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Date Posted: 10:11:16 12/08/02 Sun
Author: darvangi
Subject: Cliche vs. genre conventions
In reply to: cjl 's message, "OK, I'm in." on 08:43:47 12/08/02 Sun

Congratulations on joining the ranks of Firefly fandom! It's great that more people are jumping on board. It was only three episodes ago (in "Out of Gas") that I first started seeing things in the show to love and, with every episode since, I just keeping loving it more. I'd like to respond, though, to a couple of points in your post where we have differing opinions:

I agree that Joss is using well-worn cliches of Western film and television within the show, but I don't find that to be a necessarily negative thing. I see those Western aspects as a superficial coloring that, in a comical way, let the audience know that they are watching a band of likeable outlaws - characters drawn in a similar vein to those in classic Westerns such as "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" and "The Wild Bunch." It reminds me of the way that Buffy Summers, in the first two seasons of BtVS, had many qualities of a stereotypical SoCal valley girl; cliches of language and mannerism that heightened the comic circumstance of a girl, who would otherwise be at the mall, heroically killing vampires in her spare time. In Firefly, the comedy of the situation is in seeing people who have the mannerisms of salt-of-the-earth frontier people fly through space in a futuristic setting. It's a comic irony that I can appreciate, though I wouldn't be surprised if the Western cliches of the show, much like Buffy's valley girlish behavior, dissipated a bit after a couple of seasons worth of episodes.

We very much disagree, however, on where the line is drawn between sci-fi cliche and the elemental conventions of the genre as presented in Firefly. You stated:

Similarly, the science fiction elements aren't exactly the crunchiest part of the mix, either. "A rag-tag spaceship crew, scrounging the universe for a meager living, depending on each other for"--well, you get the idea. Again, not much subversion of the cliche...


I fail to recognize where the sci-fi cliche is to be found in that description. Certainly, many drama shows feature a group of characters who are on a journey of some kind, whether physical or emotional, and who depend on each other for support. I don't see science fiction as having a license on that scenario, and I don't think that it is one that has been overused or hackneyed. What I do see is a show that uses the necessary conventions of science fiction drama to establish itself as part of that genre. I don't think it is necessary for Joss to create a sci-fi satire similar to "Red Dwarf" to be able to create something new and exciting within the confines of the genre. He seems to be doing well enough simply by supplying the show with intriguing characters, interesting relationships and exciting situations.

I'm glad that you have found something to like about the characters and relations in Firefly. Isn't Ron Glass amazing as Book? I loved the 'knee-caps' line too and can't wait to find out more about his past and how he knows so much about using a gun. Maybe that will be addressed in the pilot episode. I hope others watched this amazing episode and saw something they hadn't in the show before, and that we can all continue to enjoy it after it returns (dear god please) from a brief hiatus.

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