Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="WisdomLikeSilence" data-source="post: 1071988" data-attributes="member: 3676">A friend of mine asked a well-respected Star Trek writer what he thought of Firefly.&nbsp; The writer said that he thought it portrayed a really dark world, and he didn’t want to spend time there every week.&nbsp; I like dark.&nbsp; And I like that Firefly was essentially the story of interesting people trying to get by and retain their decency in a pretty uncaring universe.&nbsp; It’s one of the same things I like about the Song of Ice and Fire – when the world sucks, you can’t have cardboard lawful good heroes.&nbsp; Mal was a fabulous mix of generally good guy and absolute bad-***, and the rest of the characters were as complex and enjoyable in their own ways.&nbsp; Plus, like Buffy at it’s best, Firefly was great at combining humor and drama.Hmm.&nbsp; I thought of the moons they visited as little frontier towns, and the hub as *at least* several months travel away.&nbsp; That works as a western analogy for me.&nbsp; A couple of other things to remember-&nbsp; &nbsp; Privately owned interstellar trades ships are anything but common.&nbsp; We never find out how Mal got Serenity, but we know that it’s a big deal that he has it.&nbsp; -&nbsp; &nbsp; Travel is difficult and dangerous.&nbsp; One episode focuses mostly on the deadly consequences when Serenity breaks down.&nbsp; Plus, there are always Reavers.I always got a real kick out of the way Firefly mixed the genres, but I’ve also always had a weak spot for westerns.&nbsp; I don’t think it needed a highly developed political background.&nbsp; Mal and his crew were never going to change the political situation, so all we ever really needed was a sense of how the government affected them.&nbsp; The original pilot set that up nicely.&nbsp; I think the Whedon quote someone else posted covers this issue.Look, I know that not all the Firefly episodes were good.&nbsp; I was ready to give up on it until the third week, when I saw “Our Mrs. Reynolds” and a tape of the original pilot and completely fell for the show.&nbsp; I still think the first two episodes aren’t particularly good, and I don’t much like the one where the villagers try to burn River, either.&nbsp; When Firefly was good, though, it was very, very good, and one of the most interesting and enjoyable shows I’ve ever seen.That said, it was also a little odd, and I can understand how it would just seem weird to some folk.-WLS</blockquote>

[QUOTE="WisdomLikeSilence, post: 1071988, member: 3676"] A friend of mine asked a well-respected Star Trek writer what he thought of Firefly. The writer said that he thought it portrayed a really dark world, and he didn’t want to spend time there every week. I like dark. And I like that Firefly was essentially the story of interesting people trying to get by and retain their decency in a pretty uncaring universe. It’s one of the same things I like about the Song of Ice and Fire – when the world sucks, you can’t have cardboard lawful good heroes. Mal was a fabulous mix of generally good guy and absolute bad-***, and the rest of the characters were as complex and enjoyable in their own ways. Plus, like Buffy at it’s best, Firefly was great at combining humor and drama. Hmm. I thought of the moons they visited as little frontier towns, and the hub as *at least* several months travel away. That works as a western analogy for me. A couple of other things to remember - Privately owned interstellar trades ships are anything but common. We never find out how Mal got Serenity, but we know that it’s a big deal that he has it. - Travel is difficult and dangerous. One episode focuses mostly on the deadly consequences when Serenity breaks down. Plus, there are always Reavers. I always got a real kick out of the way Firefly mixed the genres, but I’ve also always had a weak spot for westerns. I don’t think it needed a highly developed political background. Mal and his crew were never going to change the political situation, so all we ever really needed was a sense of how the government affected them. The original pilot set that up nicely. I think the Whedon quote someone else posted covers this issue. Look, I know that not all the Firefly episodes were good. I was ready to give up on it until the third week, when I saw “Our Mrs. Reynolds” and a tape of the original pilot and completely fell for the show. I still think the first two episodes aren’t particularly good, and I don’t much like the one where the villagers try to burn River, either. When Firefly was good, though, it was very, very good, and one of the most interesting and enjoyable shows I’ve ever seen. That said, it was also a little odd, and I can understand how it would just seem weird to some folk. -WLS [/QUOTE]

Verification