Unpopular Opinions
POSTED BY: Lexan
UPDATED: Monday, August 3, 2026 22:05
VIEWED: 61897
PAGE 19 of 25
Quote:
Originally posted by chrisisall:Quote:As a Vulcan of my aquaintance is fond of saying, change is the essential nature of all existence.
Originally posted by 6ixStringJack:
as it were the characters were changed
Please elevate yourself to a higher point, and travel on.*
*get over itChrisisall
I believe he said "change is the essential process of all existence."
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Quote:I stand corrected; thanks Pach!
Originally posted by pachelbel:
I believe he said "change is the essential process of all existence."
Memory didn't serve Chrisisall
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In response to Agent Rouka, I don't really think you could have made your point better and I have to say that you also make a very good point. 
_____
"You know that's gonna fall off."
-----Nathan Fillion (to me while drunk)
How are ships unlike food?
1. If you try it and don't like it, you don't have to do it again.
2. You can have as much as you want, when you want.
3. Cravings can be very specific.
I mean, hello it's not as if there's 'ship police?
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Another opinion:
Mal and Inara would never have got together. (not sure if this is unpopular though, as I don't think they were designed to end up together romantically.)
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Quote:
Originally posted by AgentRouka:
Inara is not a stupid woman, nor one in the habit of promoting hypocrisy. The only thing we see her lying about in the series is the depth of her feelings for Mal, nothing else. If she felt that Companioning was whoring, she'd own it, because she doesn't do things she doesn't believe in.
There's a difference between knowing what you're doing, and realizing what you're doing. And denial is hardly ever about cold-hearted lying, even. Like battered women are generally neither stupid, nor flat-out lying about their situation. It's far more subtle. Denial is about what one chooses to see when, erm, there's something to deny. :) Likewise with Inara: she's knows she's sleeping with men for money, but chooses to call what she's doing something else; like 'therapy,' for instance. As a therapist would say: Can't imagine how many times men in my position hear that excuse. :) I agree that Inara is not lying. But she's nonetheless living a lie. That's what denial is.
Quote:
She fights against the denigrating word because she believes that its wrong.
Actually, that's not true. In Heart of Gold Inara uses the word "whore" on women, too. Mal is even shocked that she does it:
INARA
They're whores, Mal.
MAL
Thought you didn't much care for that
word?
INARA
It applies. None who work for Nandi
are registered with the Guild.
Quote:
It's a front. An easily believable sham he puts up to keep Inara at a distance. Actually, I think Mal has zero trouble admitting a difference between a "whore"-type prostitute and a Companion-type, just like he wouldn't have trouble admitting a difference between the skill level of a highly trained singer and a merely talented one.
There this joke ascribed to Churchill, where he asks a lady whether she would sleep with men for, say, $100. She's highly offended. Then he asks her whether she'd do it for a million, and she goes: "Hmmm.." She then asks him whether he thinks she's a prostitute. To which he answers: "Madam, we've already established what you are; we're just determining your price." Point being exactly the one you made: highly skilled or merely talented, they're both singers. :)
Quote:
You presuppose an origin to the Guild there that has no proof. (...) It's just as likely that the Guild was created by prostitutes, or therapists or a mix of both, to promote exactly those ideals.
And you presuppose a presupposition where none exists. :) A Companion is a kind of mix between a geisha and a courtisan: all the refinement and education of a geisha, but sleeping with the clients (courtisans). But the origins of the Guild are somewhat unclear. I reckon the notion of Companions was imported from Asian culture when the American and Chinese cultures first began to fuse.
Quote:
You seem to start from the position that prostitution is in itself unrespectable, saying that social acceptance and wealth must be tied to a facade. Is that just my impression?
It is my belief that prostitution is a form of exploitation of women, no matter how nicely it's dressed up, yes. And that everyone involved in the trade, by consequence, is, one way or the other, in denial about that.
I wouldn't call prostitution 'unrespectable', though, as that entails a judgement towards the women-one I do not share.
Quote:
Could you allow for the possibility that on Core worlds prostitution is a truly accepted and respected profession, without hypocrisy or hidden disdain involved or do you consider that impossible?
That's like asking whether the medieval courtisans were a truly accepted and respected profession. Yes, there were. And yes, I'm sure that on Core worlds prostitution has become an acceptable way of making a living. Without hidden disdain, though? That's harder, and ties in with the hypocrisy. "Hypokrisis." play-acting. In the Greek. So, do I think they're all overtly play-acting that prostitution is okay? No. I think they've rationalize
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I agree totally, NBZ. I simply cannot think of any scenario where it would have worked. I can see Mal with someone else, and maybe even Inara with someone else, but not both of them together.
--
"My way of being polite, or however...well, it's the only way I have of showing you that I like you. Of showing respect." Simon Tam, Jaynestown
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I can't see either Mal or Inara in a loveless relationship. It would be going through the motions and that is neither one of these characters, living in this verse. I can't see either one of them falling in love again. Inara is a prostitute and Mal shoots people, What Love?
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I don't think that Mal and Inara are soulmates...I think they are people who could find love outside of with each other.
--
"My way of being polite, or however...well, it's the only way I have of showing you that I like you. Of showing respect." Simon Tam, Jaynestown
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