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Firefly Reconsidered: Why Firefly Isn't "Hall of Fame" Great
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<blockquote data-quote="Rabulias" data-source="post: 8363607" data-attributes="member: 16651"><p><em>Firefly </em>seemed to intentionally invert or make mirror images of a number of traditional western (the genre) tropes. Look back at some western films or TV shows and while they don't present the Lost Cause narrative, former Confederate soldiers show up as sympathetic individuals from time to time (even as protagonists). The <em>ideas </em>of the Confederacy are not presented as sympathetic, of course. Many of these soldiers are shown to be troubled or conflicted about their service, and are often shown to have noble heroism within them. I believe this is paralleled in <em>Firefly </em>with Book's backstory - an Alliance agent/operative who regrets his service and feels he must atone for what he did during the war.</p><p></p><p><em>Firefly</em>'s setting is based on this inversion. In Civil War terms, what if it was the Confederacy that had the economic and military power, and the free states tried to secede from the south -- and lost? Yes, there is a Lost Cause parallel, but IMO, it's not whether you win or lose that makes you the good guy or the bad guy, it's what you stand for. <em>Firefly </em>makes it pretty clear that Mal and Zoe do not support anything akin to the Confederacy's abhorrent ideas.</p><p></p><p>Aside: My favorite inverted trope is Inara. In many westerns, the "soiled dove" prostitute is not the most respected person in town. In <em>Firefly, </em>she has the highest prestige and social standing of the crew! <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Rabulias, post: 8363607, member: 16651"] [I]Firefly [/I]seemed to intentionally invert or make mirror images of a number of traditional western (the genre) tropes. Look back at some western films or TV shows and while they don't present the Lost Cause narrative, former Confederate soldiers show up as sympathetic individuals from time to time (even as protagonists). The [I]ideas [/I]of the Confederacy are not presented as sympathetic, of course. Many of these soldiers are shown to be troubled or conflicted about their service, and are often shown to have noble heroism within them. I believe this is paralleled in [I]Firefly [/I]with Book's backstory - an Alliance agent/operative who regrets his service and feels he must atone for what he did during the war. [I]Firefly[/I]'s setting is based on this inversion. In Civil War terms, what if it was the Confederacy that had the economic and military power, and the free states tried to secede from the south -- and lost? Yes, there is a Lost Cause parallel, but IMO, it's not whether you win or lose that makes you the good guy or the bad guy, it's what you stand for. [I]Firefly [/I]makes it pretty clear that Mal and Zoe do not support anything akin to the Confederacy's abhorrent ideas. Aside: My favorite inverted trope is Inara. In many westerns, the "soiled dove" prostitute is not the most respected person in town. In [I]Firefly, [/I]she has the highest prestige and social standing of the crew! :) [/QUOTE]
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