Just Curious About Something I Noticed...
POSTED BY: RiveR6213
UPDATED: Sunday, December 4, 2005 00:56
VIEWED: 9311
PAGE 3 of 4
Quote:
Originally posted by RiveR6213:
Those two guys with the blue gloves were scary...especially that one guy with the strange eyes.
I noticed their cheek structure seemed to be kind of odd as well
Anyone who mentions Shakespeare will get a .50 in their ass
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This reminds me of the book and movie The Lathe of Heaven written by Ursula LeGuin. The main character, George Orr, has the ability to alter reality in his dreams. While most people think he's crazy his psychiatrist discovers he truly can alter reality and they start using his "gift" to change reality for the "better". Using hypnosis the psychiatrist tells George Orr to dream of a world without racial bigotry where everyone sees everyone else as an equal. When he awakes everyone's skin color is grey. I always thought a good sequel to this would be to have the same psychiatrist or another one use hypnosis to make George dream of a world with no annoying people. When George awakes he finds himself in a new altered reality with no Christian fundamentalists, no Muslim extremists, no Hare Krishnas, no Scientoligists and no IRS. Also all the politicians are suddenly the opposite of what they used to be, i.e. honest and ethical and dedicated to actually serving the public instead of big business and their ass kissing lobbyists.
Jaytee
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Quote:
Originally posted by JayTee:
The main character, George Orr, has the ability to alter reality in his dreams.
Hey, I can also do that! Only in my case the effects on reality seem to wear off once I wake up, and nobody seems to notice that anything was different. I'm still working on the details.
But on a more serious note...
Quote:
Originally posted by JayTee:
Using hypnosis the psychiatrist tells George Orr to dream of a world without racial bigotry where everyone sees everyone else as an equal. When he awakes everyone's skin color is grey.
I disagree with a better world meaning everybody should look the same. I enjoy having blacks and browns and whites and Orientals and whatevers around me. The problem lies in the way some people react to different races, not the races themselves, so changing everybody in order to have harmony is basically the same as giving the bigots what they want.
I'd like to point out that colour-blindness and wishing everybody looked equal does not make somebody a better person. There's a difference between respecting diversity and pretending it's not there. Just another case of people thinking that some homogenised McWorld is better than what we've got. But here's the problem: that ain't so!
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Having a box of 64 Crayons is WONDERFULL!
Unless they are all the same color brown. Then it's prety boring.
May as well just use a #2 pencil...
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luke skywalker's father was a really white guy(hayden christensen)and then when he turned evil he was a black guy(james earl jones),and then when he redeemed himself and died he was a white guy(some old guy) again. that's some racial sh** for sure!
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When I described the book/movie I should have been more specific. There was supposed to be a sense of irony to the changes that occurred. George Orr didn't want everyone to look alike and have the same skin color. He just wanted a world without bigotry. I too love the diversity of life. I love the fact that not all people are pasty white freckled redheads like myself. I have many friends I dearly love and some are white, some are black and two are asian. In the book I described it became apparent that everytime he tried to change things for the better it only seemed like it was but the solution was actually worse. Making everyone look the same is not the solution I'd want. Making everyone accept and embrace differnces in appearance, beliefs and customs is what I'd ideally like to see in the world buy I'm a cynic. I believe that at least 70% of the human race are unthinking dolts that react with their instincts instead of the rational intellect God gave each of us. But I can't change the rest of the world. As Gandhi said, "Be the change you wish to see in the world." When someone around me makes a racial slur or some tasteless mysogynist joke I don't just go along with it. I get right up in their face and start questioning their parentage etc. I make it clear that I'm someone they'd be lucky to have as a friend and someone they should fear making an enemy of so they'd better change their tune or stay the hell out of my gunsight.
Jaytee
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This is not anything in relation to Firefly, but is relevant to the lighter/darker skin observation. One rare counter example to the "darker skin means bad guy" argument is the late, great, TV series Homicide. Both Yaphet Kotto and Andre Braugher are fairly dark skinned men with prominent "african" features, and both played lead characters that were definitely good guys, and their characters were probably the smartest and most moral ones on that show.
Ah, Homicide. In this wasteland of "CSI" crap I really miss you...
Hans
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I agree completely---I also wondered why there were no Chinese people in the show, only their language. Since the show is international, it would also have been nice to see someone representing the third most widely spoken language in the world: 1st is Chinese, 2nd is English, and the 3rd is Spanish. Maybe in the sequel?
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An interesting discussion on the subject of race in the show. Here's me sounding off:
In "Finding Serenity" there's actually an essay that talks about the lack of oriental folk in the show. I forget the essay title, or who wrote it, but they made a few plausible points.
Namely, we're operating under the principle that there was some larger scheme going on to explain it to us at a later date, but since the show got cancelled so early, it's hard to say what it was.
Thus, some hypothesis:
It's been a long time since the Anglo-Sino alliance was formed (possibly even almost five hundred years) so, like many other institutions, it's realistic to say that things have changed since the original deal. So, while China started out strong, and was strong enough to distinctly flavor overall culture, at some point, the culture fell from power. Thus, you have a Chinese flavor, but not a strong Chinese presence in the 'verse.
Or, between the two, Chinese have the power, prestige, and money. So, when you take a bunch of ruffians flying around the less-than-wholesome parts of space, it's not so likely that they'll encounter many of the elite Chinese folk, though elements of Chinese culture will be pretty prevalent throughout their world-especially cursewords 
So, simple solution: geography.
Of the two, the second seems a bit more likely based on evidence in the show, and the fact that more prestigious characters-i.e. Inara show a stronger Chinese influence (like being Buddhist instead of Christian) than the characters who're lower class.
Either way, from what I've read/seen I have to go with the idea that Joss had a plan.
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With regard to the black/white issue, I think the fact that two of the most impressive villians-Jubal and the Operative-are dark skinned is more of an anti-racial statement than if they'd been, say Irish.
Racist spin: black skin = evil, thus all villians are dark. With Niska, Badger, etc. we can see this isn't the case.
Politically correct spin: don't cast a black as a villian, that's stereotyping, and all black folk are really (insert fluffy p.c. stuff). Thus, I guess we have to look at "white" folk as ethnic inferiors.
Either way, you're lumping people into a larger group and making assumptions about them because of a superficial quality-skin color.
I think that's why you see neither in Firefly/Serenity. Joss has made a point of wanting the best person he can find to play a part, period. Yes, Jubal was a villian, and a little nuts, but his was a hard role to pull off. The fact that they chose a dark skinned actor to play the role is a testament to his acting skill, nothing else. Same goes for the Operative, that was a demanding role and the actor chosen did an excellent job with it.
So, why did they choose these actors to play these villians? Because they were the best actors the crew could find.
I mean, heck, if you want to really worry about ethnic representation in the show-where are the Mexicans?
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