Companions. (A few spoilers for aired eps.) -- All Things Debatable on Firefly

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Date Posted: 21:00:08 10/26/02 Sat
Author: Darby
Subject: Companions. (A few spoilers for aired eps.)

Let me preface this by saying that I really, really liked Out of Gas and have generally liked the show more each week. I say that because my remarks are about to sound somewhat negative, but they're more of a quibble to set up a question.

Okay, prostitutes are respected professionals - an interesting idea. But a shift in acceptance like that would require a significant backstory and would change more than that one aspect of a society - can we have respected prostitutes but "whore" as a casual epithet tossed off in a conversation? Would we have the "business dealings" we saw in Jaynetown, with no real sign of respect, more the "classic" transaction? I'm not sure that they're doing a good job of showing us the sort of society that would value Companions. I'll give that we haven't seen much of what might pass for "mainstream" culture, but if that culture wasn't pretty widespread a Companion wouldn't need space transport.

Okay, the question: how do prostitutes move from spurned to legal to respected in a society pretty recognizable to us 21st Century types? How does such a thing happen? There have been societies where sexuality has a deeply religious / spiritual aspect, from ancient Greece to Asia, but there's no evidence of such a connection. Would straight legalization possibly lead to eventual exhaltation? Some jobs become more respectable because of an impact on popular culture - porn stars are less denigrated now than a generation ago, for instance - but how would prostitution, an intensely personal interaction, follow such a course? An intensely weird Harriet Potter series?? Legitimization of sex-based therapies?

And, more to the point, how would a society with Companions be expected to treat women in general? Would one have no effect on the other? These things tend to be dominoes.

Are there male Companions?

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Replies:

Re: Companions. (A few spoilers for aired eps.) -- Rob, 22:42:13 10/26/02 Sat
- Re: Companions. (A few spoilers for aired eps.) -- TRM, 00:44:33 10/27/02 Sun
  - Midnight Cowboy -- CW, 06:42:17 10/27/02 Sun
    - Come to think of it -- CW, 06:59:45 10/27/02 Sun
  - Deuce Bigalow, Male Gigalo (NT) -- Finn Mac Cool, 07:57:06 10/27/02 Sun
  - You're right! -- TRM, 09:35:59 10/27/02 Sun
  - To be fair to Joss re: possible stereotyping... -- Rob, 14:08:38 10/27/02 Sun
- Good One! I hadn't picked up on the Alliance - Independents differences! (NT) -- Darby, 05:59:03 10/27/02 Sun
  - Thanks. I try my best. :o) (NT) -- Rob, 13:58:25 10/27/02 Sun
Re: Companions. (A few spoilers for aired eps.) -- Copper, 09:51:03 10/27/02 Sun

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