The Onion reviews Firefly

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

Wednesday, January 14, 2004 3:04 PM

FYI, traditional japanese geishas did not have sex with the patrons. The were exceptional entertainers (played musical instruments, read/made up poetry).

But I agree, their is definitely a strong social heirerchy that is not being explained. I figure this is because the show was short lived and unable to flesh out all these details (damn you fox!!).

CHANNAIN

Wednesday, January 14, 2004 3:39 PM

8-O They called Serenity "rickety." Better not let Kaylee hear 'em say it!

Otherwise, pretty darn decent review. Wonder if anyone at the unmentionable alleged network is paying attention to all of this positive reveiw goodness?

Firefly Artwork Series
http://www.mnartists.org/artistHome.do?rid=7922

BROWNCOAT1

Wednesday, January 14, 2004 3:45 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Channain:
:-O They called Serenity "rickety." Better not let Kaylee hear 'em say it!

Otherwise, pretty darn decent review. Wonder if anyone at the unmentionable alleged network is paying attention to all of this positive reveiw goodness?

Doubt it. Seems Fox is satisfied w/ racking in the cash from the DVD sets, but selling the rights to Universal says to me they don't want anything more to do w/ Firefly.

Reckon that suits me fine, since I would rather see the show on any network but Fox. Why should they make any more money than necessary off of a show they didn't give half a chance to make it?

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

JASONZZZ

Wednesday, January 14, 2004 4:16 PM

Frankly, the particular bit upsets me. The whole chinese dialogue thing is, well, supposed to be a blend of "chinese"/westerner thing. The Geisha deal is "japanese". Hello, last time I checked, that's a big insult to both the Chinese and the Japanese people. It might have been better if it's a bigger blend of everything Asian. Throw in some Korean, Philipino, Thai, Vietnam, and the eighteen different states of India, why don't we.

If it was deliberate, then I don't see any other theme or explanation within the show that supports it. If it was just a dumb "white-boy never left the farm from the backwoods" mistake, then that's just plain complete stupidity for anyone writing Scifi. Either, inexcusable.

Haken needs a new development system. Donate.
http://www.fireflyfans.net/thread.asp?b=5&t=3283

Quote:
Originally posted by tulip:
FYI, traditional japanese geishas did not have sex with the patrons. The were exceptional entertainers (played musical instruments, read/made up poetry).

But I agree, their is definitely a strong social heirerchy that is not being explained. I figure this is because the show was short lived and unable to flesh out all these details (damn you fox!!).

TULIP

Wednesday, January 14, 2004 9:49 PM

I agree, maybe it should be more of a blend of all asian, but again, I give a little slack as they didn't have time to really flesh things out. Someone mentioned Bladerunner, there it was a mish mash as you described. That would have been better. But when you compare to the typical crap on tv, I'll take those small mistakes any day.

CAITLYN

Wednesday, January 14, 2004 10:14 PM

In a future where the government is a merger of two former superpowers who spoke English and Chinese, the switching back and forth makes sense. Y'all remember what the Alliance flag looks like, right?

The reveiew was mostly positive, but I think the mixed cliches work well. A matter of taste, I suppose...

Oh well... any review that gets people curious enough to watch the DVD is worth something I guess.

"They say the snow on the roof was too heavy.
They say the ceiling will cave in. His brains
are in terrible danger."

PBGAINES

Thursday, January 15, 2004 1:24 AM

"Sometimes, the results are simply twice as clichéd" (Onion review)

That's a very insightful criticism. Firefly plays with a lot of peri-formulaic stuff, and there always seems to be a risk that the above quote could be true. I am reminded of the superb killing of Crow, a scene that is just half a beat away from corny.

BTA,

EARLY

Thursday, January 15, 2004 2:28 AM

Quote:
Frankly, the particular bit upsets me. The whole chinese dialogue thing is, well, supposed to be a blend of "chinese"/westerner thing. The Geisha deal is "japanese". Hello, last time I checked, that's a big insult to both the Chinese and the Japanese people. It might have been better if it's a bigger blend of everything Asian. Throw in some Korean, Philipino, Thai, Vietnam, and the eighteen different states of India, why don't we.

First many cultures are blended into the series and Joss makes a point of that in the commentaries. Second a Chinese superpower would have probably absorbed most if not all of Asia. It can be assumed that they destroyed the local cultures (as many conquering nations including the US have done in the past and which is very common among Asian empires) and some things remained while others didn't. I don't think anyone on this thread was meaning to insult any Asians. Just like the comment made earlier about the Greeks didn't insult me even though it was a merger of American and Chinese and all Crackers aren't the same. I'm pretty sure they were trying to lump all of us European decended folks together and I'm sure no one is trying to say China and Japan are the same.

EARLY

Thursday, January 15, 2004 2:37 AM

I think a better question for the whole Asian thing is where are all the Asian characters. I mean you have some extras and bit parts but not even major supporting or guest stars are Asian in a future that is suppossed to be a merger of America and China. Thats kinda weird in my opinion though again I don't think Joss meant it as an offense but Asians should be much much much much more common.

SHAMBLEAU

Thursday, January 15, 2004 4:31 AM

There was a deletion from the Serenity episode where the guy from the Brutus said something about not accepting Asians or Catholics on their ship, which was headed for the Outer Rings. It's possible that there is tension between the two partners in the Alliance. There may be many worlds that are mainly Chinese or Asian, where primarily English-speaking people don't go, either out of discomfort or prejudice, or because of politics, if things are a little hostile. That would explain why we see relatively few Asians on the worlds that Serenity visits.

Someone suggested once that the Asian population was more centered on the Core planets, which is another reason we might not have seen them. Of course, that's fan-wankery. Finding large numbers of Asian extras is probably difficult. They can't be a large percentage of the SAG.

Another thing I thought about is that we don't know how many people from Asia got off of Earth-That-Was. They might actually have been unable to get as many of their citizens off-world as the U.S. did. They could even be a minority, population-wise. We'll never know, unless Joss decides to explain it more fully in the movie, assuming there is one.

shambleau

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