lost wanderer. They are each a part of a group, but separate somehow as well. They connect, then withdraw. The desire each of them has to avoid being alone is often thwarted. Early's arrival on the shift only exacerbates this tendency toward separation when he locks each of them in their quarters. How can they fight without the support of the entire group? They are unsettled and frightened by their loss of control and connection to others. All appears lost.

But River, through the very function of her separates-ness and isolation (via being on board Early's ship and thus disconnected from the other ship members), manages to achieve, through the all-encompassing pa system of the ship, to unite and comfort the people who have become her de facto family, and, more importantly, exert control over her fate. Control everyone else on the ship attempts to take from her. As Hannah mentions in her blog post, River has developed a voice, one that refuses to be passive and silenced by others.

I don't usually cry during movies or shows. Only a select few have merited such an emotion. But when River says her "goodbyes" I almost lost it. To face the reality that she alone must govern her own body and choices and to accept the uncomfortable and hurtful actions of others with a forthright courage is something unusual and powerful. Thus River becomes the most powerful person in the episode. And she does it alone and of her own volition.

The episode ends with Early adrift in space saying softly "Well, here I am." He is calm, serene even, accepting of his fate to be suffocated until he is just an object floating around with so many other objects. He isn't any different from a cold space rock when his essence has been siphoned away. That is our fate as well. But like River discovers and demonstrates, we are the only ones in control of our attitudes and choices while we are still living. We have the choice to be like Early and hurt others in order to stem our own psychic pain of isolation and alienation, or we can act as River does, and make the choice to live in a consciously positive manner, to transcend our circumstances and the perception others have of us.

"I'll be fine...and I'll just fade away." --River Tam

The Ironies of Early

In class, we discussed the irony (or whatever you made of it) of the villain in the finale episode being named Jubal Early, in relation to the civil war general who championed the "Lost Cause." I went through the episode again and attempted to find other ironies related to Early, the inhumane bounty hunter.

-Early tells Kaylee that her body is just an object to him; this is ironic because at the end of the episode, Early is nothing but an object floating in space.

-Earlier in the episode, River finds a gun and focuses on its existence and its properties (or its ability to take on any properties). Later on Early, her attempted captor, focuses on the properties of his gun when threatening River's brother.

-River makes the comment that, "it's just an object; it's not what it seems," and later on in the episode, when coming upon Book's unconscious body, River's brother exclaims, "he's a Shepherd," to which Early replies, "that ain't no Shepherd."

-Early states that he believes, "people don't appreciate the substance of things; objects in space. People miss out on what's solid," ironic because earlier his "bounty" is seen appreciating the substance of a branch/gun.

-It is ironic that Early seals the crew into their rooms, when he eventually gets sealed out of both ships.

-In my opinion, it is irony that is name is Early, when many Whedon fans believe that Firefly was canceled too early.

-River, when claiming she is the ship, tells Early that, "you crawled inside me uninvited," a dark nod to Early's previous threat of raping Kaylee.

Anyone else find any other tiny Early ironies?

Evil is Exstentialist

Once again I am late in blogging but I figured what does it matter since it's only here because we think its here and this long sentence is only long because we perceive it to be long and actually it does not exsist because it does exist.

Did anyone else think that Jubile Early may have been the most evil villian that has ever been on television? I can't think of another character who came out and said they were straight up going to rape another character if they speak. And saying it in such an uncaring manor was pretty intense. I thought it was crazy at the time, but then thinking back I thought, "Whoa!"

I think there should be more baddies like Early since he played it so straight. It is almost serial killer-esque in how he acted. I was also thinking if him being black made a difference in the role? We were talking about race before so I thought I'd bring it up again. I don't think so myself.

This really has nothing to do with the class other than the title but it's a good song. I like the girl too

"Early" Bird Catches the Worm

Okay, so last post I rambled on and on about how much I hated Mal, and how I wasn't too fond of this show. This week however I am reluctant to admit that I enjoyed this episode alot more than the first episode, not because it was the final episode of the series but because of the character Jubal Early. We talked in class about the Asian aspect that is present within Firefly and we talked about characters in the show who we felt were the closest to the Asian culture within the series, and to me that would have to be the "Amazing Lion" Jubal Early. Early represents to me the closest to Asian "Mysticism" as it can get on this show. There is a Ninj-esque quality that he possesses as he boards the Serenity in the most stealthy of fashions and even disposes of Mal quickly in their minor skirmish. Early also has that philosophical aspect of asian culture that is perceived by western culture, as he lectures to Simon about "objects in space" and the simplicity in things that people seem to overlook. Early also possesses that enthusiasm that western culture sees in Asian movies. In the episode Early goes off on a tangent and rides his "high" horse for a bit when he mishears Simon thinking he's a "Lion" which excites him for a moment thinking someone is a fan of his work. Early, regardless of his limited time on the show is an amazing character. Within forty five minutes to an hour he has convinced me of the culture that this particular series tried so hard to portray to the rest of its audience, and even though he is a bad guy I feel nothing but respect for his character

Girl coming in for a landing: River in crisis

River is an Existential crisis who grows into a woman. Without having seen all the episodes in between, feel free to call me out on this, anyone who has, but I would like to assert that River, having been this anomaly all along finds herself in the end of the series Firefly by asserting her will, ability, and maturity.

As Hannah said in her post, by the end of the series she has changed herself from the “object” we first saw, and the end shows her as a woman marked by maturity. This was most aptly personified in her ability to give herself up to Early for the sake of her brother and the rest of the crew (though we do see she has a less personally damaging plan).

It was such a grown up moment when River said that she was the ship, she said good-bye to her brother in such a touching way, no anger about the thoughts she had heard from him, no anger at the crew for debating whether they should keep her. It was incredible to me, and most importantly far from the idea of her being a person “lost in space.”

This idea helps to ease the actual end, the one I just complained about in my other post, where we have Early as the final player in the universe of Firefly, and gives the somewhat less depressing idea that for every person who heaves themselves out of the ‘normal’ existential crises of life another person is still ‘floating,’ fully immersed I them.

Not to go all ‘circle of life’ on you guys, but it does make sense given analysis of River (thanks Hannah!) and the existential debates we had in class.

Can't take my Eyes off of You: Why is Early the last thing we See?

Seeing something you know you will be viewing for the last time is never easy. This was the kind of prejudice I felt going into the last episode of Firefly the TV show.

Going a little off of Holly’s cynicism and avowing that the show was canceled for a reason I can’t help but feel like the ending episode had elements of “giving up” in it.

But for me, it was not the kind of giving up that denotes failure of renunciation. It was for me more like the idea of Russian Cossacks who burned their cattle and farms rather than give up their lands to the collectivizing Bolshevik Stalinists (A digression, sorry, but a metaphor that helps me express myself).

I find myself wondering what was in Whedon was thinking as he knew the show was going to be canceled. I also find myself asking, “Of all the ways that he could have ended it, why did he choose this way?” To be honest, I still am somewhat perturbed and do not feel like a have a more tangible answer to that question other than “blah blah existentialist b.s blah blah blah” ( not to hate on existentialism, I enjoy it, I’m just an equal opportunity hater).

His choice to end with a newly introduced character who comes in, shakes up the crews world RADICALLY (emotionally, mentally, philosophically, and physically) somewhat blows me away. The only thing that I can grasp, is the idea of resignation. Early was resigned to his fate, and maybe that was what Joss was trying to do. I just wonder why he choose to do it with a new character, leaving the crew we’ve grown attached to as the least standout individuals in this episode

"Objects" in Space

The use of the term "Objects" in this episode intrigued me. The title itself is 'Objects in Space' which implies reference to firefly and its crew as the "objects" in space but ends with Jubal Early truly becoming an "object" in space (poor guy...so sad). River's view of a gun being a tree branch and stating that "It's just an object" makes me wonder if all things are really objects and that they don't achieve any purpose until someone or something assigns a purpose to that object. While watching River pick up the stick, and hold it like a gun, it reminds me of a child picking up a stick and using it as an imaginary sword or gun to use in an imaginary battle. At that point, to the child, that stick becomes an "object" of destruction. To an adult, it's still just a stick. It may be a corny comparison but if you think about it the stick can become any "object" a person needs it to be. For example, a stick can become an object representing trash, a weapon, a fishing pole, a writing utensil, or many other "objects". It depends on the user's intent. That appears to be the meaning behind the title of this episode as well as aspects within the episode. Everything and everyone can be labeled as an object and it is left to the use of that object to define its purpose.

River: Objectified and Becoming the Object

River's first appearance in the pilot episode, "Serenity"

I've been thinking some more about the existentialist ideas presented in Firefly, and my mind is still recovering from the Firefly episode "Objects in Space," Zynda's article, and today's class discussion!

In my last post, I talked about the female characters in the show. I speculated that River's character is objectified since she is presented as an contained object (as shown in the image above) and she travels in storage like a product; also, she's valuable like a commodity (to the Alliance) and personally valuable (to her brother, Simon).

I'm not completely sure what to make out of this yet, but I've been thinking about River's character from the pilot episode to the final episode and the idea of objects from our existentialism discussion. (At this point, I've only seen the two episodes we watched in class, so they're all that's comprising my knowledge of the show). I've argued that River is an object of sorts as she is first presented--she's completely out of it, not just in the sense of being a little bit odd, but unconscious. However, the final episode opens with a more active River, walking around the ship and exploring (in crazy ways, too--I'm thinking about her standing up on the railing, very ballerina-like). Overall, she is much of the episode's focus. Even when we just hear her voice, she has great presence.

Notably, River enters the ship (and the show) as an object, but by the end, she is something much more. River has gained power and influence on Serenity. Furthermore, she finds a way to get under Early's skin (when nobody else can seem to defeat him) by becoming the ship, an all-encompassing voice. Even though it's a clever trick of technology on River's part, I couldn't help but think of River saying "I am the ship" as a huge leap from her character's introduction as a vulnerable, naked, and mentally/physically weak girl to something much, much bigger. I look at an image like the one above of her in the small container to the image of her in a huge ship as an example of River's growth/power.

Early and Fett

In light of my paper-in-progress (which will include, to some degree, a comparison of Firefly and the Star Wars episodes 4,5, and 6) I would like to use this post to put to writing some interesting parallels between Jubal Early and Boba Fett. As a big Star Wars fan diving into a sci-fi series whose main character flys an outdated (yet beloved), hunk o' junk-resembling spaceship used to smuggle goods to the far reaches of space, I was (and still am), on the lookout for parallels to Lucas's epic trilogy. It is therefore completely accurate to say that as soon as I saw a suspicious, sleek, and upright spaceship following Serenity, I thought to myself, "We're in for some bounty hunter action here, folks!" This was, of course, pure conjecture on my part, which, as the episode continued, I was pleased to see validated.

So, here are my Fett-Early parallels in order of appearance. Firstly, their mode of transportation. Fett's Slave 1 is a very unique ship in that it keeps the pilot relegated to a cockpit located at the top of an upright body with wings on the sides and exhaust ports on the back. Essentially, a mech with wings. Early's ship mirrors the design of Slave 1 in almost every way, merely adding an extra set of lower wings and ditching the green paint job. Next, we come to the personal appearance of the two bounty hunters. Both are black and both wear a tightly fitting suit of armor with a singular color scheme (Fett sticks with his green, while Early busts out a manly maroon. Good stuff). Finally, both hunters have personal experiences from their past that seriously affect their current career. Early has his obsession with control, leading to his torture of animals and subsequent rejection by his mother. Fett saw his father, the only person in his life occupying the role of mentor/ caretaker, beheaded in a brutal fight with a Jedi master. In conclusion, there are plenty of interesting similarities between these two figures, and even more between Star Wars and the show as a whole. As a fan of both offerings, I revel in the opportunity of discovering more.

Putting the 'i'rony back in existentialism..

Considering irony has only contigent value, i'm sure existentialism wouldn't acknowledge such a notion. However, I do find it interesting that Firefly writer's decided to name a black character Jubal Early. Jubal Early was a confederate general who founded the idea of The Lost Cause post Confederate losing the Civil War. Basically the Lost Cause movement is that the war was 'unfair', the Confederates were cheated out of a win and their slave-owning based economy was just a different way of life. The latter being a sort of existential perspective.

Firefly's Jubal Early and the Civil War's Jubal Early are comprable due to the same existential ideology. Both had a certain 'code' they lived by. One was a bounty other the other a slave owner. Both could be valid reasons to criticize existential, that there are no values, only 'freedom' (which is ironic thought when thinking about slave-owning societies). Existentialism applied in the wrong way can be a very dangerous tool. When I think about it usually I see it as a positive way to be analytical about cookie cutter expectatioins that are put forth by whatever powers at be. Apparenlty this sort of intellectual freedom that existentism allows can be used to justified rape, murder and baby dashing. So maybe a dash ,not of baby, but of utilitarianism in with my existentialism would be fine just fine.

Also, applying existentialism onto objects is absurd to me as Derrida's Deconstruction approach to literature. Viewing things independent of context other than just that specific object, work, whatever is an over simplification for a creature that feels the need to create a philosophy to explain such madness. When River pulled up the gun/branch part of me wanted to laugh or just throw someting at the screen. I get the symbolism for the bigger picture, but the literal application of objects just seems a bit pointless to me. Us humans should enjoy the utilization of tools that our ancestors created without getting to caught up in some pretentious philosophy consciousness that evolution 'gifted' us with. This is going under the assumption that River is trying to be some sort of teacher or is a use of symbolism for the writers, not that River is mentally deranged. Given the transition to a clever creature by the end of the episode I'd find that hard to do (also how did that transition happen.

River could have done us all a favor and shot all the characters so I wouldn't have to read Firefly fans talk about the blindness (Harris) of a text like it has potential for the greatest profundities for anything that the texts lacks (for now). The show was cancelled for legit reasons. It was on a network that doesn't do well with sci-fi and expects shows to gross lots of cash. Atleast, that is what I've read. For the cost of each episode it wasn't drawing enough of viewers. I've read both sides though... but you either way Firefly fans win with new episodes on the Science Channel. Hurray.

Prompts for Response Paper #9

Prompts for Response Paper #9:

Due Tuesday, March 29 in class (and before class on turnitin.com).

You should have citations and a work/works cited entry for this paper. Be sure to demonstrate some of the moves that Harris discusses in Rewriting.

1)      This one is recycled from last time: Using what you’ve learned in Chapter 5 of Rewriting, pick one of your earlier response papers and revise it. Then, below where your revised entry ends, write at least a page explaining why you chose to make the revisions you’ve made and how they fit Harris’s definition of or strategies for revising. Hand in both the revised document and the original entry (with my marks on it). Realize that the second part of the new entry (the “what I changed and why” section) is the most important part of this prompt and should be an organized and clear mini-essay in itself.

2)      In “Asian Objects in Space,” Leigh Adams Wright argues, “This is what the world of Firefly does: it takes Asian culture (Asian cultures), takes each artifact, and strips it of its original meaning until it’s just an object…which can be used to signify something else entirely….[T]he result is entertaining but curiously empty” (31-32). She later adds, “I’m not saying that Firefly’s treatment of Asians is a major cultural crime; it’s just that I expected more” (33). Respond to Wright’s claims, not necessarily agreeing or disagreeing (although either is just fine), but certainly be sure to argue your own thesis about Firefly’s use of Asian culture.

3)      In “Objects in Space,” while holding a gun, River states, “It's just an object. It doesn't mean what you think.” Later in the episode, Early tells Simon, “People don't appreciate the substance of things. Objects in space. People miss out on what's solid.” In his article, “We’re All Just Floating in Space,” Lyle Zynda gives his own interpretation of what these lines mean—and what’s going on in this episode. In your response, give your interpretation of “Objects in Space,” being sure to discuss, at least in passing, Zynda’s analysis.

Firefly's end

After watching some more episodes of Firefly and inquiring more information about it I started to wonder why it was cancelled. According to the network, the show did not get high enough ratings, and it was too expensive to keep going. That makes a lot of sense because networks are only worried about those two things, however, there was, and still is, a large fan base for the show. There are many fan cites and people constantly talking about Firerfly. I think that many people watched Firefly thinking it was going to be like Buffy and Angel so they were turned off because it was a new and different idea. I also think that the show's theme is too specific in the type of viewers it attracts, not allowing for it to be "anyone's" show. Also, the show aired on Friday nights which is not the ideal time slot because people are generally out and about on the weekends. Many, many fans of Firefly are still mad and upset about the end of the show and blame the Fox network completely. I don't really have an opinion about the end of the show, but I do find it odd because it seems to have a big fan base even after it was cancelled. I do believe that it was the network who caused many space cowboy fans to be upset.

Joss Whedon on femisism article

http://www.afterellen.com/blog/dorothysnarker/joss-whedon-on-feminism

Stumbled across this article while researching for the essay. It was nice for me
to read a reflection of Whedon's on reality.

Here's Something Different!

I found this interesting video stumbling along the other day. It's a well made video, here is the description pulled from the site it is hosted on:

"In this remixed narrative, Edward Cullen from the Twilight Series meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It's an example of transformative storytelling serving as a pro-feminist visual critique of Edward's character and generally creepy behavior. Seen through Buffy's eyes, some of the more sexist gender roles and patriarchal Hollywood themes embedded in the Twilight saga are exposed - in hilarious ways. Ultimately this remix is about more than a decisive showdown between the slayer and the sparkly vampire. It also doubles as a metaphor for the ongoing battle between two opposing visions of gender roles in the 21ist century."

Enjoy!

The Timeline of Firefly

So, I was thinking about Firefly over the break and about all the other sci-fi shows and movies that I've seen over the years and something occurred to me. Primarily, I found myself comparing Firefly to Star Trek (mostly ST:TNG) - thanks to an extended conversation with Josh Meadows last week at some point. As much as I love ST, I realized that I never felt truly connected to the characters and that everything felt so detached and calm - even the "bars" were calm and the enemies, though sometimes quite scary, didn't feel anywhere near as threatening as the Reavers. The characters that we encounter on ST, though primarily human or humanoid, felt less human than the characters on Firefly and I found myself wondering why this disparity existed between these two sci-fi series.

What I came up with: their use of time lines. Where ST is entirely future-based - the weapons are unusual, the way they get food is foreign - everything is unrecognizable; in contrast, Firefly has recognizable features: those types of guns associated with westerns, recognizable clothing that looks like something someone might wear today mixed with those types of clothing we generally recognize and associate with westerns - dust coats, gunslinger belts, and the like.

When I think of ST, I think of the future as glorified and detached from humanity as we know it. When I think of Firefly, I see the future as being reachable and as consisting very human elements. Every time humanity steps forward in time, we try to hold on to something of the past - we value historical buildings and artifacts like weapons and clothing from the past. ST eliminates a great deal of this connection to the past, with the exception of the occasional trip to the holodeck or the occasional encounter with an alien race that fools the crew into thinking they're in the past. Firefly embraces the past by recalling details associated with the past frequently.

Long rant aside, this is a line of thought I will continue to pursue as I watch more of Firefly for class and on my own at home - I do intend to watch the entire series on my own. It was an interesting half-formed thought when it came to me; I hope that it makes sense in writing.

Meh

I'm not totally sure how I feel about Firefly quite yet. On one hand, I like the guns and the violence and all that and I do appreciate a main character that isn't your typical warm, fuzzy guy. On the other hand, it just seems like a bit too much. I think if this show would have been 30 minutes I'd be more into it. An hour is a long time for a show, even the best shows have their moments where it's like "ok, do we really need to see all this".

One thing that I do find cool about Firefly is that it does have an old western feel to it. When we think in the future everyone automatically assumes everything will be nice and shiny and floating in the clouds and lasers. This show takes a more realistic view of this, we see people still using guns and in the one particular scene in which they are ambushed, there are people on horses.

It's Easy to Talk the Talk

Like Adam, I am posting late. Oh, break. It was nice knowing you!

So. Firefly.

As much as I wish I could say that I dislike it, and although there are moments when I feel a jarring sense of disengenuousness, like something doesn't quite fit--such as the random Chinese and country-western phrases, or the unpredictability and at time unbelievability of the characters' interactions with one another--I am sucked in almost against my will.

One of the things I love about Whedon's shows is his obsession with morality in a broken world. He brings this to the fore with Firefly in particular. Since he takes out the supernatural element the characters must deal with very real threats (the Alliance; Reavers) and ambuiguities (selling goods on the black market, prostitution, murder) and must find a way to survive.

My favorite moment comes curtesy of Shepherd Book. It arrives at the end of the episode when he says to Inara,

"Is that what life is, out here?...I've been out of the abbey two days, I've beaten a lawman senseless, I've fallen in with criminals. I've watched the captain shoot the man I swore to protect. And I'm not even sure if I think he was wrong...I believe I just...I think I'm on the wrong ship."

As a person of religious background, I can relate to Shepherd's confusion and struggle with the complexity of moralism, of what makes something right or wrong and how the two often messily co-exist and melt into each other. Things are easy to fit into catagorical boxes when you're tucked away from the world instead of interacting directly with it. It's when you jump in with both feet that the boxes are split open and your world and prejudices and assumptions and convictions are turned upside down and come spilling out in a mess that is difficult at best, impossible at worst, to sort out.

But it's a good thing to struggle, it's a very human issue. And there is hope. As Inara says, "Maybe you're exactly where you ought to be."

Initial Response to Firefly

I was pleasantly surprised by this series' departure from the typical Joss Whedon setting that incorporated vampires and other fictional monsters. Though I didn't mind Buffy or Angel when we were watching episodes from those series', the Western space frontier setting of Firefly is more engaging to me personally. I'm an avid fan of the Mass Effect videogame series, and this show hints back to the setting of space as a vast frontier fraught with danger and excitement. Earth is cool and all, but the space experience is so much more expansive and engaging than a petty planet-based setting.

Adding the Western motif to this series also piques my interest. Lately I've been watching Sergio Leone's "Man with No Name" Trilogy (of which The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly is a part) and other classic Westerns such as the original True Grit. To me there's nothing quite like Western protagonists like Clint Eastwood's "Man with No Name" who tow the line between heroes and scoundrels, and it is easy to see this trait in Firefly's Captain Mal. Though he can be seen as a force of good in Firefly, Mal can also be seen as a bandit and scavenger with loose morals and a lack of typical heroic qualities. It will be interesting to watch Mal's character in more episodes of Firefly and see how he is defined as a hero.

As a side note and possible spoiler, the "Spirit of the West" in the new animated movie Rango takes after Clint Eastwood's "Man with No Name" character, with great voice acting from Timothy Olyphant. Keep your eyes open for a portrayal of Hunter S. Thompson as well!

Firefly...Up Up and Away

I am cutting this post rather close I know, but that is what happens during Spring Break I suppose. My post has nothing to do with Superman, however, I do think that the idea of what a hero is pops up in this show. Just as when we were talking about it for Angel, the heroes in this show are not really heroes at all. At least, I don't think they are heroes to the audience, but they are heroes to the brother and sister they rescue from the government. Mal and crew are "criminals" but that did not stop them helping out River and Simon.

This was the first episode of Firefly I had seen so I am eager to see what comes next but I feel the idea of heroes in this show is no different then the other Whedon works. The main characters may not show that they have the ideal hero qualities but they do heroic acts.

Mal Rules

When I heard the words “space cowboy” I immediately got that song “Space Cowboy,” by NSYNC stuck in my head. My expectations went downhill from there. However, during my first Firefly experience I realized my prejudgments may have been a little dramatic and wrong. I thought this episode was awesome. First of all, I was totally thrilled to see Nathan Fillion as Captain Mal because of his roles in Lost, Desperate Housewives, and The Waitress. (All Fantastic) There’s something about his character in Firefly that I really like. He has a dry sense of humor and a ‘badassness’ about him that I find really entertaining to watch. The best part of the entire episode is when the guy with the gun was going to shoot Simon and Mal comes in and shoots the gunman without hesitation. That part is totally brilliant. I hate slow motion, dragged out shooting scenes where the protagonist stands with his/her gun pointed at the bad guy/girl for a half hour while some dramatic dialogue is going on. It’s the worst. So this speedy scene rules and made me fall in love with Mal and makes me want to watch more Firefly.

So firefly...

Yeah I'm a lotta bit late on this response and I'd like to say that I was using this break to think of something smart and meaningful to say about the aesthetics of Firefly but in truth I've been trying hard not to say something relentlessly bad about it, despite the fact that my opinions will hardly scratch the fortified views of those who hold this show in such esteem (cough cough, Aaron). But yeah it was really difficult for me to like this series for a few reasons:

1. Mal came off as a total D-Bag to me. He was completely unlikable from the getgo. Sure he had his moments where he was caring and whatnot, but that was really only towards that engineer girl, kaylee, otherwise he was only barking orders to the others. However I do understand that as a captain you have to bark orders to get things done, but at the same time he could at least show some gratitude to his crewmates.

2. The plot in this episode seemed really rushed along. Granted I don't know much about this show, but from my understanding this was the very first episode, yet it felt as if i was brought into the middle of the entire series. I had no idea what the story between Patience, and Mal was, why she shot at him long ago, why they do business with her, let alone why Mal and his crew didn't just do away with her and rule her planet since it seemed so easy for them to take her on, as was shown in the episode.

This list of complaints can go on and on, but I will cease this Harsh criticism here for the time being and allow Firefly the second chance that some of my classmates will preach for me to give it...

Leftover thoughts on Vampires

The other day in class, during one of the heated Firefly discussions, Jason and I got side-tracked by a comment that Josh made about how the sci-fi/western stuff isn’t as important as the fundamental human struggles that characters go through and how Joss makes them relatable.

We started talking about how shows used to have the sense that something big always had to be at stake. Like how Buffy always had to give up love, family, school, and relationships for her duty as the slayer. Or how Angel could not keep his soul, gain his humanity and get the woman he loved, he had to choose his calling. These are all HUGE black and white issues, there are all HIGH stakes experiences, and it seems as though television during that era was very much marked by these characteristics.

This spawned a discussion about how some modern supernatural TV shows, our example was True Blood, seem to be countering, almost back-lashing against the idea that all TV has to have a “save the world” endgame. True Blood, for example is more focused on inter-personal relationships and the everyday workings of ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances, i.e. Sookie’s amazing new boyfriend just happens to be a vampire. Sookie, the lead female character, is not trying to save the world, she is not trying to find her place, make a difference, or anything of the like, she is just trying to take care of her friends and be with her boyfriend. The show openly avows this, and does not try to force a bigger message. If bad things happen, they are situational, not dictated by some higher force or karmic bad guy, they are rooted in the “humanity” and the “evil” within all creatures (vampires, werewolves, shape-shifter, dryads, fairies etc.) and the things that happens are meant to be the normal things that happen to friends, families, and couples, just twinged with a bit of magic!

From Vampires to Space Cowboys, oh my!

Okay, now the tables have turned. Being completely new to Firefly, I now know what it was like for those of you who had never seen Buffy or Angel. It's a completely different world and concept from the "vampire" shows, but I found myself interested in wanting to see more of Firefly. I'll admit, like Michelle in her post, that I too am not a huge Sci-fi fan. The only show related to that particular genre that I am a huge fan of however, is the Terminator franchize (which curiously enough, Summer Glau was recently a part of).

I've read a lot of comments in particular about the character of Mal, and how he seems to be too masculine. I thought that too as I was watching the episode, but attributed it to the fact that he was the captain of the ship. That title alone demands a certain level of respect, so there automatically should be that sense of male pride/power. He is ultimately responsible for everyone travelling under his command and it wouldn't have worked at all if Mal was a push-over kind of guy, so I liked that strong masculinity aspect. On a personal note, it was refreshing to see Nathan Fillion play this kind of role because to be perfectly honest, he creeped the hell out of me as Caleb in the 7th season of Buffy.

Another shout-out to Michelle for posting the fun Firefly facts...it helped! I was also confused in the beginning as to why there were random bits of Chinese dialogue thrown into the English language, but the idea of China and America merged together into the Alliance, made perfect sense. Very creative on Whedon's part, along with the Chinese style fashion (loved Kaylee's outfit!)

I've been a fan of Summer Glau since she portrayed the Russian ballerina in Angel's Season 3 episode, "Waiting in the Wings," so I'm extremely interested to see how River Tam will evolve. Her character, having been manipulated into an attempted creation of a perfect assassin, and having her emotions removed, seems to be what Summer is really good at doing. Her character Cameron--in the short-lived Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles--seems to be another machine completely devoid of any human emotions, but truthfully, Cameron is sophisticated enough to have that capability. So I'm interested to see if that's the case with River.

Overall, there's a lot of themes running through this show: masculinity/femininity, Western vs. Future, political, economical, social, morals/ethics, you name it, this show probably has it. Moreover, someone commented that all of these characters who seem to fit into stereotypical portrayals, should not be judged at face-value, but rather be untrusted because of what is below the surface. This fact alone makes me want to continue watching to see how it all unfolds. Also, I thought the visual effects were really cool!

And finally just because I can say it: FOX SUCKS!! ;)

Beef

Just a random tidbit... Anyone else think that Zoe's accent when she says "ain't" is super fake? I wish they hadn't made her do that. It's distractingly awkward.

To indulge my ADD, "What's in a name: part 2"

Jayne. I could be more complex, but in terms of name analysis, one could argue that his entire personality is based on one thing: compensating. He is incredibly tough, not so trustworthy, macho dude who by no stretch of the imagination goes with a name that usually belongs to a female. It's like when you go to name your son something weird and your friends say to you "If you're going to name him_____( Milo, Taran, Ashley, Ezra, Cameron) he better be good looking and big, because if he's not other kids will tease him." I feel that accurately sums up Jayne.

Inara. Not going to lie, I had to look this one up. In Hittite Mythology Inara was a goddess of wild animals, similar to Artemis in Greek Mythology (wiki.) In her story she is the daughter of a god, she seduces a mortal man in order to get him to help her battle a demon. This one was not easy, and I am sure a deliberate choice by Joss. Check the wiki link if you want see more, I'm not going to paraphrase it all, but her stories are very interesting.

River. I honestly see this as more of a River Phoenix reference than a hippy/earthy/natural kind of river thing. She seems tragic and young, like he was, she is being used for her powers, probably in order to feed someone's addiction to power/skills or whatever it is that they are taking from her. This one is a little bit of a stretch, but I'm just going to go with it.

P.s I already offered Hannah, my thoughts on Patience and her name as a comment of her blog about strong females. Kudos!

The Female Variety

With Buffy, we talked a lot about female roles portrayed through Buffy, Willow, Cordelia, Dawn, etc. I haven't seen any Firefly outside of what we watched in class, so simply based off of what I've seen, I am noticing a huge variety in Whedon's female characters in the pilot episode. The cast is large, so there is room for a great deal of variety in the 'female spectrum' and how some characters may or may not be falling into stereotypes or challenging them.

Just to comment on a few more of Whedon's female characters, here are some ideas I've been rolling around:

Zoe: She definitely seems to be the "toughest" female character. She has earned the respect of Mal, the captain, and is like his second in command. I actually noticed that she and Mal even have a similar no-fuss style in their clothing which further aligns them--especially compared to Inara's flowy ultra-feminine outfits and Kaylee's more youthful look.

Inara: Obviously, Inara has been cast as the (Mal's word) 'whore' female stereotype. She seems to be punished for this role (although she seems to sort of be at peace with it), but there is great tension between her and Mal. Furthermore, Shepherd Book obviously views her mostly through the lens of the negative 'whore' label. Aesthetically, she is beautiful and sultry and even her heavy makeup sets her apart from the other women on the show thus far.

Patience: She is another 'tough' female character depicted in the pilot episode. She also takes on seemingly male-associated characteristics of violence/aggression and poses a challenge to Mal. She's a manipulative authority figure and has caused harm to Mal in the past (as they constantly remind him that she once shot him). I think it's really interesting that she is one of the first 'villain' characters we see. Also, her name is fascinating. I wonder what could be behind that?

River: I know this may change greatly, but within the pilot episode, River seems to be the objectifed female character. She is the commodity that is transported and hidden as "goods" until it's revealed that it's a human being Simon is storing. Also, she needs protecting since she's mentally unstable. Notably, her entrance into the show results in her being completely naked and mentally unstable--can it get any more vulnerable than that? Luckily, we get some background that she's actually a prodigy and a force to be reckoned with--I feel like this manages to keep her above the fully stereotypical damsel in distress.

Kaylee: She's another interesting mixture. As a mechanic, she's obviously challenging the 'girls who know about cars' stereotype and elevating it by knowing about complex ships. She's highly respected by Mal and he is very protective of her (I'm thinking about the dinner scene in which there is an inappropriate sexual joke made about her crush on Simon and Mal becomes furious). She's very useful to the crew and proves to 'save the day' by keeping the ship going in dire situations. However, there is a touch of damsel-in-distress when she is shot and everyone is terrified of losing her. I think it's smart that Whedon manages to pull her out of the role of helpless wounded girl, though--even after she's shot, she is still very present and helpful to the crew. As the youngest female on the ship, it's easy to think of her as mostly naive, but her savvy and strength prove otherwise.

Since I haven't seen any more Firefly yet, I'd love to hear if anyone has any other insight about the women of the show!

14 Years Ago...

...Buffy premiered on the WB. Check out this great piece marking the anniversary. I highly recommend the two video clips included in the article. The second one is just amazing, while the first one (all the trailers from Season One) is like a time-machine, at least it is for me. I realize that some of you were just wee ones back then... Now I feel old. Ha.

Little Pieces of Serenity

Seeing as this was my second viewing of Serenity, I've decided to use this post as a catalogue of less obvious (but still awesome) occurrences that stuck out to me. The first of these, and quite possibly my favorite, is the "priceless treasure" that Shepherd Book shows Kaylee after she asks him if he has money to pay for his fare. The viewer is not, at first, allowed to see what the Shepherd's mysterious wooden box contains and is forced to imagine for themselves the value of its contents based solely on Kaylee's joyous reaction. Is it full of diamonds? Highly valued space currency? Nobody is sure, until the scene where we are presented with Kaylee's ecstatic bite into a juicy strawberry. Then it hits you like a train. On the space frontier, fresh fruit (heck, fresh anything) is treasure of inestimable value. Now that's pretty cool. Next time I eat a strawberry, I may not look at it the same way...

This one definitely can't top the strawberries, but I also like how Mal's trick on Simon garners exactly the same reaction from both a total stranger and the members of his crew. Simon pronounces his "doctor's diagnosis" of the captain, declaring him "psychotic," while, at almost the exact same time, Serenity's crew, in the midst of laughing uproariously at their captain's joke, also declare him psychotic (I think it was Wash who actually says it out loud, but its fairly obvious that there is a general consensus). The loyal crew member and the unwelcome stowaway are worlds apart from each other in terms of closeness to Mal and that fact does absolutely nothing to change their reaction to his antics. The captain is crazy. End of story.

Finally, we come to a scene that is, in my opinion, notable because of its extreme awkwardness/ wrongness/ confusedness/ I'm going to run out of adjectives to describe this. Its weird. The viewer is treated to a kneeling Shepherd Book, at the feet of the resident whore (sorry, had to use Mal language for the proper effect), almost in tears because he "believes he's on the wrong ship." A touching scene, I'll grant you, and I don't want to take away from that in any way. Its really a tribute to the complexities of this show's characters. However, I don't think I will ever be able to comfortably sit back and watch the priest confess his sins to the prostitute. And yet, as I have already mentioned, the "confession," despite its strangeness, retains a certain sentimentality that is truly touching to witness. It leaves you with the sense that we're all humans and able to lend each other a helping hand, regardless of of our background, job, etc.

I could say more, but I have a paper to write. Firefly forever.

What's in a Name?

In Firefly, I am a newbie, so the first job I gave myself was to learn the characters. I relate best when I work on an individual basis. Therefore, I started out writing the character names on the paper as I learned them

Mal

Shepherd Book

Kaylee

Simon

Badger

These were the first names I could get a hold of. Okay, so how does someone not an avid watcher, who may not get to see the show start to make little connections. I started to play with the idea in my head of “What’s in a name?” in Whedonverse.

Mal-makes me think of Inception (which obviously came later) and how it is the French word for a sickness, so like, ‘Malady.’ Within this first episode there is a lot of allusion to what is bothering the captain, I feel strongly that the idea of “what is his malady?” could definitely be a question posed by the initial viewing of this show. We see his war experiences, we see a back-story with the space hooker, and we see a personality not formed by roses and kittens. There is clearly a lot to come from this character, and it was nice of Joss to give us the heads up with his name.

Shepherd Book- shepherd is a very kind word for a missionary. It is less intrusive; it makes you feel that warm fuzzy “daddy” kind of feeling that I have always wanted from religion. This name gives you the preview that Book will be the kind of person who slowly but successfully diffuses his morality to the group, in a non-obtrusive way. You see this when he goes to bring the dinner to Lady Hooker Chick, he doesn’t preach to her, he shows her an imitation of what God/god/whatever should be through his kindness, leaving her more open to him and, undoubtedly, to his message.

Kaylee- This is such a young and modern name; it tells you that this lady is going to be the voice of innocence, yet also childlike wisdom.

Simon- “when I look at you I think about the Bible.” Well, that is not exactly what I mean, but it is in a way. The character of Dr. Simon, especially that name makes me think of Simon in the bible. There were two disciples named Simon in the New Testament: Peter as in the first Pope was originally named Simon, and there was also Simon the Zealot who was another of the original 12. Simon Peter was very much a man of the world, successful in his own right, just like our Doctor. But, underneath the façade both Simons have a deeper dedication, and that is to those they love. Doctor Simon uses his worldly skills to help the only person who matters to him, his little sister. Simon in the Bible struggles to be family man and to follow Jesus, in the end choosing Jesus and the idea of of being a father to the “flock” of all believers as the first Pope (another Shepherd reference.) I could definitely see this Simon as a Simon Peter re-imagined, but I will need to see more before I make the call.

Badger- Pretty darn self-explanatory. Especially after you saw that guy

“Reality is whatever refuses to go away when I stop believing in it.” Phillip K. Dick

Science fiction has been, until recently, a genre I ignored. In the past, I'd choose from the Boarders 'mysterious' sci-fi section only to be sorely disappointed by the over emphasis on immature emulations of masculinity in the male protagonists. Vonnegut describes this symptom of science fiction being geared towards teenage male well in an essay of his about science fiction:

"...current science fiction was (still is) catnip to the boys, any science fiction at all. They couldn't tell one story from another, thought they were all neat, keen. What appealed to them so, I think, aside from the novelty of comic books without pictures, was the steady promise of futures which they, just as they were, could handle. In such futures they would be high-ranking non-coms at the very least, just as they were, pimples, virginity and everything," (Vonnegut).

So basically, one could almost equate boys interest in science fiction (and fantasy novels on a separate note) to girls' interest in Barbie Dolls, fashion magazines, etc. (I'm trying to think of a genre that matches the same purpose science fiction suits for boys for girls, but coming up short. So please forgive me for selling my gender short, and being boys like books, girls like plastic dolls. Help?) Science fiction serves the need for hormonal teenage boys to fit into this cookie cutter image of what masculinity means.

All that being said, when I started reading Kurt Vonnegut Jr. I realized I'd actually enjoyed a good deal of science fiction, which has literature exceeds the random books I'd choose from Boarders. I was surprised to find out Vonnegut was labeled as science fiction though. I don't know why on reflection. Cat's Cradle is the first book of his books I ever read which dealt with Ice-9- a liquid that causes the solidification of the entire body of water. *Spoiler alert* it comes in contact with the ocean and freezes all the earth's oceans. A bit of a hint of science fiction, I suppose. His works always seemed to have too many anti-technology themes so it seems almost hypocritical to label Vonnegut as science fiction

Still seeing Vonnegut and I lot of "science fiction" I have read since then amuses me that it can even be labeled science fiction. As Vonnegut put his recognition as being labeled science fiction, "The way a person gets into this drawer, apparently, is to notice technology. The feeling persists that no one can simultaneously be a respectable writer and understand how a refrigerator works, just as no gentleman wears a brown suit in the city," (Vonnegut). A paranoia, justifiable from my experience, of his was that by being set into the science fiction genre it considered escapist work and not much beyond that by critics.

In conclusion, I'm not taking my labeling of science fiction of Firefly back. Even minus the lasers and focus on human drama, it still is in space. Not something all of us do that much (yet). So my answer to that sentiment is the Philip K. Dick quote at the top of the post, "Reality is whatever refuses to go away when I stop believing in it."

That break down of characterization probably would be a very interesting answer to all the crappy science fiction that is out there.



The link is to an article about science fiction by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

And a wired article that views science fiction as being the future of literature.

"You Can't Take the Sky From Me"

Yes, it is a space "western." There are horses! Old guns. Saloons and slang! There is even a classic song to start off the show:



Though there have been a few posts so far asking why this is, I am sure there are others in the viewing audience pondering the same question. Why make a show set so far in the future that has a decidedly Western theme applied to it? I will tell you!

The theme isn't important. The music isn't important. The Western jargon isn't important. What is important, however, is the idea that these aspects of the show represent. What happens when humanity loses the notion of a frontier? Humans, historically, have always pushed boundaries and created frontier settlements in search of "a better land," only to usually find more of what they left behind. Right now, though, Earth is overcrowded. There are no frontiers left on the planet (except for the oceans, but they don't count. Oceans are silly.) Our only frontier left is space.

Firefly is set in a large solar system. Most of the celestial bodies that they visit are, in fact, moons of larger planets that are uninhabitable for various reasons. There is no intersteller travel here as in Star Trek, for example. The central planets are the great populated "East" of space, and the outer rim planets are the classic "West."

The show is then able to explore the idea of a frontier through the lens of what is perceived as traditional science fiction. You'll notice, though, that there are no aliens. Very few lasers. We could come close to building a Firefly spaceship today. If you saw the show from the inside of Serenity, would you be able to guess that you were in a spaceship? It is unlikely. Where, then, is the science?

Honestly, it really isn't there. Firefly is a human/Western drama in a science fiction setting. I am a tad rambly, but my point is this: Firefly could be a very accurate possible future for humanity. We expand, the new settlers regress in technology (whether of out need for control or necessity), the colonizers become independent entities, a war erupts between the former and the latter, and the cycle repeats.

At its core, then, Firefly is a human show about human struggle. Don't let the setting prejudice you against the meaning. I promise that the opening song stops being annoying after a few episodes.