Inara: what gives?

POSTED BY: stinkingrose
UPDATED: Wednesday, August 9, 2006 14:46
VIEWED: 6934
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STINKINGROSE

Monday, July 31, 2006 11:30 PM

Pardon me if I'm rehashing an old discussion or restarting an old fight but I've been wondering for a while now:
If Inara is such a master of body language and psychology, and gifted at making people respond to her in the ways she wishes them to...
then why would she want Mal to become enamored of her?
She has to be aware of the effect she has on men or she never would have graduated from training as a companion. She has studied for years in the art of manipulation.
Is it for some kind of control over where the ship goes when she wants it to? Is it security so that he'll fight for her if she needs him to?
Is is just because she can?
Can she just not help herself?
If she wanted to she could make someone either love her or hate her, or be completely indifferent to her existence.
So what is her motivation if she did not want to become involved with Mal?
Any definitive answers or strong hints from those who should know to date?

KANEMAN

Monday, July 31, 2006 11:33 PM

I believe actions are stronger than words. When she thought he was dead, What did she do? I think if the story was to play out she is in love with Mal.

AGENTROUKA

Monday, July 31, 2006 11:41 PM

I think you're overestimating her abilities a little. In particular since people (and Mal) know that she is capable of social manipulation. She's not capable of mindcontrol, just of suggestion and subtle clues.

Or maybe, you're not considering that behind the skill, there is still a normal woman who harbors affection and a need for community and a sense of humor and all these things. She's not a sociopath, just an expert in communication and physical pleasure.

Being a Companion is a job, just like being a psychologist is a job, and just like a psychologist will not spend every human interaction attempting to therapy their fellow human beings, Inara won't want to manipulate everyone in her vicinity until none of her interactions are natural anymore.

Not to mention, being able to manipulate others (to a degree) doesn't mean she is an unemotional robot in full control of herself.

Her friendship with Kaylee is real, her friendship with Nandi is real... She has completely normal interactions with people when she's not on the job. And even if her relationship with Mal is a difficult one, her geniune affection for him probably means that she wants it to be real, as well, and free of manipulation.

FUTUREMRSFILLION

Monday, July 31, 2006 11:46 PM

You can't "make" anyone love you. And I don't think she wanted him to love her, anymore than she wanted to love him. He is inconvenient.

one of the Forsaken TM

KANEMAN

Monday, July 31, 2006 11:49 PM

I'm not disagreeing on what her job description is. But it is just a job. When you asked.. why does she want Mal to be enamored with her? I think he either doesn't give her the time of day or he puts down her line of work. This, I think drives her crazy. You may have it backwards...Why is Inara enamored with Mal? and why does he play that game?

NVGHOSTRIDER

Monday, July 31, 2006 11:56 PM

Thats what is grand about the confusion. Mal fulfills the rage and disgust and attention and emotional connection Inara denies herself to have with her clients. Just so happens Mal is the MOST convinient person to fulfill those things on the ship. He's witty and attractive enough to interact with, but the shadow of his being and insensitivity makes it easy not to completely connect with him.

Seems I know alot about these things due to experience. Kinda sad, ain't it.

"...And them chains them chains
Their 'bout to drag me down"

STINKINGROSE

Monday, July 31, 2006 11:59 PM

I'm not saying she's a stone cold bitch with no emotions of her own. Professional detachment is possible and necessary in almost any field of work, and if she had wanted things to stay on a strictly business level she could have arranged for it or broken away when she saw things getting complicated.
After all, *neither* of them likes complications.
I was pondering the whole 'why is she even on that boat' thing, and was trying to come up with some underlying motivation(s).
If she were truly uncomfortable with the idea of having a relationship with Mal she would be able to keep things on a more distant footing, even living in close quarters for a year.
I'm not saying the friendships are not genuine or that she does not have feelings for Mal. I'm asking why did she allow it to progress to the level it did if it was problematic?
Playful banter and baiting are classic flirting techniques. You can refuse to play the game if you really want to.
I agree, you can't make anyone fall in love with you, but you can present yourself in a way that lays the groundwork for attraction.
You can show them what they want to see. You can find their buttons and push away. What makes them tick, what do they find attractive in a potential mate? Inara's a gifted actress, it's part of her profession.
Or did the writers just need some painfully unresolved sexual tension (other than Kaylee's) and a comic foil?

AGENTROUKA

Tuesday, August 1, 2006 12:53 AM

I think Inara, for the longest time, was kidding herself about the amount of control she had over both herself and the situation.

She and Mal have a grudging friendship underneath the banter that, I think, she truly treasures because she respects Mal as a person, admires him, even.

The flirting is probably an amusing side effect that she tells herself is unimportant and allows herself to enjoy. She's attracted to him, and his returned attraction obviously is flattering. Basically, she lies to herself in order to enjoy the best of both worlds.

And by the time she's trying to step back and enforce a distance it's already far too late and she ends up hurting Mal, who unintentionally hurts her when he sleeps with Nandi.
Inara obviously didn't expect that to affect her so much, and she pulls the emergency breaks and declares her need to leave (incidentally, being truly honest with Mal and herself for the first time, oy.)

A very human thing to do.

ORMAYBEMIDGETS

Tuesday, August 1, 2006 12:55 AM

Quote:
I'm asking why did she allow it to progress to the level it did if it was problematic?

This is how love is almost always presented on TV, and I think that's because it's representative of real life. (Think also, Rory/Jess from Gilmore Girls; Veronica/Logan from Veronica Mars) It's all about the attraction between two people being so strong that you're willing to believe or pretend that they aren't bad for you. It's the good girl falling for the bad boy. Why does it happen? Because the reward just seems so much greater than the risk.

-
DB: Doesn't exactly fit the thug in the profile alley. Wait, what?

MIMA

Tuesday, August 1, 2006 1:59 AM

Remember there's a mystery of why someone of inara's caliber is on serenity in the first place. morena promised us at dragoncon last year the secret was HUGE, and joss promised to reveal it if there is ever a sequel. she said it was in the back of her head in every scene she did with mal. so she's been driven here- and found people she admired, cared for, and was attracted to... but when it did get too problematic.... umm SHE DID LEAVE!

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