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Some years after the rest of the world, I have started to watch Firefly. I feel kind of guilty about it, partly because I shouldn't have spent that much money adding a boxed DVD set to my perfectly legitimate Amazon order for horror films (horror films count as work this semester!) and partly because I have tons of work to do and a spouse who unreasonably wants to see me more than once a week, so frittering away my time watching a science fiction series is not good. On the other hand, I'm so stressed out these days that watching Firefly counts as therapy and should be a billable expense.
That said, I'm still not sure what I make of it. First, if the first few episodes are anything to go by, it's not really science fiction, it's space opera - classic themes in a futuristic setting. Of course there is nothing wrong with that, and Joss Whedon naturally does this kind of thing better than most purveyors of the genre. Much of it (I thought watching the Reavers' electromagnetic grappling irons) is a matter of working out technical fixes to make the future resemble the past. I remember watching The Empire Strikes Back (far and away the best Star Wars film) with![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
maggie_lucy, and she kept saying "Oh, that's the First World War trenches," or "Hey, that's a scene from 633 Squadron!" So yes, space may be the final frontier, but it's just like the frontiers of old, complete with pirates and cowboys. But does Whedon really need to make the cowboys dress like cowboys? And that not-so-subtly-veiled North-South stuff?
OK, I know this is postmodern irony and Whedon almost certainly thinks it's better to make an obvious reference to a cliche than attempt to disguise it and have everyone say "Nyeh nyeh, that's just a reference to [some classic film]. You can't fool us!" I reckon he read the part in Umberto Eco's essay on Casablanca where it says that a mediocre film contains cliches, but a great film consists of nothing but cliches. But there again, since this is Whedon, I expect some of the cliches will be turned on their heads in forthcoming episodes. Which reminds me, I have time to watch another episode before I go to bed, and I also have more pressing Firefly-related questions, like which of Zoe, Kaylee and Inara is the hottest. Sometimes life seems like a succession of questions that we will only be able to answer when we die. One day, I will leave this crumbling body and ascend on angels wings to the outer circles of Qiphuleth, and Kaylee will say, "See, silly, it was me all along!" At which point Zoe will kick her into the aisles, saying "No way, beotch!"
Addendum: We all know that in addition to playing Zoe, the awesome Gina Torres was Cas in a couple of Matrix films. However, I didn't know until today that she also did the voice of Niobe in the video game.
That said, I'm still not sure what I make of it. First, if the first few episodes are anything to go by, it's not really science fiction, it's space opera - classic themes in a futuristic setting. Of course there is nothing wrong with that, and Joss Whedon naturally does this kind of thing better than most purveyors of the genre. Much of it (I thought watching the Reavers' electromagnetic grappling irons) is a matter of working out technical fixes to make the future resemble the past. I remember watching The Empire Strikes Back (far and away the best Star Wars film) with
maggie_lucy, and she kept saying "Oh, that's the First World War trenches," or "Hey, that's a scene from 633 Squadron!" So yes, space may be the final frontier, but it's just like the frontiers of old, complete with pirates and cowboys. But does Whedon really need to make the cowboys dress like cowboys? And that not-so-subtly-veiled North-South stuff?OK, I know this is postmodern irony and Whedon almost certainly thinks it's better to make an obvious reference to a cliche than attempt to disguise it and have everyone say "Nyeh nyeh, that's just a reference to [some classic film]. You can't fool us!" I reckon he read the part in Umberto Eco's essay on Casablanca where it says that a mediocre film contains cliches, but a great film consists of nothing but cliches. But there again, since this is Whedon, I expect some of the cliches will be turned on their heads in forthcoming episodes. Which reminds me, I have time to watch another episode before I go to bed, and I also have more pressing Firefly-related questions, like which of Zoe, Kaylee and Inara is the hottest. Sometimes life seems like a succession of questions that we will only be able to answer when we die. One day, I will leave this crumbling body and ascend on angels wings to the outer circles of Qiphuleth, and Kaylee will say, "See, silly, it was me all along!" At which point Zoe will kick her into the aisles, saying "No way, beotch!"
Addendum: We all know that in addition to playing Zoe, the awesome Gina Torres was Cas in a couple of Matrix films. However, I didn't know until today that she also did the voice of Niobe in the video game.
