Firefly and the Heinlein Connection.

POSTED BY: Ruthie
UPDATED: Sunday, July 20, 2003 16:18
VIEWED: 18048
PAGE 6 of 7

PREV PAGE 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 NEXT PAGE

CAPTAINMAL

Tuesday, July 1, 2003 1:28 AM

Kenwood sez:

"He wrote a number of other good works, and some drivel"

Well, it is true that some of RAH's work is a bit thin, often it is dated - especially the juvys - though I'd disagree about about Farnham's Freehold being one of those. Some of it is, IMO, poorly concived like the "roads" in his Future History

BUT

But what I like about him is that no matter how the plot breaks down with time, the characterizations are, IMO, timeless. The dialouge is crisp and instantly indetifiable as his in every work. In fact, it's in this regard that I find more similarities with Firefly than in the plots.

All the characters in Firefly have a very Heinlien quality about them, in Spades in the case of Mal, less so in the case of Simon. The dialouge in Firefly is pretty much the only filmed work I've ever seen that approches having Hienlien's "voice."

I'll admit to Succutash or anyone else that they likely won't enjoy the plot of every single Heinlien work (for instance, some die-hard Heinlien fans deispise "I Will Fear No Evil") but whether you like it or not, you will hear the "voice" of Firefly on every page.

Still, I can't imagine any SF fan not finding TMIAHM, Glory Road, and Starship Troopers, along with SIASL to be must-reads.

If you list the 5 most important works of every major SF author, those 4 will be in everyone's top 5 for RAH.

"Why we still discussin' this?"

LUNATIKAT

Tuesday, July 1, 2003 10:56 PM

Rayann,
Come on, we both know they'd never consider politics if mandatory military service were the prerequisite. That's the first giggle, and only then do I enter the pure fantasy realm of "but what if they did try to bullshit their way through military service of the Starship Trooper culture?" Hate to admit how much pleasure I get thinking 'bout that old "administrative punishment". However, that's not why I'm here right now. Came to ask you how to use quotes and emoticons, you use them with such facility and I am extremely lame in the computer brain. Thanks if you can help.

Lunatikat - Scourge of the Spaceways and never late for dinner. Try one today!

KAYTHRYN

Tuesday, July 1, 2003 11:16 PM

Lunatikat,
I know this wasn’t for me to answer but I can’t help it. I think this same question has been answered about a dozen times in the last few days and sadly, has already been answered once today.

Quote:
Posted by JohnnyReb:
Anyway, type the punctuation mark colon, then the word that describes the emotion that you want from the list to the left, then type another colon. For example
disappointed Be sure to type this where you want your emoticon to appear.

My brackets didn't seem to have "submitted" with the rest of my tutorial. Just pretend that these semi-colons are actually real life colons.

;disappointed;

That's how it should look, only with colons, of course.

Here’s the shorter version-- when you are typing a message, look to the left, it’s all there. And if you screw it up and post something incorrectly, you can edit your message. After you’ve posted it, look at the bottom of your message where it says “edit“. You can just click that and try it again.

-------------------------------------
It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.
Aristotle

LUNATIKAT

Tuesday, July 1, 2003 11:25 PM

Dear Wulfhawk,
Makes me wonder if you might be thinking of Dr. Asimov. He revealed in his autobiography that he was unfaithful to his first wife during their marriage. Defended it on the grounds that it bolstered his confidence in himself as a lover, I suppose trying to imply that his legal spouse failed him in this regard.
My take on Mr. Heinlein is that he seemed to defend sexual freedom AND the right to choose sexual exclusivity if one wished. I do know that I never read a word that he wrote, fiction or non-fiction, that indicated to me that he was other than exclusive with either his first or second wife. I always assumed that to mean either that he was exclusive in marriage or that he felt that exclusivity or non-exclusivity was a couple's private choice which he was under no obligation to reveal to the public.
Enough of that. Back to Succatash's Need-to-Know
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress
Job (especially if you are a Mark Twain fan)
Any and all of his short story collections.
Puppet Masters (I prefer the first, more edited version.)
Starship Troopers
Stranger in a Strange Land (I prefer the first, more heavily edited version.)
Okay, I almost have to stop now, I'm breathing heavy and drooling. But before I go, the top five reason not to avoid RAH's young adult stuff:
1. Citizen of the Galaxy
2. Have Space Suit, Will Travel
3. Tunnel in the Sky
4. Space Cadet
5. The Rolling Stones
each and every one chock full of adventure, classic sci-fi atmosphere, UNFORGETTABLE characters (Thorby, Kit, Rod, Donald, Hazel- members of my family now!)and solid moral lessons for young and old alike! (Sorry, drooling again.)Could go on for hours, but will politely wait until 'Tash reads something and can join in the fun.

Lunatikat - entirely constructed of almost natural materials.

LUNATIKAT

Tuesday, July 1, 2003 11:33 PM

Kaythryn,
Much appreciation. We are almost related by name, by the way. My given name is Kathryn, so I always notice your posts. I'm trying to emote now, hope it works.

Lunatikat - the lights are on, but nobody's next door.

LUNATIKAT

Tuesday, July 1, 2003 11:39 PM

Kaythryn,
It worked! I'm so. But I'm back to say, Love your Aristotle quote.

Lunatikat - mad with power over the machine

LUNATIKAT

Tuesday, July 1, 2003 11:49 PM

Dear Wulfhawk,
Who called you a SOB? Never I.

Lunatikat - but I've said too much

RUTHIE

Wednesday, July 2, 2003 4:03 PM

It's interesting that this thread includes a discussion (disagreement!) about Heinlein's attitudes to women, becaust this is one of the areas where I see strongest parallels to Firefly.

The women can, and do, do any job they choose - but they do it in a female way, not by having to adopt the same skills that a man might when doing that job.

So Kaylee is a 'genius engineer' - but not because she has studied for years to become one, but because the engines 'talk to her'.

Zoe is an efficient fighter - but is also a faithful married woman, with a great deal of love and caring for her husband.

Inara is a shrwed buisness woman, and her buisness is to use all of her 'female qualities' - making the most of her abilities in social interaction and communication.

These women are not the same as men - because things that are intrinsically different cannot be the same. They are, however, equal with men.

I see this as one of the constant themes in Heinlein's books as well, and perhaps the basis upon which the accusation of mysogeny was founded. He refuses to make his female characters the same as his male ones - they continue to bear children, and put a LOT of their energy to that end, not because that is all they are good for, but because the raising of the next generation is an important and worthy goal.

I think that feminists who dismiss his work as anti-woman because of this emphasis on motherhood are taking a rather short-term view of what true male/female equality could be.

*************
Ruthie
*************

By the data to date, there is only one animal in the Galaxy dangerous to man - man himself. So he must supply his own indispensable competition. He has no enemy to help him. (R.A.Heinlein)

KENWOOD

Wednesday, July 2, 2003 8:58 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Wulfhawk:

And I ain't no SOB! I'm some kinda sumbich. There's a difference there, one I think Mr. Heinlein might recognize and appreciate.

tanstaafl

I sit corrected.

Later,

ME.

Don't look back, som'thin' might be gainin' on ya.
Who let the pigs play poker?
Evo Shander was right!

RAYANN

Friday, July 4, 2003 8:39 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Lunatikat:
Rayann,
Come on, we both know they'd never consider politics if mandatory military service were the prerequisite. That's the first giggle, and only then do I enter the pure fantasy realm of "but what if they did try to bullshit their way through military service of the Starship Trooper culture?" Hate to admit how much pleasure I get thinking 'bout that old "administrative punishment". However, that's not why I'm here right now. Came to ask you how to use quotes and emoticons, you use them with such facility and I am extremely lame in the computer brain. Thanks if you can help.

Sorry it took me so long to respond... looks like your question has already been answered, and quite well at that. lol, as for recent presidents and mandatory military service, I can just picture the hopelessly puzzled expression on Dubya's face the first time he realized that his daddy's name doesn't amount to a hill of beans in the Mobile Infantry (he would never qualify for any of the jobs requiring intelligence or finesse, of course), or Clinton finding out the hard way that charisma and a tough-luck childhood don't win him any points... and ah, yes, administrative punishment. Of course, they'd probably both wash out before that could happen, but it is a nice thought... but I digress.

PREV PAGE 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 NEXT PAGE