Bad Firefly Review at Amazon!
POSTED BY: rklenseth
UPDATED: Thursday, November 4, 2004 18:33
VIEWED: 25109
PAGE 8 of 9
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Originally posted by ConanTheBarbie:Quote:
Reviewer: A customer from MN USA
I caught only one episode of this show when it aired and didn't bother with it again (frankly, the prostitute character was what turned me off the first time around). Desperate for a scifi show, I thought I'd give it another chance and bought the series DVDs. What I got was a little bit of good (great writing and characters), the bad (the western riff is really tired. Hasn't anyone figured that out yet?
I find it hysterically funny that she considers the "western riff really tired", when the sci-fi riff is just as old as the western one. Jules Verne, anyone?
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To put this bluntly, there are precious few scifi shows out there, and I can't get into this one because I can't watch it with my kids.
Here again I'll state my opinion that Firefly is not primarily a sci-fi show, but a western one. I could get into my whole issues with parents who tailor their lives around what is kid-appropriate and desert their own interests, but, as she's got perfectly valid on-topic reasons for not liking the show, I'll spare you.
"So...would his job be available?"
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Originally posted by BrownCoat1:
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.
Weirdly, I understand the "he's a bad guy who thinks he's a good guy" as a complaint.
Lots and lots of people do not like characters in their entertainment to be grey. They want it black and white, and occasionally, as a change, white and black.
Core characters on Whedon shows aren't black and white. Oh,sure, you got your definite bad guys -- Niska,The Mayor, Wolfram & Hart, but Whedon likes to spend most of his time playing with the various shades of grey. It's what I love about all three shows, but large numbers of people don't want to have to decide whether a character is "really" good or not. They want to be told "that's a bad guy, and
that's a good guy." Whedon ain't gonna tell you -- in fact, he's gonna gleefully lead you all over the 'verse hoping to confuse what you think you've figured out.
I understand on an intellectual level that some people don't like that, I just don't understand the why of it. It's so much more fun to dissect a character's possible psyche.
"So...would his job be available?"
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Ahh, shove her in the engine nacelle... Its really kind of sad when you're so wrapped up in your veiw of the world that you cant just stop with not enjoying something but have to force your opinion down others throats as well.
I've always been a big fan of veiwing books and film objectively and leaving each person to find their own meaning in it which is why it's always bothered me when people use online reveiws to flount their political and social ideals, if you didnt like it say so and move along, its not an excuse to cry facist.
"Ooh, look at me! I have opinions!"
-Dracos
Dont ask me silly questions.
I wont play silly games.
--------------------------------------------------
Somebody tries to kill you you go ahead and try to kill them right on back!
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Oh,sure, you got your definite bad guys -- Niska, The Mayor, Wolfram & Hart, but Whedon likes to spend most of his time playing with the various shades of grey.
I think you're right on except that both the Mayor and W&H weren't completely bad (although they certainly viewed themselves that way), and I don't doubt we would've seen something that bears at least a vague resemblance to decency in Niska if we'd seen him again. The Mayor sincerely cared about Faith like a daughter, and various employees of W&H have actually acted selflessly on occasion (Lindsey being the most obvious one.)
So, yeah, very very very dark gray, but not entirely black. And that's what makes me love Joss's shows: the good guys aren't entirely good, and, even keeping in mind that it's easier to be bad, the bad guys aren't entirely bad.
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There is a new bad Firefly review. Someone bitching about that Firefly was anti-religion and that it never had a chance because of that. He hated the fact that Mal and some others (namely River and the whole Bible scene likely) kept degrading religion. I thought that was pretty much counter balanced with Shepard Book. Plus, I can see why Mal and some of others wouldn't like religion all that much or not care because of what happened to them or what lives they lead so it makes sense to me.
Plus with a bad review about it being anti-religious, Conservative propaganda, and sleazy porn I think this proves the point about the greyness above. That is what is so great about Firefly is that there are so many things going on at once that it is almost impossible to view it from just one viewpoint. Plus, this leads to viewing it over and over again and always finding something new about it.
Oh, and play Cantr II at www.cantr.net.
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Is it just me or are all the negative review of Firefly at Amazon.com done by Crazy People?
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Originally posted by outlander:
Is it just me or are all the negative review of Firefly at Amazon.com done by Crazy People?
No, it's not just you ;)
The Amazon UK reviewers seem to like it a lot (Good taste I guess)
Experience has taught me that interest begets expectation, and expectation begets disappointment, so the key to avoiding disappointment is to avoid interest. A=B=C=A, or whatever
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I guess I'm weird but I always saw Mal as a good man who thinks he's a bad man. I was lucky enough to see Serenity first and I totally loved his character, his loss of faith and disillusionment at being abandoned on the battlefield, his determination to defy the Alliance in myriad little ways. His dour mean streak which is turned upside down whenever Kaylee smiles at him. His fierce protectiveness of his people.
Mal has many layers and for me is a fascinating and sympathetic character.
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Wow, this person really didn't understand the show if this is what she thought she saw! In fact I'm thinking she reviewed the dust jacket without actually watching even the pilot episode! Because clearly the Brown Coats were fighting against a corporate/military Alliance which is NOT democracy at work...
Oh the confusion and disinformation in her review is just insane. And luckily the vast majority of people who actually watch the show 'get it'
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Originally posted by Fireflythemovie:Quote:
I think you're right on except that both the Mayor and W&H weren't completely bad (although they certainly viewed themselves that way), and I don't doubt we would've seen something that bears at least a vague resemblance to decency in Niska if we'd seen him again. The Mayor sincerely cared about Faith like a daughter, and various employees of W&H have actually acted selflessly on occasion (Lindsey being the most obvious one.)
He may not have been 100 proof pure EVIL (more like 97%, 98%) but the Mayor was a definite,easily identifiable bad guy, no matter how he cared for Faith.
And Lindsey was more the exception to the W&H "we're evil and proud of it" rule. I always liked Lindsey because he seemed so conflicted, but honestly, deep down I never believed he would leave the dark side. But he did definitely have his moments of decency. You know, until he came back into town all tattooed up.
"So...would his job be available?"
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