Dumbest Line in Firefly
POSTED BY: YT
UPDATED: Wednesday, August 31, 2005 03:57
VIEWED: 19167
PAGE 2 of 8
"Let's moon 'em." from the beginning of the pilot.
Just a stupid line.
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Quote:
Originally posted by shinyseven2:
I bet you guys and gals who cringe at the "grandpa" business are YOUNG guys and gals. I think what Book is saying is "I'm a vital, youthful, ass-kicking-Shaolin-monk-type-Shepherd-and-I-could-stuff-that-'Grandpa'-stuff-up-your-nose-if-I-wanted-to."
I, for one, immediately identified with the "I'm not a grandpa" business, and not because of or in spite of my age. As a teacher, I get called "Mrs." constantly, and it can wear on your nerves a bit. It's like having people constantly mispronounce your name. (That happens to me, too. My last name is a bit deceptive. Everyone *thinks* they know how to say it.) When I get annoyed with it, my shorthand way of dealing with it is to waggle my naked ring finger and say "Not married." Very similar to Book's offhand delivery of "I never married" to the Brutus crew member.
To me, when Book says "I never married," he's doing several things that are important in the introduction of the character. He's demonstrating that he's removed enough from the secular culture not to answer to a nickname which is clearly axiomatic, since Kaylee uses it, too. He's demonstrating that in a very polite way he's going to insist on being treated as an individual. He's also saying, in a subtle way, "I'm not what you expect me to be," and doesn't *that* become apparent later on! Finally, and to my mind, most importantly, when he says the same thing to Kaylee, and she understands him without further explanation, it shows that Book has been looking not just for a ship that takes his fancy, but also for a connection with the people on board. That's why he says "because how you get there is the worthier part," and why he choses Serenity. It also reinforces Kaylee's intuitive understanding of other people.
That's what I love about Joss's work. It's like poetry, because even three little words can hold a wealth of meaning if you look deep enough.
*** *** ***
The woods are the only place where I can see a clear path.
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I'll forgive anything they say on the show, realizing that people say stupid things in real life all the time. What bugs me is when my believability bubble gets burst.
So I'd have to say my "dumbest line" is in Ariel when Simon uses a defibrillator on a flat-line patient and drugs him up when he goes into ventricular tachycardia. That's backwards.
Defibrillators are only used when the heart is beating dangerously fast, like slapping a panicked person in the face and shouting "get a hold of yourself!" They're useless with a flat-line, for which first choice is drugs (epi, calcium, misc. drug of the future). I have heard of ACLS (Advanced Cardiac Life Support) certified people using defib paddles on flat-line patients, but only when no better course of action is available, and because there's nothing to lose.
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Agreed. It is impossible to tell if someone was shot with a weapon that had a laser sight mounted on it.
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Quote:
Originally posted by Jacqui:
Sorry Mr. Glass... but I'm voting you in again...
Serenity: Book: I never married.
Seriously? No one is caring at this point, it wasn't funny the first time he said it and it wasn't funny the second time. It had no bearing on whether or not he was going to book transport, because he was obviously travelling alone, not to mention the Brutus captain and Kaylee called him 'grandpa', not 'husband'.
Not that I have technical data to back up my argument, but... I just found this one pretty lame.
And coming up a close second is the whole Shan Yu debacle in "War Stories". It served no purpose to the plot of the episode. Niska is bad, we get it. Torture is bad, we get it. The blue handed guys are bad, we get that too.
*~*~*
"Your toes are in the sand."
"And your head's up your..."
"Hey!"
To call someone a "granpa" is an insult. It's like referring to someone as "old man." Book, instead of saying something equality nasty back, he slyly smiles and simple says: "I never married." i.e. I AM NOT A GRANPA! Dumbass!
NY/NJ Browncoats: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/firefly_nyc
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Quote:YT, a 54R sniper rifle w/out laser sights would invariably be locked on auto-fire to nail victims from a distance. He had one single hole in him; therefore the laser sight assumption.
Originally posted by YT:
War Stories: Book (to Zoe & Jayne): "From the look of these wounds I'd say a 54R sniper rifle. Laser sights."
Duh.
Weapons master Chrisisall
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Quote:Backwards in MOST instances, yes. But that patient had recent surgery AND ventricular seizures; reversing the proceedure, while risky, is the only alternative to death.
Originally posted by Saint Jayne:
So I'd have to say my "dumbest line" is in Ariel when Simon uses a defibrillator on a flat-line patient and drugs him up when he goes into ventricular tachycardia. That's backwards.
Duh.
Dr. Chrisisall, PHD
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There ARE no dumb lines in Firefly, only dumb interpretations of genius writing.
Chrisisall, keeper o' the Faith
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I agree that there are no dumb lines in Firefly, and you really just don't get it. But if I have to give an example it would be when in The Train Job Jayne is laughing about what Wash said about blowing a new crater in this little moon, it seemed out of character because I could never see Jayne laughing at anything Wash says.
But besides that tiny weenie thing I have, the whole show is just great, right down to the crappy protein rations
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Quote:
Originally posted by chrisisall:
There ARE no dumb lines in Firefly, only dumb interpretations of genius writing.
=) Your point is taken. Better to infer a situation where the dialogue is right and good rather than to stamp our feet and say how bad it is.
For some of us, this sort of thing is entertaining, though, and we are in the position of having so few shows to appreciate, that our analysis can get quite granular. This thread is clearly for the nit-pickers, so pick away!
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