What next for Inara?
POSTED BY: DesktopHippie
UPDATED: Saturday, April 1, 2006 16:36
VIEWED: 4020
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This is something that's been playing on my mind since I saw the movie. (There are movie spoilers in this post by the way) I'd love to hear some opinions.
I don't think there's any doubt that Mal and Inara love each other, and at the end of the movie Mal asks her if she wants to return to her nice cosy life and her answer is "I don't know." Most people assume that she's leaning more and more towards starting a relationship with Mal.
If she ~does~ have a relationship with Mal - what happens to her job?
Inara says the Companion Guild's rules on dating are "complicated" (Ariel) and I imagine they are. But even if she were allowed to date Mal and continue working - would Mal ever accept that? Could he have a relationship with someone who sleeps with other people for a living? Even if it is considered a good, honest career, which seems to be the view on the core planets but not so much on the rim worlds.
So the alternative is that she gives up her career for Mal, and goes from being someone who was respected and admired on dozens of worlds to ... what? Mal's girlfriend, the ex-whore? Because much as Mal and the crew respect her, that's all a lot of people are going to see. Any respect she could have commanded as a bona fide companion will be lost.
And what will she do? The only job I can think of is piloting Serenity. Which she'd have to fight River for :) Or does she just become a stay-on-board girlfriend, living off the money she made before (which must be pretty substantial, and probably enough for her to live comfortably for the rest of her days.) I know I'm taking a very negative view here, but I can't see Inara being content with that. I don't think she loves her job nearly as much as she loves Mal, but is being his girlfriend enough? Will she be able to give up so much without becoming bitter and resentful?
What do you guys think?
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DesktopHippie:
First, if Inara stays aboard Serenity -- which it appears she will by the movie's end -- she won't be doing it for Mal's sake alone. She will be doing it because she has decided that's the life she wants.
All through the series, there's a lot of evidence that Inara is having grave misgivings about her life as a Companion. Oh, sure, she speaks with great pride about the noble philosophical foundations of the Guild. But, in many cases we see her crying or cringing in shame or hurt when some callow youth utters a casually unkind word, when a man reveals his true intention to make property of her, or when Mal practices the guilt-free sex she preaches...
So, I can see her settling down with Mal and her family aboard Serenity. As for her job: She was the moral counselor, the confessor for the Shepherd; she obviously has a strong talent for planning a confidence scheme ("Trash"); and she likewise has a lot of knowledge about how and through whom the Alliance conducts its most sensitive affairs. Finding some useful thing to do shouldn't be that difficult.
Methinks you underestimate the lady...
Respectfully,
zoid
ex-Companion Career Counselor
P.S.
I can also see her quitting Mal and returning to the Guild after a year or two, like nuns who quit and then rejoin the Church. I would hope not; but, there's a precedent in human behavior, which leaves the door open for Joss to rip our hearts out. Therefore, I expect him to do so. Sorry.
_________________________________________________
"I aim to misbehave." -Capt. Mal Reynolds, Serenity, a.k.a. 'the BDBOF'
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Yeah, I know. My perspective on this is very negative. ~very~ negative! But it's just been on her mind.
I completely agree that Inara has regrets about being a companion - there's far too many hints in the show for that not to be the case. And Serenity is definately more home to her than anywhere else. I think that's pretty much the whole point of 'Shindig', showing that she and Mal don't really belong anywhere else, no matter how much they try to fit in with their respective worlds.
But like it or no, Inara's job gives her an income, independence and a certain status. And since I'm pretty sure having a relationship with Mal and being a companion are mutually exclusive, I just wonder where that will leave her when that is gone.
As you point out, she's a valuable member of the crew. You only have to look at the difference between Mal's attitude to Simon and River in 'Safe' and his attitude to them at the start of 'Serenity' (the movie) to see how much losing Inara has effected him. That being said, I did wonder if she would be at a loss once her job was gone and the only status she had was being Mal's girlfriend.
You've fired my interest in her as part of the crew though. I never thought of Inara planning heists, which of course she'd be brilliant at. That's something I'd really love to see more of! Anyone up for a fanfic challenge?
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Historically, Geisha did not always have sex with clients. She may still keep her Companion status while not taking on that type of client.
~~~~~
"Funny and sexy. You have no idea. And you never will."
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When we first come to meet Inara in Serenity she has already stopped sleeping with men and has gone on to be a teacher. It is possible she keeps her companion status, dates mal, and teaches via some type of video device from Serenity. I'm sure that isn't too much of a stretch. It seems like too perfect and simple an explaination so I doubt it would actually happen. On another note in the series they constantly hint that Inara was running away from something which is why she left in the first place. Perhaps she wanted to quit being a companion to begin with, but found it difficult living without such status.
-Dan
Ain't that just shiny?
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What I wonder is what the guilds take on her actions in the movie will be.. will she be thrown out? The guild has to operate and it thrives under alliance rule, she was in line to be their next leader before she rented out the shuttle.
As she said the rules in the guild are complicated, I think in helping get the signal out, she has made herself as much an outlaw as the rest of the crew.
I highly doubt Miranda is the only piece of information buried in Rivers subconscious.
Inara has connections in the highest ranks, and she has a decent criminal mind, i think she could find a place on the crew
Browncoats are the shiniest folks in the 'verse
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I think Inara's status is too valuable to the crew to give it up. It gives them some "respectability". However, if she does take over as head of the guild, perhaps she can use Serenity to travel between the various companion houses or something.
Rae
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Mal and Inara getting together would be a huge complication, which is what Joss seems to like. Unlikely relationships where everyone has obvious flaws one way or another. The conflict of Inara having to give it up, and Mal for having to give up his pride and admit that he has feelings is interesting.
Another interesting twist I thought of is the effect of Inara and Mal getting together on Zoe. Seeing them happy like she was with Wash could really tear her up, espically if they would get together right away.
As for Inara flying the ship, I don't really see that happening. I think River is going to be the pilot, if Mal doesn't just hire new crew. Planning heists though does sound like something Inara would be capable of but, as Mal's feelings for her surface and develop, the less danger he would let her be in. He already seems to care about her honor and not bringing her into the life of crime. And after Nandi I would think he would be almost obsessed about protecting her.
IS
The Bible's a bit fuzzy on the subject of kneecaps.
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First, forgive me for my wordiness.
I think that Inara honestly likes her profession. Sure, she has misgivings from time to time (as seen in Heart of Gold when she cries, or Shindig when she is forced to acknowledge the fact that Atherton sees her as property), but she also does a lot of good (as you can see in Jaynestown when she visits Fess Higgins, or in War Stories when she offers the senator a brief reprieve from the stress of her day to day life). I don’t think she’s the one who has delusions about what she’s doing. Inara’s job is to service the often isolated members of “decent” and upper-class society. They come to her because their lives lack intimacy due to their careers (the senator), their personality (Atherton, Fess), or other reasons. Like a priest, her time with them is confidential. Her clients are free to unburden themselves without care or worry. In this way, the job appeals to her nature as a nurturer, a mother-figure.
As for the sex, I am sure that Inara enjoys it. Like an athlete or an artist, she considers sexuality her skill, and she enjoys honing it, perfecting it. It is her job to be good in bed, and it is in her nature to aim to be good at what she does. She isn’t a whore because she doesn’t see sex as a way to make money; rather, she sees it is a complicated, intricate art that she wishes to master. As for status, I think that, consciously or unconsciously, her higher status is a crutch that she can lean on when she is lonely, when she realizes that she has sacrificed aspects of her life for her career. Sure, she must have nights where she feels that despite all the care she gives others no one cares for her, but they do RESPECT her, she has STATUS, which she has been trained to think it far more valuable.
The conflict with Mal and Inara has much to do with the fact that Mal doesn’t see her job this way. The aspects of her work that Inara is most proud of – her ability to comfort, to teach and advise – happens behind closed doors. Mal can’t see it, and Inara is far too much of a professional to ever tell Mal exactly what she does. Mal is only privy to viewing the latter two aspects of Inara’s work – sex and status. The sex, he finds degrading. While Inara views it as intimate and therapeutic, Mal views it as decidedly not intimate, a mockery of intimacy, and even worse, dishonest. The status is brings her Mal views as corrupt. Because of this, I think that it would be next to impossible for Mal to be with Inara if she didn’t give up her job. They could try, but his view of what she does would haunt him everyday, pain him, and eventually it would drive them apart.
Conversely, I think that their relationship would be similarly rocky if Inara gave up her profession for him. As I said, the status that being a Companion has given Inara is her crutch – a faulty, perhaps false crutch, but a crutch nonetheless. Sacrificing the stability that it offers her could be devastating to her as a person. Though it is implied that Inara has some experience with being in positions where she is lost and vulnerable (her “lost in the woods” quote in the pilot, as well as the cuts to her looking wistfully away as she tells a client she wanted to see the universe), I highly doubt she ever chose to be lost and vulnerable. It is against her nature.
If she ever did give up her job, she would have to do a lot of soul searching before she was completely comfortable using her family, the crew of Serenity, as her support system. Until then, she would most likely feel lonely and afraid, even more isolated than ever even though she knows she is surrounded by people who love her. Mal, with so many insecurities of his own, insecurities that he has grown accustom to letting Inara tame or sooth in various situations, might not be able to handle them. Even if he could, Inara herself might not be able to handle them. Therefore, they could easily be driven apart.
As for what Inara would do if she chose to give up her job to be with Mal, I imagine for a while she would be lost. Inara is a skilled woman. Much of what
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