Should Firefly have more science in its fiction?

POSTED BY: Ringwraith
UPDATED: Sunday, October 20, 2002 05:25
VIEWED: 11207
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THENIGHTMAN

Monday, October 7, 2002 10:47 PM

Allow me to use this to get to bring up something else.

For me at least, this style of science fiction is perfectly at home with me because the 'western style' genre is well represented in sci-fi anime. The low tech, space age frontier town is a fixture of such anime as Five Star Stories and Captain Harlock (not to mention much of the interconnected storylines of the "Leijimotoverse" like Galaxy Express 999, Maetel Legend, etc.)

That kind of brings up a question I have: how many of those here are anime fans? This show appeals to me because I'm more an anime fan than a "Trekkie", and I suspect I may not be alone here.

PEDME84

Monday, October 7, 2002 11:48 PM

i agree, nightman. the show has elements of outlaw star, cowboy bebop, trigun. galaxy express 999 has also sprung to my mind while watching it.

joss is clearly writing from otaku land

like with the outlaw star girl in box. even the character saffron is very japanese. the begining version of her as obedient servant is very ah, my goddess and other such animes

joss (and tim) is (are) not the only writer(s) to use anime. he's just the most fun

- emily

ZICSOFT

Tuesday, October 8, 2002 12:03 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by pedme84:

joss (and tim) is (are) not the only writer(s) to use anime. he's just the most fun

From what I hear, JW is a big manga fan. But he's too busy to sit through an anime.

JOSS, WHERE'S MY CHECK???!!!

THENIGHTMAN

Tuesday, October 8, 2002 12:57 AM

And not just the Kasumi-ish servile girl (thought Joss here does it with a very nice twist)...

The main character himself, as a soldier on the losing side of a decisive conflict, reminds me of Captain Harlock in the movie Arcadia of My Youth, licenced in this country by Animeigo ( http://www.animeigo.com). In that one, Harlock started out as the captain of a ship of Earth forces and becomes a space pirate fighting for freedom among the stars.

There's a parallel there...

Here's more info on it: http://arcadia.kouha.net/

ZICSOFT

Tuesday, October 8, 2002 1:11 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by TheNightman:

The main character himself, as a soldier on the losing side of a decisive conflict, reminds me of Captain Harlock in the movie Arcadia of My Youth, licenced in this country by Animeigo ( http://www.animeigo.com). In that one, Harlock started out as the captain of a ship of Earth forces, which lost to an expanding alien empire, a situation not unlike that of the Battle of Serenity.

Also like a much older story: the Aeneid.

http://novaonline.nvcc.edu/eli/Troy/virgil.html

The story of a hero starting all over after being on the losing side of a war has been popular for a long time. Even today, a lot of European bluebloods like to trace their ancestry to Trojan refugees.

JOSS, WHERE'S MY CHECK???!!!

JERRY

Tuesday, October 8, 2002 3:22 AM

I never expected Firefly to be too scientific, since Joss's other shows have never been all that rigorously logical. He's more interested in metaphor. The reason the space scenes are silent is most likely not that that's how they really would be, but rather that Joss is intrigued by the nothingness of space, and it's potential impact on the characters. The silence is a good way to emphasize that. If it makes the show more scientifically true, all the better.

MATT1

Tuesday, October 8, 2002 4:56 AM

Whenever people star to criticize or debate the capabilities of non-existent technology I have to laugh. Who honestly cares if the thrusters are engaged at a contradictory angle to the ships velocity? It's fiction. You might as well be discussing the digestive system of the stay-puft marshmallow man.

I'm a geek and proud of it. But people who get their panties in a bunch over stupid crap like Jimmy Olsen being gay, give all us respectable, fun loving geeks a bad name.

"I ate what?"- Socrates

ZICSOFT

Tuesday, October 8, 2002 4:48 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Matt1:
Who honestly cares if the thrusters are engaged at a contradictory angle to the ships velocity?

Well, I do, actually. I love to speculate about roads not taken, and roads not even found yet. It's one of the main reasons I like SF better than, say, historical fiction.

One of my favorite SF writers is S.M. Stirling, who's Draka books have these long appendices explaining how technology has diverged in the alternate timeline he's writing about. I enjoy reading the appendices as much as the stories themselves.

You think that's boring? Well, fine. I'm sure there are things you enjoy doing that I'd find boring. People are different.

JOSS, WHERE'S MY CHECK???!!!

QUILL

Tuesday, October 8, 2002 6:13 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by TheNightman:

I find that kind of ironic because of the important aspect in which Joss chose to place the science above the science fiction; the sound, or rather the silence, of space.

If you look at any other space opera show, especially Star Trek, what do you hear when you see outside scenes. You hear the engines, you hear the lasers blast, and you hear the ships explode. Theaters put a lot of money into making those explosions loud for their audience.

But what do we know about space? That's right, it's empty of matter, or so nearly so. And since sound needs air to vibrate through...space is silent.

Joss Whelon's show is the first to be true to that fundimental fact, and even play off it for his scenes. I salute him for sacrificing the technobabble for the 'real thing.'

I'm glad you caught that. I was very impressed by that adherence to reality, and also the scene editing that did not let that silence linger too long. After all, the reason space explosions have sound in today's media--when we all know better--is because silence, particularly in the "action" shows, is equated with "boring." People expect the noise, and it is supplied. It's good to see someone ignoring the convention for once.

Inside every cynic there's an idealist desperately yearning to be let out, and when they are let out they're usually a real pain and cause all sorts of trouble. --Chris Boucher

THEGN

Wednesday, October 9, 2002 9:59 PM

I like my science in my science fiction. If there's no science or not enough science then it becomes fantasy, which is good too. But by definition there must be science if it's going to be science fiction. I have a problem with fantasy masquerading as science fiction though, because too often it seems like they are hiding their lack of a plot behind the scam of "anything's possible." It insults my intelligence.

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In the Dark Ages, Romano-Celtic Britannia was over-run by Viking-like cultures collectively called the Anglo-Saxons. They were led by warlords called Drytinns, and the greatest warriors among them were the Thegns.

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