Inara: what gives?

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

Wednesday, August 2, 2006 2:09 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by SpaceAnJL:

Inara sleeps with people for money, however you dress it up. Core might be fine with it; Mal isn't from the Core.

I think Heart of Gold shows that Mal's problem is less that Inara sleeps with men for money, and more than she sleeps with rich men for money. He had no great moral crisis sleeping with Nandi (well, not 'til after she died) or protecting the honest whores.

Mal just had problems with the lie inherent in Inara's line of work.

And Inara, of course, sees no lies at all. I imagine she views herself more of a comforter than anything else. The people she takes as clients are often social awkward for one reason or another, be it due to their personalities (Pilot-officer, Atherton) or their positions in society (the female Senator, arguably Fess who is surrounded by mudders and no one of his own class). They are isolated and they need someone who makes them feel valued -- so Inara helps the to feel valued during their time together. she sees it as a great service.

Mal, on the other hand, sees it as an act to get more money, and finds the whole thing repulsive.

And they are both wrong, of course. Inara refuses to see some of the hypocrisies inherent in her work, as well as the negative effects it has on her (it isolates her). Mal refuses to see any of the merits of being a companion (not a whore), and really can't see what's so great about all the things Inara has gained from her job (status, respect, etc). Especillay since they are based on a lie.

And then, of course, there is the apart of Mal that is jealous of all Inara's clients, but I think the jealousy is secondary to the honesty issue. It's also seconnadry (thirdary?) to the fact that Mal has been left emotionally weathered by the war and Inara has been trained to isolate herself her entire life -- for these two, it is far safer to keep each other at emotional arm's length and be miserable than to take the risk of getting involved and being happy. If they ever wanted their relationship to work, they would both need to do some serious reprogramming.

And that is why I think it is less about the fact that part of Inara's job involves sleeping with people for a living, and more to do with other issues surround her profession and their lives.

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Arcadia
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RUGBUG

Wednesday, August 2, 2006 3:06 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Arcadia:
He had no great moral crisis sleeping with Nandi (well, not 'til after she died) or protecting the honest whores.

Hrmmm, I think Mal had no crisis in sleeping with Nandi because at that point they were two consenting adults who wanted to get it on. And the moral crisis after she died wasn't because he slept with her, but that he couldn't keep her alive.

Quote:
Originally posted by Arcadia:
And then, of course, there is the apart of Mal that is jealous of all Inara's clients, but I think the jealousy is secondary to the honesty issue.

I think Mal feels less jealousy and more inadequacy when it comes to Inara and her clients. Afterall, who is he in comparison? Captain of an old, beaten up ship, making money with odd jobs...not so much every girl's dream. He knows he can't compete with what they have to offer (as shown by his plaintive "Don't do it" in Shindig). The only thing he has to offer Inara is a personal connection. But that is something lacking in all of Inara's other encounters and she is drawn to it.

Quote:
Originally posted by Arcadia:
I think Heart of Gold shows that Mal's problem is less that Inara sleeps with men for money, and more than she sleeps with rich men for money.

Again, I think Mal only points out the rich men thing because he is so far removed from that. Those comments are how he is working out the "Why can't we be together" question on his own.

Quote:
Originally posted by Arcadia:
It's also seconnadry (thirdary?)

Tertiary

***************
"My feelings are changeable but intense" Anya (season 7 Buffy)

NOTYOLANDA

Wednesday, August 2, 2006 3:09 PM

Hi Stinking Rose,
I agree with you that there is a political aspect to Inara being aboard Serenity but maybe not spying for the Alliance government exactly.

Maybe I have seen Star Wars too many times but what do we know about Mal's father? Absolutely nothing except it was his mother who raised him on Shadow with 40 farm hands. Did dad give her the money for the ranch and hands so his son would be safe? Or did she hire the 40 farm hands to feel safe from dad? Inara could have been hired to see how Mal would feel about a relative who serves in the Alliance. Surely she would know that at the end of the event, Mal would feel like she betrayed him.

Ok now for the reality check, I think Joss would not be so obvious with the bad man "Luke I am your father" scenario. Maybe it is a half-sibling testing the waters. That would create tension, but not be a repeat of Star Wars. Elaine

Please! Nobody died last time!

RUGBUG

Wednesday, August 2, 2006 4:25 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by NotYolanda:

Ok now for the reality check, I think Joss would not be so obvious with the bad man "Luke I am your father" scenario. Maybe it is a half-sibling testing the waters. That would create tension, but not be a repeat of Star Wars. Elaine

If Joss ever did anything like that, I would stop watching anything of his and would curse him.

***************
"My feelings are changeable but intense" Anya (season 7 Buffy)

AGENTROUKA

Wednesday, August 2, 2006 4:33 PM

I think this scenario is unlikely, simply because IF Mal was a job, she WOULD have played him and kept everything in control.

He's trouble because, as Inara precisely demands when she rents the shuttle, her shuttle will be her home. The place where she is not on the job.

Not to mention, hiring a Companion (a highly secure and respectable profession) to spy on his son would be a bit of overkill. Like hiring a small highly trained army to scare your tenants who owe you money. Just far too expensive and inefficient. Also because it's an obvious fact that Mal would be not-so-pleased meeting his deadbeat dad (more likely than not or he would have mentioned him) and finding out he's Alliance. That doesn't take more effort to find out than it would to find out that Mal is a ship's Captain.

Edited: Even if it's just a half-sibling, all this subterfuge would be... a bit pointlessly overdramatic. Most people would just... meet him and get it over with, not spend a fortune on an indirect "maybe" of an answer.

ASARIAN

Wednesday, August 2, 2006 8:29 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Arcadia:

I think Heart of Gold shows that Mal's problem is less that Inara sleeps with men for money, and more that she sleeps with rich men for money.

(...)

Mal just had problems with the LIE inherent in Inara's line of work.

I think you hit the nail right on the head. Shindig:

MAL
My work's illegal, but it's honest.

INARA
What?!

MAL
While this, the LIE of it, that man
parading you around on his arm as if he
actually won you, as if he loves you.
And everyone here going along with it.

You're right: the jealousy is secondary to the honesty issue (if it exists at all). Mal is more irritated about it than anything else; he just cannot grog why Inara plays along with the lie. It don't make no sense to him.

Mal's not opposed to an honest ho trying to make a living at the rim of space. But what makes him gripe, is when a girl he likes sleeps with rich men, and actually deludes herself in thinking she's having a good life ("These people like me, and I like them." uh-huh).

--
"Mei-mei, everything I have is right here." -- Simon Tam

AGENTROUKA

Wednesday, August 2, 2006 10:10 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by asarian:

Mal's not opposed to an honest ho trying to make a living at the rim of space. But what makes him gripe, is when a girl he likes sleeps with rich men, and actually deludes herself in thinking she's having a good life ("These people like me, and I like them." uh-huh).

It's, of course, highly convenient that Mal's closest encounter with one of Inara's clients would be Atherton, who's obviously an arrogant bastard to begin with, on a non-Core planet, where opinions about Inara's profession might not be exactly the ones of the society she would be in if she had stayed in the Core.

Hell, even on a place like Higgin's moon, Inara managed to find a client much more in keeping with her skills, but of course that's one Mal doesn't see.

The sample was skewed in favor of Mal's opinion rather than representative of what an average client would look like, so it loses some meaning. It's like a pat on Mal's back, rather than actually forcing him to consider the parts of Inara's job that might be elevating beyond a "delusion".

TASIA

Thursday, August 3, 2006 5:21 AM

I've always thought she really wanted to be with him but he's such a brigand that she does/doesn't want to be attracted to him. That's why there is always this tension between them. They both want each other and fight to acknowledge it!

T~

TAMMYY2J

Wednesday, August 9, 2006 2:46 PM

No way should Joss do like Star Wars and have them as siblings.

Inara and Mal love each other but both are afraid to admit it. He calls her a whore because he doesn't approve of her profession and vice versa when she calls him petty. I love the banter and chemistry between Mal and Inara. I hoped they would hook up in the movie but hopefully maybe in a sequel. Inara does have a secret that was hinted in the series and hopefully can be addressed in a sequel.

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