The Onion reviews Firefly

POSTED BY: williamx
UPDATED: Friday, January 16, 2004 14:53
VIEWED: 8380
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WILLIAMX

Wednesday, January 14, 2004 2:35 AM

http://www.theonionavclub.com/4002/video.html

Pretty balanced. A bit harsh. Good review.

All glory is fleeting

SEVENPERCENT

Wednesday, January 14, 2004 2:56 AM

Now see, you had to go and post something good like this, which only serves to make me mad at Fox again- You guys have got to stop doing this to me- - I can only take so much-

He looked bigger when I couldn't see him.

FFYING2

Wednesday, January 14, 2004 4:11 AM

Thanks for posting the link. Overall, it's a great review. People have different opinions, but I have to quibble with the reviewer about one thing.

Quote:
the characters' universal habit of lapsing into Chinese in order to spout lengthy, colorful, untranslated curses becomes irritating.

The reviewer may have found it irritating, but it's not merely "in order to" curse. Even being generous with what you consider a curse (e.g. Run-tse duh Fwo-tzoo..., "Merciful buddha..."), less than 60% of the Chinese in the show is cursing, even if you include repeated expressions.

They're just trying to give the flavor of a blending of cultures in this Sino-American Alliance--with probably a little "let's get this past the network censors," too.

It's not like any of the Chinese was crucial to understanding what was going on. And you could guess what a lot of it meant anyway.

Ying
Firefly Funsite http://fireflyfunsite.home.att.net
Firefly Chinese Pinyinary http://fireflychinese.home.att.net

HUMBLE

Wednesday, January 14, 2004 6:29 AM

I like the fact that they use Chinese in the future mixed in with English. I mean, you'd expect some sort of evolution of spoken language 500 years into the future. Most futuristic scifi shows don't even bother to address this aspect. Kudos to Joss and Co. for using something I found cool from Bladerunner.

HKCAVALIER

Wednesday, January 14, 2004 8:04 AM

Yeah, that crack about Inara's status irks me (that her extremely high status as a companion seems like a facile inversion of societal norms).

What irks me most about it is actually one of my only gripes about the show: namely, there is no reason to leave so much unexplained about the nature of 26th century companions. Clearly they owe a great deal to the gaisha of Earth-that-was, but gaisha are never even mentioned in the show, while every third word to describe Inara is "whore." Granted the back-woods conservative whites amongst whom we spend nearly all our time, would think like that, but I know Joss has much more to say on the subject than he did. It's a gaping hole without the excuse of being some fascinating mystery to be savored. Every review I've read of the DVD uses words like "high-class prostitute" and "space hooker," and I, in part, have to lay the responsibility for the misconception and disrespect on Joss & Co. for not giving us more info.

HKCavalier

Hey, hey, hey, don't be mean. We don't have to be mean, because, remember, no matter where you go, there you are.

TALONPEST

Wednesday, January 14, 2004 8:10 AM

Ah, but they do mention gaisha- In Trash, when Inara accuses Mal to trying to keep her from working, she points out that they'd smuggled a cargo gaisha dolls. Just an annoying nit-pick... it's what I do.

SOUPCATCHER

Wednesday, January 14, 2004 8:35 AM

It was actually Inara's status that made me sit up and take notice of the show. When The Train Job first aired I remember thinking to myself, "That is so cool that the only legitimate businessperson on board is basically a prostitute." Of course, the ending of that episode with Crow also had a good deal to do with me getting hooked.

That comment about Inara's character by the Onion reviewer also rubbed me the wrong way. Highly respected courtesans or geishas are a lot more recent to our history than 500 years so it makes sense that the pendulum could swing back the other way just as quickly.

I was also interested to learn, in Heart of Gold, that there was a religious element to the Companions. I can't remember the exact quote but the head of the whorehouse told Mal that Inara could've been house priestess if she stuck around. Maybe it was just the terminology but it reminded me of temple prositution, of which we have a long tradition going back thousands of years.

I SHAVED OFF MY BEARD FOR YOU, DEVIL WOMAN!

HKCAVALIER

Wednesday, January 14, 2004 9:27 AM

I know I read somewhere in an interview with Joss that he wanted to get at that whole "temple prostitute" thing in Firefly (sorry I can't remember where). What's most interesting to me about that is that we specifically don't have a "long tradition going back thousands of years." The so-called "temple prostitutes" of prepatriarchal societies remain a pretty shadowy institution from the dawn of history. Much studious misinformation and very little reliable sorces--very fertile ground for speculative fiction though.

HKCavalier

Hey, hey, hey, don't be mean. We don't have to be mean, because, remember, no matter where you go, there you are.

GEEZER

Wednesday, January 14, 2004 11:56 AM

I always considered Inara to be more like tha Hetaera of ancient Greece. Wikipedia describes them as "...courtesans, that is to say, sophisticated prostitutes and companions."
Full definition at: http://en2.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hetaera

One of Robert Heinlein's characters in "Time Enough For Love" was a famous hetaera in a future society.

Keep the Shiny side up

BROWNCOAT1

Wednesday, January 14, 2004 2:55 PM

The Onion review is a very positive review, and that is the most important thing. Right? Sure the critic nit picks a few personal gripes, but hey, everyone is entitled to their opinion.

I think that all of the positive reviews the DVD set is getting is gorram fantastic. The more good words that are put out there about Firefly the more fence sitters who haven't made the decision to buy it will be influenced to pick it up. With reviews like this one, more people will be convinced to give the show a shot.

I don't agree w/ any of the gripes this reviewer had, but I am sure not going to fuss when the review is a good one.

"May have been the losing side. Still not convinced it was the wrong one."

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