Inara - a Wiccan perspective

POSTED BY: incongresswiththebeast
UPDATED: Friday, May 12, 2006 15:14
VIEWED: 21618
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SMOOF

Sunday, March 5, 2006 11:44 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by incongresswiththebeast:

Atherton Wang from "Shindig" being the clearest example.

Freudian slip?

ZOID

Monday, March 6, 2006 1:58 AM

UnregisteredCompanion wrote, in part:

Quote:
...(from The Golden Bough by Sir James Frazer)

'Thus at Babylon every woman, whether rich or poor, had once in her life to submit to the embraces of a stranger at the temple of Mylitta, that is, of Ishtar or Astarte, and to dedicate to the goddess the wages earned by this sanctified harlotry. The sacred precinct was crowded with women waiting to observe the custom. Some of them had to wait there for years...

I would quote your entire post, since it all applies, but I fear the space on this thread is primarily reserved for pissing.

This is exactly what I was driving at in my 2-year-old post linked above. I believe the Companion's Guild is religiously related to Babylonian/Assyrian/Sumerian 'whore priestesses' (of which Cleopatra was reportedly the last). So, thanks for the quotes.

Additionally, I believe there may be some Herbertine "Bene Gesserit"-style manipulation of many religious elements into a combinatory form, which allows for the greatest control of practitioners (read: Companions). See also, The Orange Catholic Bible at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orange_Catholic_Bible and Missionaria Protectiva at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bene_Gesserit#Missionaria_Protectiva.

In this way ancient Middle Eastern religions might be mixed with Far and Near Oriental religions in a way that serves the Guild best.

Be that as it may, Inara -- even if she is supposed to be totally secure in her sexuality -- is clearly having a crisis of conscience, which is caused by her own open sexuality. Otherwise, why does she cry when Mal has sex with Nandi? Or did she just stub her toe nastily and we didn't see it? And remember the last scene of Serenity in which she plainly tells Mal that she is unsure whether she wants to resume her previous life; if that ain't a crisis of faith, of losing one's religion, I don't know what is. In much the same way that some people are not cut out for celibacy, perhaps Inara is not cut out for anything but monogamy. That's something I can relate to (even tho' I'm male

), and in which I'm a 'true believer'.

Respectfully,

zoid

P.S.
BitterBierce and ThePistonEngine: You guys ever consider taking the act on tour? No lecture halls, either. I'm thinking an open field at sunrise, ten paces and matched uzis... Now, who wouldn't buy a ticket for that?
_________________________________________________

"I aim to misbehave." -Capt. Mal Reynolds, Serenity, a.k.a. 'the BDBOF'

INCONGRESSWITHTHEBEAST

Monday, March 6, 2006 4:05 PM

Um... wow. Over 70 replies to my first post. And it appears I've started a board war too. Start how you mean to go on.

There are FAR too many replies here for me to address, but I'll do my best to answer a few of the points raised.

Yes, Inara cries just after she's told Mal that Companions aren't puritanical about sex. For me, that scene doesn't contradict the way I think she views sex. If anything it underscores it. Inara has sex for a living, and she sleeps with a lot of people, but she never loses her awareness of it's importance, and the connection it creates between people (no doubt the reason why companions are allowed to choose their clients and not the other way around.) Nandi has shared something very special with Mal, connected with him in a way Inara has never been able to. She isn't squemish about it, but it's natural that she'd be upset. If she saw sex as an unimportant but pleasant diversion then she would have no reason to cry.

Yes, Companions are respected on the core planets. That's established from the very beginning - Mal mentions in the pilot episode that most planets won't allow a vessel to dock without a decent companion on board. But while Inara commands a great deal of respect throughout the series - as when she "claims" Mal and Zoe in "The Train Job", the day to day attitude she faces is very different. Very few people, Mal included, are able to get past the thought of what she does for a living. On a side note, It's hugely interesting to me that, after Kaylee, Book is the first person seen to accept who Inara is and what she does without fuss.

Does Inara always act as though sex is a hugely sacred thing? Nope. Do Wiccans? Nope. We respect it deeply, it's true, but we also accept it as natural and, well, fun. It can put you in touch with the creative force of the universe, but only when both those taking part are in the correct frame of mind and focusing on that intent. Do we do that every time we have sex? Nope. What we ~always~ do is treat ourselves, and the person we're having sex with, with respect. Like Inara, it means that Wiccans in general don't tend to be puritanical about sex. But I still would have been upset if the man I loved slept with someone who wasn't me!

I chose my board name because I thought it was funny. The scene it's taken from my all time favourite scene on the show, and I liked the reference.

I've never been in congress, with or without a beast.

Yes, Wicca does take it's inspiration from many different cultures and religions, so a lot of people describe it as a mish-mosh of elements from everywhere. There is an underlying theology that we stick to, but other than that we find what works for us and go with that, adapting it where we need to. It's a lot like philosophy that way. It's also why I posted this as a Wiccan perspective on Inara, not the Wiccan perspective.

My post is pretty much my view on Inara, as it relates to my own personal beliefs. Obviously, those beliefs colour my view of the character, and Inara is definately not Wiccan herself - she's Buddhist. Still, because of her role in the 'verse, she's become a character that deals with the issues a lot of Wiccans face. That's the perspective I wanted to share with the board, to see what other people thought.

I'm not 18. I'm not middle aged. I don't wear gothy clothes, and I'm fairly certain my interpersonal skills are at an okay level. I don't listen to New Age music, but I do listen to Guns and Roses which I've been told is much, much worse. I have a few crystals, but no cats. I do love Buffy though. Who doesn't love Buffy??? It's a great show!!!

Um, that's it. Excuse me while I run away and think very hard about what the heck I'm going to post next!

KIZYR

Monday, March 6, 2006 5:00 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by zoid:
Be that as it may, Inara -- even if she is supposed to be totally secure in her sexuality -- is clearly having a crisis of conscience, which is caused by her own open sexuality. Otherwise, why does she cry when Mal has sex with Nandi? Or did she just stub her toe nastily and we didn't see it? And remember the last scene of Serenity in which she plainly tells Mal that she is unsure whether she wants to resume her previous life; if that ain't a crisis of faith, of losing one's religion, I don't know what is.

It might even run deeper than that... Right in the pilot episode, you had Inara needing to feel 'cleansed' after her last client. It wasn't even anything too bad: he asked her to stay there, she declined, and he made a little slight with the comment about her clock being rigged.

Oh, and then there's the line in Objects in Space which River heard: "I'm a big girl", etc.

And then, after Mal's insulted her profession so many times (I'm thinking Shindig here, where during the dance, too, he pointed out that her life was dishonest), she's still in love with him.

I think Inara's always been a little ambivalent and unsure of her chosen profession. Maybe, like Book, her leaving the Guild and settin' sail with Serenity was a journey to find herself once again. And Mal's certainly helped her find herself, even though it ain't pretty at first glance. KF

~KF

Lord, I'm walking your way. Let me in, for my feet are sore, my clothes are ragged.
Look in my eyes, Lord, and my sins will play out on them as on a screen. Read them all.
Forgive what you can and send me on my path. I will walk on until you bid me rest.
~Haven Prayer

DONCOAT

Monday, March 6, 2006 5:01 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by incongresswiththebeast:
Um, that's it. Excuse me while I run away and think very hard about what the heck I'm going to post next!

There are times that I wish more people did that...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I don't disagree on any particular point.

BITTERBIERCE

Thursday, March 9, 2006 1:06 AM

I can agree with that. Hell, I promise to buy you ten beers and a good meal the day FF comes back.

Forgive my lack of response, I haven't even had time to see what you've written yet- the girlfriend came back on Sunday and I've been involved in getting nooky and going out with those couples friends. It's been very nice not being a hermit. I'll get to the rest of these later on in the week.

ERIC

Thursday, March 9, 2006 1:52 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by zoid:

Additionally, I believe there may be some Herbertine "Bene Gesserit"-style manipulation of many religious elements into a combinatory form, which allows for the greatest control of practitioners (read: Companions). See also, The Orange Catholic Bible at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orange_Catholic_Bible and Missionaria Protectiva at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bene_Gesserit#Missionaria_Protectiva.

Yay! I knew there was some way to bring Dune into this...just wasn't sure how. Anyway, if a total newb may speak freely...

I think Mal's attitude toward Inara and her profession contains a pretty heavy socioeconomic element. Although he constantly degrades what she, a "Registered Companion" (in gold calligraphy, etc.), does, he never once bats an eye about helping out Nandi's girls without payment, as soon as he knows they're common whores. He treats Nandi and the others with a respect he never shows Inara. Although whores, they're still working stiffs like him, trying to survive. I think then that his hostility toward Inara has to do with resentment at the (real or perceived) "easiness" of her life. Not only does she have sex for money, she gets to choose from among many rich people to have sex with, for LOTS of money. In his eyes, it might look like just getting paid to live out your (his) fantasy. And for someone who's lost everything, and has to scrounge just to get by, that might strike him as just really unfair.

Also, the closest he gets to enunciating his objections to her career is in "Shindig," when he decries "the lie of it." Simple prostitution is at least straightforward, but a companion is expected to act like it's all real, at least for official engagements. His hostility could then also be not just his rejection of the whole "sex is sacred" idea, but contempt in others' (possibly perceived) pretension in accepting it. So I don't think it's just his attitude toward sex, but towards a society where rich people get to delude themselves into believing they're more enlightened than they are, and where pretty girls get paid to have a good time. Not saying this is how it is, but maybe a bit how Mal might see things. My guess is he'd have the same view of, e.g., Hollywood celebrities from Earth-that-was.

Course, this might all be painfully obvious, and i just wasted many minutes making myself look dumb. Web anonymity is a good thing.

THEPISTONENGINE

Thursday, March 9, 2006 3:58 AM

No, as a noob you have to earn your right to speak freely by a carefully laid plan of hazing. ChrisMooreHead was in the Army, so he probably knows better than anyone here how to haze. We'll delegate the responsibility to him.

_____________
Carry the Nuttin'

ZOID

Thursday, March 9, 2006 8:04 AM

Eric wrote:

Quote:
...Anyway, if a total newb may speak freely...

A "total newb" is encouraged to speak, when the n00b in question speaks as well as you do. And knowing your Herbert is a great calling card...

As to your commentary, I don't believe I've ever seen it put that way specifically, and I believe your analysis is sound.

I've always seen Mal as chivalrous: helping the weak, championing truth, et cetera. His rendering aid to the HoG girls (how wrong does that sound?) makes sense from my perspective because they are in distress from an oppressive force (Burgess) of overpowering strength. And Mal is the patron saint of lost causes.
(NB: Okay, technically, that's Saint Jude; but, go with me here.)

Inara is not poor, defenseless or weak, in any sense of those words. Mal is enamored of her, but he just doesn't know how to approach her. Inara is used to polite men who dance around her sense of propriety like bees around honeysuckle, not men who cut to the chase and 'tell it like it is'. Every time she makes a polite overture toward Mal, he speaks openly, she gets frustrated by his lack of tact, and an argument ensues (sounds a lot like my marriage, btw).

But your argument works as well or better than mine, in many respects. Unfortunately, I'm an old school romantic. I need Mal to be ultimately noble; not petty, or even subconsciously ignoble.

I'm with Book: I think Mal's got 'a way' about him that's inherently good. Even when he doesn't know why, he rescues young girls and their naive brothers because they are weak and need protection. He is instinctively good...

A pox upon you for making me doubt that, with your impeccable logic!

Antiquatedly,

zoid

P.S.
Seriously, excellent post, dude. Write more.
_________________________________________________

"...I knew you let her kiss you." -Capt. Mal Reynolds, Firefly, "Our Mrs. Reynolds"

DOFFE

Thursday, March 9, 2006 10:18 AM

FINN MAC CUMHAL wrote:

Quote:
certainly not with the Christian and Buddhists religions, who both hold celibacy, not sexuality, as sacred.

Buddist religion (if You call it that) has different paths. Some of them use celibacy as the tool, some use sexuality. Look at Tibetan traditions, You find some interesting stuff about sex there.

What all of them have in common is that sexual misconduct is a pretty unskilled way of being, ultimately agreeing that "misconduct" means causing harm to yourself or others.

In other words it is not WHAT you are doing but HOW and with WHAT ATTITUDE and WHAT OUTCOME you get. And here we have Inara, warm hearted, compassionate, forgiving being that helps others ot overcome their problems, when possible.

Sound quite buddhist to me :) And hey, Wiccan perspective is just another angle on the truth, too :) At least I'm being non-Wiccan can see some common sense in it and like it.

Keep flying.
Doffe.

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