Does Serenity fetishise River???
POSTED BY: wytchcroft
UPDATED: Tuesday, June 22, 2010 05:21
VIEWED: 15343
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linked to my other post - i was jumping around after watching the angel episode damage -
we all like to see some butt get kicked -
and joss is all for female empowerment...
but - i stopped - as i sometimes do and wondered again...
doesn't the short skirt, big gun, force of nature, killer training - risk becoming a very typical male fetish???
looking at the serenity poster
i was reminded of this book 
DeathTripping by jack sargeant -
which is an excellent discusion of the ambiguities of such imagery in underground cinema.
(tho' i aint read it for some time...)
Also (and linked to my other thread) the series of firefly seems to avoid this - serenity seems to celebrate it.... is one better than the other???
what do ther viewers feel??
do any of you that write fics aim to deal with / explore / avoid this???
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I definitely feel that the movie drove up the sex appeal for River in a way that they just plain didn't in the series, which made it harder for me to enjoy her character.
I suspect it was done to attract a wider audience, but considering the vulnerability and immaturity of River's character in the series, it was a jump that made me uncomfortable.
The "killer death goddess sex kitten" image is one that many River fans embraced, so obviously, he hit some peoples' taste, but to me it was a disappointment because it took away even more from the depth of her character.
The dangerous half-child of the series was much more interesting to me than the killer jailbait from the movie.
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well then it shows the diiference between movies and TV
movies, sex sell
TV, more story driven (fox not included)
thats why we need serenity made into a Deadwood like series that you see on the showcase channel (Aussie TV, dont know about US or Britain), what are those types of shows called i forget?
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That was when i found out my pants were on fire, and that's my Courageous story.
[url] http://www.myspace.com/blindoutlaw [/url]
- Jimmy the Blindoutlaw
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Quote:
Originally posted by Blindoutlaw:
well then it shows the diiference between movies and TV
movies, sex sell
TV, more story driven (fox not included)
Sadly, that's very true.
Although there are plenty of tv shows who take "sex sells" to heart, as well. Which is not to say that sex is a bad thing. It's done really well in Farscape, for example! But it's bad if it replaces character depth. Hmmph!
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Originally posted by AgentRouka:
Quote:
...Which is not to say that sex is a bad thing. It's done really well in Farscape, for example!...
Well, I'm glad it's being done really well somewhere, 'coz it's being made a general mockery of over at my place.
...or was that too much information...?
It was all self-help manuals and unguents when we got here!
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I saw Serenity as a progression regarding River, plus, Summer was older, and she just naturally sizzles more 'cause of it.
Yeah, the production was aimed at squeezing out every drop of beauty- not just from her, but the whole crew (Don't tell me Nathans extra muscle didn't look great to the ladies when he took Inara's wave)
So..different...not better, but still great.
Critical Chrisisall
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Well, Summer was 21/22 in Firefly, 25 in Serenity. Not that much of a difference. Like she didn't sizzle at 21! *G*
The thing that bugs me - since you mention the gratuitous half-naked Nathan, is that Mal was always a sexual character. River not so much. Not to say she wasn't physically attractive, but you could buy her being 16 and socially stunted and not a sexually motivated character.
Which is what makes her sudden sex appeal kind of creepy to me. The difference is profound, and in the movie, Rver had just aged maybe 6 months, tops, since the end of the series. 17, yes, but that number means little when compared to the character she was in the series.
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Wow - great topic. Really got me thinking...
I agree that the movie Serenity resulted in many changes in River from what we knew of her in Firefly, and those changes do fit in with your "fetish" idea. The movie added a touch of menace to her personality that was only hinted at in the series - she seems "darker." Her River-as-weapon abilities were triggered, which again were only hinted at in the series (thinking specifically of "War Stories"). And her wardrobe changed from oversized, ill-fitting clothes (mostly), to very fitted, somewhat skimpy dresses.
I do think, though, that this is where River may have been headed in the series, but we never got the chance to see that developed slowly. The movie had to accelerate & amplify that process. I think it was further amplified by the fact that her character was a catalyst for the storyline, moreso than in many of the episodes, which further draws our attention to her and the fetish-izing of her.
However, there were many character & style changes from the show to the movie, and I think it is because of the movie medium. As viewers we have very different expectations for movies than we do for tv. We need some of that exaggeration of character and visual style to keep us immersed in the fantasy, especially in an action-heavy film.
As an example of our expectations, I noticed that the appearance of many of the actors changed between the show & the movie. 
I noticed that Nathan, Ron, Jewel, Adam, and Sean all got thinner/leaner. Why did they do this for the movie? Why not for the tv show, too? I think its because as actors they know movies carry a different set of viewer expectations, including the appearance of our actors. The large scale of the theater screen draws our attention to their physical appearance even more than a tv screen.
Also, their characters changed to more narrow definitions of their tv personalities. Mal seems a little angier, more sullen. Jayne somehow became more articulate and considerably more violent. Book is more worldly and sage-like, with a touch of cynicism. And Inara seemed like an after-thought (after so much of her scenes were cut).
So I wonder if its not just that River was fetishized, but that the nature of Serenity as a whole needed to be different from Firefly because of the change in medium.
I'd rather be a smartass than a dumbass...
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Quote:Suspension of disbelief for me; when she got out of the freezer nekid, I knew she was no kid
Originally posted by AgentRouka:
you could buy her being 16 and socially stunted and not a sexually motivated character.
But I do see your point Chrisisall
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Here I thought this would be a thread about her feet 
Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so.
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