Bad Firefly Review at Amazon!
POSTED BY: rklenseth
UPDATED: Thursday, November 4, 2004 18:33
VIEWED: 25109
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Right-wing paranoia in space, March 9, 2004
Reviewer: Elizabeth Durack (see more about me) from Madison, WI
The good: Nice special effects for a TV series, good production values, some clever humor, some fun but stereotypical characters, sexy women if you like that kinda thing.
The bad: This is an unapologetically violent show, and not in a silly "Xena" way. Han Solo is an example of a good guy who thinks he's a bad guy; Captain "Mal" is a bad guy who thinks he's a good guy--and he mostly fails for me as a sympathetic character. I like good guys. The "Serenity" gang are a bunch of amoral parasites. Even the preacher never much questions the thieving and killing.
The ugly: The concept is a group of Confederate holdouts after the Civil War. In a way it's the anti-Star Trek, like a group of violently independent right-wingers who can't stand the liberal Federation of Planets (or a present-day anti-government militia group). This show panders to the worst of the Right and apparently enjoyed a strong following from that sector, but the rest of us should let it pass into well-deserved obscurity.
I can't begin to say how wrong this is....
Oh, and play Cantr II at www.cantr.net.
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Left wing nutcase...
I'm sure that anyone that disagrees with her is a Nazi in her opinion too. 
Simon: I've never shot anyone before.
Book: I was there, son. I'm fair sure you haven't shot anyone yet.
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Bizarre!
Ms Durack clearly has not so much a chip on her shoulder, as an entire potato farm.
Seems she's taken objection to Firefly without really watching much of it, and projected her own fears and insecurities onto it. Maybe she saw Mal shooting the alleged 'lawman' in 'Serenity', and decided there and then that it's only okay to shoot bounty hunters if a) They are threatening you personally, and b) They are aliens (cf. Han Solo analogy).
Also, correct me if I'm wrong here, but couldn't you reasonably compare the Serenity crew with survivors of a failed [Star Wars] rebel alliance? Hmm, apparently, comparing Mal and co. to fascists seems easier.... 
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Unfortunately, one of the drawbacks of the web is that anybody can post any damn thing they want. It's also the medium's strongest asset of course, which is why we're all here.
Amusing that the reviewer describes the crew of Serenity as "confederates after the civil war"; not even "a civil war", but "the civil war", which might give a casual reader the impression that Firefly is a historical drama set in the 1870's...*
As a member of the radical middle (IE Libertarian) I also find it amusing that nowadays any call for personal property rights or freedoms is categorized "right wing", while any call for social justice is similarly marginalized as "left wing"; as if slapping a label on a concept immediately dismisses it.
*Footquote: "Forward, into the past!" -- The Firesign Theatre
RocketJock
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Left wing nutcase...
Whoa. Just because she accuses Firely of being right wing propganda does not make her a leftist. Of course, the classification as something as "right" or "left" is kind of annoying anyway, but some of us who lean to this "left" side find her comments just as silly as you do.
"Dear diary, today I was pompous and my sister was crazy."
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Shes clueless.
Best way to deal with these people is just smile, nod, pat them on the head and send them out for donuts.
"My mind is like a steel trap- rusty, and illegal in 37 states."
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Well, that is why I categorize liberals into groups;
Jeffersonian Liberals or better described as libertarians. They hate big or centralized government
OR
Socialist Liberals as this woman might be compared to. They love big and centralized government.
And both forms of Liberalism disagree with each other on many point.
And might I point out that the Confederates during the American Civil War were considered Liberal while the North was considered very Conservative.
Oh, and play Cantr II at www.cantr.net.
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This lady does make a point. Maybe Firefly should come with the following warning:
"Firefly may offend people who believe that despotic, centralized governments with strict social and economic regimentation are desirable. People who subscribe to autocratic ideologies such as facism or nazism will no doubt take offense at this show, as totalitarianism itself is portrayed as one of the main villains."
Can't Take My Gorram Sky 
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Sad really.
I have yet to understand how anyone who is moderately intelligent can watch this show and make the illogical leap that this show is a smokescreen for "Confederates" hiding out after the "War". There may be a loose basis on a novel but it is not the Civil War.
To see her uninformed opinion on Mal is laughable. She obviously did not grasp the character concept or the inner struggle of Mal. She obviously went into this biased and simply put down her limited view on the net.
One bad, misinformed view will not tarnish all the glowing reviews from fans and critics alike of the series.
"May have been the losing side. Still not convinced it was the wrong one."
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'Scuse me, 'scuse me, liberal coming through...
I think she's dead wrong. I love big government - please spend my tax dollars, and take more! But I love Firefly.
Not all governments are the same - I couldn't survive in the Communist USSR, or in North Korea, or likely even in modern China. Too liberal. Those governments were/are centralized, big, etc.
So when I don't like the Alliance, and identify with the Independents as I watch the show, I'm not repudiating OUR big government, just BAD big government.
Sorry, folks - I understand the Libertarian bent that can be attributed to Firefly, but as a "radical liberal", I love the show :)
And Mal's crew is GOOD, darn it. Even Jayne has his moments (not many mind you, but a few), particularly after Jayne's Paradise when he sees that guy take a hit for him.
Alliance: bad. Independents: good. Liberals? Libertarians? Not what the show's about, for me.
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