I have a bone to pick about Firefly

POSTED BY: Lunatique
UPDATED: Wednesday, April 6, 2005 02:56
VIEWED: 8805
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ECGORDON

Friday, April 1, 2005 12:48 PM

One theory that I have read is that most of the people of Chinese ancestry are among the more affluent in the 'verse, and thus would live on the core planets, only one of which (Ariel) the crew visited during the short run of the series.

wo men ren ran zai fei xing.

ZOOT

Friday, April 1, 2005 1:11 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by ecgordon:
One theory that I have read is that most of the people of Chinese ancestry are among the more affluent in the 'verse, and thus would live on the core planets, only one of which (Ariel) the crew visited during the short run of the series.

wo men ren ran zai fei xing.

OH OK - that sounds fairly reasonable . . .

Okay, I'm lost, I'm angry, and I'm
armed.

EMBERS

Friday, April 1, 2005 1:41 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Lunatique:
So why is it that none of the main/supporting characters are Chinese or straight Asian?

I always thought it was because the show was cancelled too quick.
I thought that maybe he was establishing the Western look of the show at the beginning out on 'the rim',
but as you got closer to civilization there would be more clearly Asian people
(altho as they say, there were clearly mixed race people in many of the places they have visited).
We'll have to see how he handles it in 'Serenity' because we know he has made that completely without having his script ripped in half.

PO1S

Friday, April 1, 2005 2:20 PM

Quote:
I'm 100% percent fluent in Mandarin, and my wife is in Cantonese. Joss sounds nothing like "luck" in both dialects--unless he used some other dialect--which is extremely unlikely because he barely understands the difference and significance between Cantonese and Mandarin based on his past interviews.

He probably got it from joss paper and joss sticks--like you say, he's not exactly fluent in any Chinese dialect. His given name was Josh(ua, presumably).

--po1s

BEATLE

Friday, April 1, 2005 3:09 PM

Since China and America were the two superpowers to have carried on after earth (notice the alliance flag)these are the two most common languages.
There was a time when French was the most spoken language but that didn't mean most people were French.

FINN MAC CUMHAL

Friday, April 1, 2005 3:31 PM

The beauty of Firefly is that in a dozen or so episodes it has managed to create a back story and a mythology as strong or stronger then most science fiction shows can developed after seasons of airtime. That is some imaginative work. If I didn’t know better, I’d think we were talking about a show that had run for years.

EMBERS

Friday, April 1, 2005 3:38 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by po1s:
His given name was Josh(ua, presumably).

--po1s

I don't think that that is true.
I believe 'Joss' is his given name

PO1S

Friday, April 1, 2005 4:23 PM

Man, you made me do research!

OK, we're both wrong. According to "Joss Whedon: the Genius Behind Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (the relevant passage is excerpted on Amazon) he was born JOE Whedon.

--po1s

EMBERS

Friday, April 1, 2005 4:25 PM

thanks for doing the research!
I had actually double checked all his online autobiographies
(as well as his Father's and Grandfather's)
and they all said Joss
so it is interesting to know that he was born 'Joe'

SIMONWHO

Friday, April 1, 2005 4:36 PM

I've always felt that the influx of Chinese into English was a bit of a failed conceit. For one thing, when you hit your finger with a hammer, you want something short and pithy to describe the situation like s**t, f**k, c**p, b*ll***s or somesuch. You do not want to say G*** r**** p**** m**** f** l*** h****-g****. But then again, maybe I'm spoiled because we actually have real swear words on British TV.

Oh, and the conceit that America would remain a superpower 500 years in the future and Europe would virtually disappear? Didn't buy that one either.

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