Inara?

POSTED BY: xElrohiRx
UPDATED: Friday, March 16, 2007 10:31
VIEWED: 20393
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GOODMECHANIC

Friday, March 9, 2007 9:36 AM

I think the clue to Inara's past revealed in Out of Gas is more likely to be about somebody suffocating than it is to be about a simple fear of death. Of course she doesn't want to die; no surprise there. The only other notable statement in the scene appeared to me to be how upset Inara became when Simon began explaining precisely how the human body responds to gradual suffocation.

"Half of writing history is hiding the truth."

SPACEANJL

Friday, March 9, 2007 12:11 PM

AgentR, I've started a thread about the Reasons for River, which is taking in some of the same ground here. (Technocrippled, and unable to put a link to it.)

I have to assume you haven't read my stuff, because I've tried to be a lot more rounded in my view of Inara, her lifestyle and her choices. I don't see the Guild as evil, per se. And I have a great respect for those who used to worship Astarte and those in her likeness. (Ever wondered why I called my character Ilargia?) I just have an innate distrust of large political organisations.

And the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

AGENTROUKA

Friday, March 9, 2007 7:04 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by SpaceAnJL:
I have to assume you haven't read my stuff, because I've tried to be a lot more rounded in my view of Inara, her lifestyle and her choices. I don't see the Guild as evil, per se. And I have a great respect for those who used to worship Astarte and those in her likeness. (Ever wondered why I called my character Ilargia?) I just have an innate distrust of large political organisations.

And the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

Hey there, spaceanjl.

Well, I'm glad to see it appears that I misunderstood you. I'm sure I'll check out the other thread when I find the time. :)

Just one thing, the Guild is not a political institution. It's a private one. Sure, it's members may have contact with politicians and engage in politics themselves after they have retired, but the Guild itself is not expressly political, but rather spiritual in nature, and has a fairly obvious purpose, and to ascribe it political motivations and then build on those assumptions to paint them malicious does point out a certain amount of bias against not just large political institutions.

It's just such a stereotype - the tricky, manipulative prostitutes with ulterior motives. People seem so much more eager to explore the hypothetical downsides than the fairly obvious upsides.

Btw, since you point it out and I've mentioned it before, no, I have not read your fic, and since it's Mal/River flavored, I do not intend to. I'm starting to be a little confused, and I don't mean to offend when I say this, that you mention your fanfic as a reference in every discussion, since I'd rather not have to read your fic like a required source to learn your opinions when it is the canon show we are talking about...

SPACEANJL

Saturday, March 10, 2007 11:25 AM

See, my point. My fic ain't M/R, but I won't mention it again. I just wanted to point out something that expanded my argument.

No organisation that spans the known 'Verse can avoid being political. Serenity OVC pg 12 - 'legalization and strict federal regulation of the sex trade.' They have to have an in with the Powers That Be to survive.

I think we will just have to agree to differ on this one. After all, the most successful political body in history is the Catholic Church.

I like the idea that these women are powerful, independent and able to direct their own lives. That they provide a service of healing and comfort. That they are intelligent, rounded human beings. That they do stand for a way of life that does not centre on destruction. I just think there are plot line possibilities in the idea that they may have one bad apple somewhere. (If Inara had got too close to that, she may have felt it healthier to be elsewhere for a while - or even been manouvered elsewhere for her own unwitting safety.)

Joke: Anyway, I think my writing should be considered a valid source material.

AGENTROUKA

Saturday, March 10, 2007 5:36 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by SpaceAnJL:
No organisation that spans the known 'Verse can avoid being political. Serenity OVC pg 12 - 'legalization and strict federal regulation of the sex trade.' They have to have an in with the Powers That Be to survive.

Like McDonald's needs an in with every government to survive? The food industry is strictly regulated, as well, in that they have to follow certain standards dictated by law - such as sanitation standards - but the individual Companies are still private.

Quote:
I think we will just have to agree to differ on this one. After all, the most successful political body in history is the Catholic Church.

Because it started out as a political body to begin with. Long before the idea of freedom of religion ever came up.

Quote:

I just think there are plot line possibilities in the idea that they may have one bad apple somewhere. (If Inara had got too close to that, she may have felt it healthier to be elsewhere for a while - or even been manouvered elsewhere for her own unwitting safety.)

And I have never said that there couldn't be a bad apple. But a privately acting, unsupported bad apple, possibly under investigation within the Guild, that would be far more interesting and unstereotypical as the idea that it's an institutionally, if secretly accepted bad apple.

Maybe there is a conspiracy within the Guild, I'm not saying there can't be. I'm just saying that if the inherent structure of the Guild, the top level, the officials, if they accept the badness, and thus the Guild is essentially currupt at its Core, that would be pretty unoriginal and useless story-telling. A waste of a great idea that hasn't been on tv yet. And I think it's unlikely they were going to go that route.

As for Inara, I can only accept your idea of her having been maneuvered away - which wouldn't explain her personal conflict, though - because she is not the kind of person to just accept injustice in any way. It contradicts what we have seen of her on the show.

Quote:

Joke: Anyway, I think my writing should be considered a valid source material.

At least give page numbers or cliff notes!! *g*

DONCOAT

Monday, March 12, 2007 9:14 PM

Okay, here's a twist: what if the Bad Apple was Inara herself? What if she was angling to push the Guild into a political role ("I supported Unification") and got pushed out by those who were trying to maintain the Guild's original mission?

Then "I'm not running from anything" would be true. She's living on the Rim because the Guild won't let her work in the Core, to keep her out of any possible position of influence -- which it certainly seems she was originally heading for, if Nandi had it pegged right.

I'm not saying I necessarily buy this idea, but it's worth mulling over.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I'm pointin' right at it!

KAYLEELOVE

Tuesday, March 13, 2007 8:23 PM

What if she was close to a bad apple? Say she was being sponsored by someone (that is someone was paying for her education) who wanted unification and he just happened to fall in love with her like many of the other men she's encountered. She says in the first episode "I think I'm losing my touch" which would suggest that in her past more than 50% does fall in love with her.

I think one of the strong ideas in the Firefly verse is that humans are just humans. As much as we say we progress or regress or struggle with ourselves, we will always be that much;just human. None of us truely pure. None of us truely evil. If you go either way as you see on Miranda you either die or become something which is not human. It's the reason why history repeats itself, we are dealing with the same human elements of pride, love, fear, hate...

Sure it is natural to enjoy physical pleasure but there are other aspects to our being that will also never change. We naturally fall in love. This emotion is dangerous to a companion because the only way to maintain one's livelihood as a companion is to suppress the natural love that grows between a couple. Part of Inara's growth on the ship seems to be that she discovers love--family love and romantic love she just doesn't know it or maybe she's afraid to feel it.

TRAVELER

Wednesday, March 14, 2007 4:45 AM

I would like to know how someone becomes a Companion.

Did Inara chose to become a Companion or was she taken away as a child.

If her family was to poor to raise her they may have given her to the Guild.

Or it may be prestigous to have a Companion in your family. Just as the Tams wanted Simon to be a doctor, Inara's family may have choose her to be a Companion.

In "Heart of Gold" you learn you can leave the Guild, but then you are a common whore and you see how much respect they receive.

So Inara either continues to stay within the Guild's protection or become a common whore.

So Inara has to have annual checkups. Makes sense if you think of the venereal diseases that must be around.

In "Ariel" when Kaylee asks about relationships, Inara says, "It's complicated." So Mal may not meet the standards of the Guild. This could answer the question why she pulls away from him. A relationship with Mal may force the Guild to abandon her and she would loose her standing in society. It may seem selfish. But it would be hard to give up the high status the Guild offers her. I've noticed all her clients are in the "A" list.

Traveler

PLATONIST

Wednesday, March 14, 2007 5:06 AM

Inara is on a self-discovery quest- a Chautauqua, a narrative in search of truth and ethics ("we are all lost in the woods" or "I guess we're all running from something")

I think she discovered something about herself ("just tell me I'm a big girl") that changed her perception about herself. And I don't think it was an illness (she shows no symptoms) or that she takes meds to stay young because she'll be beautiful for a long time.

I think it could be something that she perceives as non-human; like where she came from. She does have some fairly apparent bonding issues. She runs away from Mal's love and her family.

Morena said in an interview that it was a biggy and it was bad. And Tim M. keeps repeating on the OoG commentary that she is as "perfect" as a girl can get. It is 500 years in the future and it is science fiction. So, I'm starting to lean in the direction of selective gene sequencing, with an out of womb gestation. Pretty scary huh?, but Josh did write Resurrection and he mentions Gattaca in the Visual Companion and Brave New World in the Serenity commentary.

sooo any comments?

AGENTROUKA

Wednesday, March 14, 2007 2:33 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by traveler:
I would like to know how someone becomes a Companion.

Did Inara chose to become a Companion or was she taken away as a child.

If her family was to poor to raise her they may have given her to the Guild.

Or it may be prestigous to have a Companion in your family. Just as the Tams wanted Simon to be a doctor, Inara's family may have choose her to be a Companion.

In the Serenity RPG guide book it explains that Companion school is entirely voluntary. The first part of education is similar to any normal school and only after the girls graduate from the neutral aspect of the Academy, are of age and want to become Companions do they rceive the special Companion training that includes all the sexual stuff.

Quote:

In "Heart of Gold" you learn you can leave the Guild, but then you are a common whore and you see how much respect they receive.

Even Nandi could have chosen to persue any other kind of work. She couldn't have been a Companion anymore, but she could have worked in an office or a department store or on a farm. She chose to become a whore. No one forced her.

Quote:

So Inara either continues to stay within the Guild's protection or become a common whore.

I doubt that Inara would work as a whore even if she chose to leave the Guild. She could do pretty much any job she wants, she has many qualifications.
So her reason for staying in the Guild must be that she actually wants to be there.

Quote:

In "Ariel" when Kaylee asks about relationships, Inara says, "It's complicated." So Mal may not meet the standards of the Guild. This could answer the question why she pulls away from him. A relationship with Mal may force the Guild to abandon her and she would loose her standing in society. It may seem selfish. But it would be hard to give up the high status the Guild offers her. I've noticed all her clients are in the "A" list.

That's one possibility. But I wouldn't call it "selfish". No one has a duty to be in a relationship with someone they love, so not doing that isn't selfish. She's just choosing her own priorities over love.

But maybe when Inara says "complicated", she doesn't mean the Guild at all, and it's really her who has the issues. Maybe she feels a relationship would impair the work she loves.

Who knows. :)

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