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Date Posted: 12:25:22 11/03/02 Sun
Author: tim
Subject: me, too (and some other thoughts)
In reply to: Rob 's message, "Oh, I forgot to mention how much I loved..." on 19:44:12 11/02/02 Sat

I agree, Rob. And unlike Darby, I saw the stabbing scene as a very natural extension of the kicked-into-the-engine scene in "The Train Job." Both had to do with reminding the audience that this guy, while he has a moral code, isn't exactly the Lone Ranger. He's got a violent streak in him that borders on the sadistic, and he's not afraid to let it show on occasion. After all, when Lord What's-his-snot mentioned he hurting Atherton was unnecessary, Mal replied, "I know. It was just funny." (Also a comment, perhaps, on us, the viewers.)

My take on why slavery played a big part in this episode has to do with all the press the show has gotten about holding up Confederacy types as heroes. I've seen speculation, even here and at ATPoBtVS, that this means every aspect of the South might be represented in these characters: that is, that the war with the Alliance might have had slavery as an underlying cause, just as in the American Civil War, with our heroes holding up the cause of the South. I think talk of slavery was inserted here so that Mal could definitively reject it. I took it to be a message from ME that the war was about unification, period. Time could prove me wrong about that, of course, but for now that's going to be my operating assumption.

Overall, it seems to me people are disappointed by Firefly because they're hoping for exactly what Whedon and Minear are trying to get away from: the story of the Chosen One, some person (or group) with a mission to save the world/galaxy/universe. Personally, I think it's a bold experiment (and fairly innovative) to deal with a group without any special gift or mission to their lives. As the article Rob posted above mentions, these people are just trying to get by. To me, it's the sci-fi equivalent of Seinfeld--when all shows are about something, a show about nothing (that is, no overarching purpose beyond surviving the day/week/year) is an interesting step. I'll admit that it's not what I was expecting (the Western elements are much stronger; it helps to think of this as a Western with sci-fi elements, rather than the other way around), but as I've begun to understand where ME wants to go here, I've enjoyed it more and more. I only hope it develops the following necessary to keep it afloat. I think there's a rich store of ideas to be mined here, if only they get the chance.

--th

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