No aliens in the 'Verse...How do you feel?

POSTED BY: BWare42
UPDATED: Wednesday, February 8, 2006 03:25
VIEWED: 20169
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NIRVANA

Thursday, February 2, 2006 10:45 PM

Quote:
Besides the upside-down (well, really rightside-up) cow fetus.

I had forgotten how much I loved that. It was right in line with the turn of the century feel of the show - you know, bearded ladies, the elephant man, snake oil salesmen.

Awesome... thanks for reminding me!

UNREGISTEREDCOMPANION

Thursday, February 2, 2006 10:59 PM

Plus, not showing the aliens leaves plenty of room for a new Alliance conspiracy...

You see there WERE aliens but the Teraformers paved right over the poor bastards!

~~~~~
"Funny and sexy. You have no idea. And you never will."

THEPISTONENGINE

Thursday, February 2, 2006 11:06 PM

I would definately say no to aliens on Whedon's verse, it just ain't what the show is about.

But I disagree with those who say it undermines the viewers ability to connect on human emotions. Babylon 5 was a great series with aliens, at least the first two seasons (definately not the last two)

MISBEHAVIN

Friday, February 3, 2006 4:24 AM

I love the vision of a 'verse without aliens. It's not like we're missing anything as far as the story is concerned. Most aliens we see in sci-fi TV and movies are little more than humans with reptile skin, or maybe a ridge on their nose. Joss said he needed to "spend some time away from latex," and for that I'm glad. He gave us a world without aliens, transporters, wormholes, and with very few lasers, and set the story on a little ship without weapons or defenses that never passes the speed of light. Yet this ends up being the most intellectually stimulating, funny, exciting, and emotionally engaging story you could want.

CHRISMOORHEAD

Friday, February 3, 2006 4:38 AM

I usually hate Science Fiction. I hated Star Wars, Star Trek, BSG, Stargate, etc. Up until now I couldn't give you a lot of reasons why Firefly was different for me, but I'll be damned, it has a lot to do with there not being any aliens. Why don't I like aliens? The same reasons already listed, it's overdone, it provides too much freedom for ultimately powerful characters, etc. When I first saw previews for Serenity, I thought I was going to hate River because of how powerful she was being made out to be, but the character's too flawed (in a good way) for me to hate her, and damnit, Summer Glau's just too cute to hate.

"Deep in the battlefield covered in blood
Lies an Airborne Ranger dying in the mud
He fought for his country and he died like a man
Though some people back home just wouldn't understand"

REGINAROADIE

Friday, February 3, 2006 5:00 AM

I'm of two sides to the whole "no aliens" rule that FIREFLY/SERENITY has. On the one hand, adding aliens to the already complex mix that they have going on might lead to some distractions and bring stuff up that they might not want to explore.

But I can't help feel that if the show had continued, they would have missed out on an interesting opportunity. Now, before you tear me a new asshole, listen to this.

One movie I saw recently was Terrence Malick's latest masterpiece THE NEW WORLD, which was about the Jamestown settlers and the John Smith/Pocahontas relationship. This is an amazing film, taking something that taught in elementary school and turning it into an unusual, fascinating and hypnotic slice of history that makes you feel the same sense of alien wonder and discovery that Smith, the settlers and the natives must have felt when they first encountered each other. And it got me thinking about something.

Joss made FIREFLY as a sort of ode to the Western genre. And that part of that genre is the Native American aspect that played key roles in such classics like BILLY JACK and THE SEARCHERS. The relationships between the settlers and cowboys with the Natives is a HUGE part of the genre. If you can blend sci-fi and Western together to be an allegory of early American history, then aliens could easily stand as a metaphor for Native Americans. There's no rule that says that aliens have to be technologically advanced. Humans 500 plus years into the future making a trek across space to settle in new worlds already inhabited by a less technologically advanced race of beings could easily take the place of the settlers moving west to make a new civilization and encountering the Native population.

Joss is obviously smart enough to realize this, so it seems odd that he intentionally chose to miss out on a rather large metaphor that's ripe for material.

I can't think of any other sci-fi story that deals with alien encounters in that way. In a vein similar to the settlers 400 or so years ago when they first came to North America. And I think FIREFLY could have been the first to deal with that, if they didn't restrict themselves with an arbitrary "no aliens" rule.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"Couldn't we at least abduct their political or religious leaders instead of just any idiot in a pick-up truck?"

"I'm sure the Great Leader has his reasons."

"Well I'm sure the Great Leader is just some sort of twisted ass freak."

"All right, I am now offically ignoring you, commence anal probing."

SAMEERTIA

Friday, February 3, 2006 5:17 AM

Aliens? We don't need no stinkin' aliens.

*Ertia suddenly realizes that she's being rather terse tonight, and that she has said exactly nothing original. Maybe she needs a nap.*

CHINDI

Friday, February 3, 2006 6:00 AM

LOL on all the responses.. ditto, oh and yes I see that point, and ITA and ditto.

The thing is, as has been said, that many shows deal with aliens in the universe etc. THIS show was about being on the frontier. It is a western.. and it is about us- the humans.

That does NOT mean we do not think there are other life forms out there.. maybe more intelligent maybe not, who knows.. but other shows go there.. we go here. There is room on the airwaves for all sorts of outlooks...

This vision, Joss' vision, just works for me and connects with me BECAUSE it is so human...

Chindi (hoping there never will be a time when naughty men can't slip about...)

QUIXOTIC

Friday, February 3, 2006 6:39 AM

I don't have anything against the oncept of aliens, and I'm sure if Joss were to write them, they would be interesting.

That being said, I am glad that they aren't in the show. Aliens in sci-fi suffer in much the same way as elves and dwarves, etc. do in fantastic settings. They become quick and easy stereotypes, while the humans actually get to have real characters. Think Klingon: honorable warriors [or, if you're old enough, treacherous ones.] Dwarves: drunken miners with an axe-fetish. And so on.

It's always nice to see humans get to be the good guys and the bad guys, and the ones in the middle.

Yeah, and if wishes were horses we'd all be eating steak.

LIMINALOSITY

Friday, February 3, 2006 9:09 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by BWare42:How do you feel about Joss's vision of a non-alien future? Does he mean we still haven't met any in 500 years, or there are none out there? And either way, how do you feel about it?

Were you asking about the Joss quote that sometimes appears in the blue space at the top of the homepage here....

'I believe we are the only sentient beings in the universe, and I believe that 500 years from now, we will still be the only sentient beings around.' ~Joss

The first time I read that quote I thought 'whaaa? no kidding, that's wierd'. It's one of the few instances where I totally completely fundamentally disagree with Joss. He doesn't just say we won't have met them yet, he says 'only...in the universe'. I don't know how people look out into the twinkly black and think we are it, the top of the heap, the only time in this enormous amazing riot of a place where everything converges to make intelligent creatures that speak to each other. In fact, I think there are plenty of other kinds of creatures on this very planet who speak to each other. Chimps and bonobos communicate with each other, have been taught human sign language and can be fluent enough to have conversations with people about emotions far more complex than 'give treats now'. Elephants communicate with one another over hundreds of miles using very low frequency sound. Dolphins, whales, and mice (!) make high pitched sounds with at least as much complexity of pattern as symphonic music. Heck, your dog feels happy and sad. That's where the dictionary draws the line for sentience; at feelings. If you want to draw the line farther on at understanding of right and wrong, you can teach a dog your version of right and wrong, and he at least comes to understand your definition. So, yeah, I think there are others out there, and I doubt it will take us 500 years to meet them. Unless of course, we manage to never learn to stop kicking the crap out of each other. I doubt the neighbors would want to meet us until we learn that lesson. But that's a whole other kettle of fishies. im-outrageous-o Consciousness is one of my favorite subjects.

As far as an SF story with no aliens, I'm glad Joss wrote FF without aliens, it's refreshing to see SF that doesn't use that convention to move the story line along.

Shiny Trees! Yavanna made Shiny Trees!
Aztecs used the term firefly metaphorically, meaning a spark of knowledge in a world of ignorance or darkness.

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