Sexual tension between Mal and Inara

POSTED BY: thirdmonkey
UPDATED: Friday, January 13, 2006 20:44
VIEWED: 12317
PAGE 2 of 4

PREV PAGE 1 2 3 4 NEXT PAGE

NOSADSEVEN

Wednesday, January 11, 2006 10:51 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by thirdmonkey:
... A few posters were commenting on the sexual tension between Mal and Inara.

I for one don't get it. Believe me when I say I am no prude. I just don't get a prostitute as a "goal" for a permanent partner. I find the whole thing "icky." I am sure the writer wants me to feel the tension between those two the way I feel it between Simon and Kaylee, but it just doesn't work for me.

Inara is no catch! Who want to be romantically involved with a WORKING prostitute? That whole prostitute with the heart of gold only works for ex-prostitutes. Heck, throw me a bone. At least pretend like Inara wants to quit her job before looking longingly into Mal's eyes. And Mal, at least wait for her to get back from the client's bed and take a shower (washing the client's cooties off) before wishing you could kiss her.

Ummm, that's the point - the tragedy of it. Mal is in love with her, yet feels exactly the way you do about it. Their relationship works (or, more accurately, doesn't work) on many different levels, but I think this is the underlying issue. It's not just Inara keeping Mal away - it's Mal keeping himself away for the very reasons you mention. And it goes both ways. The tension is not only between Mal and Inara, it is between Mal's life_and_beliefs and his heart, as it is between Inara's life_and_beliefs and her heart.

(Edited to add: LilKristy has explained it pretty well, actually...)

And, I don't know about anyone else, but I've never really felt sexual "tension" between Kaylee and Simon, more just amusement at the fumbling involved.

So welcome, thirdmonkey, and go get the DVDs and watch the rest of the episodes before you catch too many spoilers!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ain't. We. Just.

QUEENOFTHENORTH

Wednesday, January 11, 2006 11:15 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by thirdmonkey:
Well I appreciate the welcomes. Thanks.

Is this a man/woman thing?

I mean you ladies would not accept the following line from a cheating husband: "Honey, I just slept with her...It's you I love"

Mal and Inara aren't married, though. They've made no kind of commitment whatsoever to one another, not even a boyfriend/girlfriend commitment. All they have is feelings for one another that neither of them wants to have.

And also, my cousin mentioned that they have a two-sided relationship that neither of them knows about. What this confusing statement means is that they both have feelings for each other, but neither one of them knows that. Mal doesn't know Inara is in love with him, especially she's repeatedly disdainful of him. Inara doesn't know Mal is in love with her, especially since he continually calls her a whore. But it's there for everybody else to see.

Anyways, welcome and sorry for the mini-rant!!

"I'm having one of those things - a headache with pictures."

"Sucker! Competitive violence, that's why you're here!"

Like books? Go to this thread: http://www.fireflyfans.net/thread.asp?b=2&t=14862
to find out how to buy mine!

CAPERCAILLIE

Thursday, January 12, 2006 1:34 AM

I think a great moment between the two of them is in Out of Gas. At the dinner table, they are all joking around when ...

Inara: A Companion doesn't kiss and tell.
Mal: So there is kissing (sorry to misquote!)

...which seems like a mean remark at first but then he flashes her an absolutely sweet smile. With that look, it is clear that they care about each other - he is not being really mean and she knows that he doesn't.

As for calling her "whore"...I think he does it just to yank her chain. It is his way to get her attention - sort of junior high behavior but has anyone ever said that Mal was emotionally mature?

I liked the comment about the "two-sided" relationship. Joss mentions something like it in the commentary on Serenity - The Pilot when Mal and Inara look at each other but independently so during Kaylee's surgery. Also,
Inara does find out that Mal cares for her because Nandee drops a hint of it. I think that is why she decides to leave - she knows she can't fight both her feelings and his.

Well, enough drivel from me....sigh....which episode to watch tonight?

JETGIRL23

Thursday, January 12, 2006 2:09 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by nosadseven:

Ummm, that's the point - the tragedy of it. Mal is in love with her, yet feels exactly the way you do about it. Their relationship works (or, more accurately, doesn't work) on many different levels, but I think this is the underlying issue. It's not just Inara keeping Mal away - it's Mal keeping himself away for the very reasons you mention. And it goes both ways. The tension is not only between Mal and Inara, it is between Mal's life_and_beliefs and his heart, as it is between Inara's life_and_beliefs and her heart.

(Edited to add: LilKristy has explained it pretty well, actually...)

And, I don't know about anyone else, but I've never really felt sexual "tension" between Kaylee and Simon, more just amusement at the fumbling involved.

~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ain't. We. Just.

On the money Nosadseven!

I am always torn when I watch Mal and Inara because of the whole prostitute thing...but I cant help feeling the love and wanting them together at the same time....ahhh the tragedy of it all!

Cant agree with you on the Simon Kaylee no tension though...I do feel it...when they were alone in the hall and get interrupted by Book...I was feeling it!

On a side note with Mal and Inara...did anyone else (Im sure I cant be the only one) notice the scene in the BDM where right after Mal askes Zoe if shes "here" and she tells him to go to the transmitter....as he rushes past the crew to the elevator he turns and looks straight at Inara. Its in the background and a half a second long but I notice it evertime and it slays me! I wonder if it was in the script...or just a great little idea from Nathan or Joss on set?

Ahhh....the TRAGEDY (deep sigh!)

Jetgirl

25MYTURN25

Thursday, January 12, 2006 2:26 AM

sorry if I repeat something, I find when you look at the two of them (Mal and Inara) after watching the series OVER AND OVER AND OVER and then the movie, You look past the fact she is a companion and it just becomes invisible to you, or maybe I am just crazy. Also the River thing you said. . . I am speechless, now what she can do may not be logical, but If I recall, she aint no normal girl, and plus the scene in the bar is one of my favourite fight scenes in history, due to her using one of my favourite fighting styles, to me River is quite perfect the way Joss made her.

If someone tries to kill you. . . You try and Kill em' right back!

PROSERPINE

Thursday, January 12, 2006 2:49 AM

Personally, Mal and Inara are definitely my favorite of the three Firefly "couples." Don't get me wrong - I love all three (someday I want a marriage just like Wash and Zoe's!) - but Mal and Inara make the most interesting pair because of the "love that dare not speak its name" factor. The problems facing their love are colossal - not because she's an "icky" prostitute but because she would have to give up the high-status, well-paying career for which she has a natural talent aka her identity. Maybe it is the "girl" thing, but I can relate to Inara's struggle. Eventually she must make a choice between her career or the man she loves.

If the series had continued (or if it does - oh please oh please oh please!), I could see the relationship going one of two ways.

1. Inara gives up her career as a companion to be with Mal but goes through a period of depression when she realizes that she has committed herself to a life of petty thievery and rustic settings. Her discontent causes lots of fun drama in her relationship with Mal (fun for us, I mean). Eventually she finds a new high-status career - say as politician or writer or something - and Mal sacrifices his loathing for high society and occasionally acts as her arm candy at important events/shindigs/etc.

2. Inara and Mal have the most monumental quarral of their aquaintance, and one of them unthinkingly blurts out their true feelings for the other. They, of course, end up in bed together. They hook up repeatedly without ever really acknowledging their feelings for each other in words again, until finally Mal snaps in a fit of jealousy and gives Inara an ultimatum - him or the hooker life. Or - ooh - Mal sleeps with other women to make Inara as jealous as he is.

*curses in Mandarin* Okay, there had better be a sequel / mini-series / new show or I am going to die from lack of information!

Also, the relationship between Kaylee and Simon is adorable, but the sexual tension has always seemed really one-sided to me. Poor horny Kaylee.

P.S. I LOVE River. I took ballet for 10 years, and dancers are the toughest people you will ever meet (and also often crazy).

"Dear Diary, Today I was pompous and my sister was crazy. Today we were kidnapped by hill folk never to be seen again. It was the best day ever."

LILKRISTY

Thursday, January 12, 2006 4:11 PM

Jetgirl wroye

Quote:
". . .as he rushes past the crew to the elevator he turns and looks straight at Inara."

Yup saw it and my heart ached.

FOLLOWMAL

Thursday, January 12, 2006 4:14 PM

Yup, me too. Watched the movie again last night, just to look for this and was stunned I hadn't noticed it before.

There had better be more.... I've got to know what happens between these two!!!!!!!!

Operative:
"...You're fighting a war you cannot win."
Mal:
"Yeah, I'm known for that."

GIXXER

Thursday, January 12, 2006 4:33 PM

Never icky.

Inara is a Companion, and everything she did through the series set out the rules and mores without making that big a deal out of it.

She really is quite grand, as evidenced by the way ordinary folks behave when she breezes in, but she has enough class not to abuse her status. (Er... except if some Jackass needs rescuing from Sheriffs and such.)

Anyone that beautiful could so easily have ended up as the empty bimbo others end up as. She never overdoes things, but has fun now and then.

I really like her schoolgirl crush moment in Jaynestown. Seth is talking about this big hero, and she goes all blushy and goofy "Yeah, he's a really great guy, isn't he?" Followed a moment later by a perfect gobsmack as she has now to try and fit Jayne into the picture...

G

Mal: Jayne?
Jayne: Yeah?
Mal: You want to tell me how come there's a statue of you here looking at me like I owe him something?
Jayne: Wishing I could, Captain.

CAPERCAILLIE

Thursday, January 12, 2006 4:39 PM

Also, I think in the movie (what was I thinking when I loaned it to a friend!!!?? Anyways, it's not here so I have not checked) that Inara looks at the elevator to see if Mal is coming back when they all down and out in the corridor.

With regard to sexual tension, who else loved the "twist me about" line? Can't live with her - can't live without here.

And I also agree that, with the exception of the corridor scene, there is zilch sexual tension between Kaylee and Simon. That's not to say there isn't chemistry - there is. It is just that their relationship is just not a "she love me, she loves me not" kind of thing.

I love this thread!

PREV PAGE 1 2 3 4 NEXT PAGE