Heart of Gold
POSTED BY: wytchcroft
UPDATED: Friday, December 7, 2007 01:10
VIEWED: 9175
PAGE 4 of 5
They already have laser. One of the first. The Lassiter. Who needs two?
(yeah, they probably do retrieve it for salvage/sale - they are supposed to be expensive in the 'verse. Probably in cost price and also in maintenance/usage. There is also the same issue with Jubal's ship in OiS. Why did they waste good salvage material?)
Quote:
MAL4PREZ WROTE:
OK, to take a writer's view: It's the pilot episode, and Joss has a lot of info to impart on a lot of characters and not long to do it. He's already showed us that Mal is tricksey (and every time Mal is tricksey, Joss lets us know in no uncertain terms.) I think that this tiny little moment is there to tell us that Mal does indeed feel something for Inara, and that's all.
On the other hand - it is the pilot and he is threading many storylines - some which had to be scrapped.
As an example, one thing I noticed in the shooting script is that in Simon's speech about River, he mentions that he paid the underground to get him to Boros. Serenity goes from Persephone to Boros. Mal has no idea that he is smuggling something. Who made the deal? (I think you prefer the Book angle. I prefer the Inara angle... Have Book as the coincidence. ) incidentally, this could just be a simple mistake as in all the versions of the pilot I have in my collection, Simon says Persephone, not Boros (I may be going mad though as I always thought he said Boros before I had even read the shooting script! insanity.) It says Boros on both TwizTV and the Visual Companion shooting scripts though.
(I had a point about Mal/Inara, but I seem to have forgotten it, so i'll just move along.)
Back on topic, another thing while funny does detract from firefly is ParodyMal. Or PanickyMal. You know how he panicks when that womans water broke? it was funny, but it was also cliched for tv, and different for Mal. I shall call it ParodyMal. (put him alongside DarkMal, AngryMal, HappyMal etc to describe particular characteristics.)
Just thinking about this now, but before hand Mal has deadened his reaction to events. Yes he gets happy, sad, angry, hurt, but each and every time that sensation is deadened by an all conquering sense of calculation. Look at Mal at the start of Out of Gas before the fire. He is in there, but not. Same with most other places. Occasionally he misjudged things to hilarious consequences, but always his own reaction is muted.
When Kaylee gets shot, when he opens the box, when he finds Saffron, when he gets drugged, when he is amongst the crew as a friends and colleague, when the fire strikes, when gets tortured, when he gets back. in each of those there is always a sense of calculation in him. As if he rebuilt each and every aspect of his character with painstaking care to fashion it in a certain way. (to do that natural reactions need to be dampened.)
But when the water breaks, he is all panicky with no sense of calculation at all.
In short, ParodyMal almost feels like a parody.
thoughts? (I could be way off base though - I have not seen a single second of a single episode for about three months now. It's almost sacriledge.)
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Quote:
Originally posted by nbz:
They already have laser. One of the first. The Lassiter. Who needs two?
(yeah, they probably do retrieve it for salvage/sale - they are supposed to be expensive in the 'verse. Probably in cost price and also in maintenance/usage. There is also the same issue with Jubal's ship in OiS. Why did they waste good salvage material?)Quote:
MAL4PREZ WROTE:
OK, to take a writer's view: It's the pilot episode, and Joss has a lot of info to impart on a lot of characters and not long to do it. He's already showed us that Mal is tricksey (and every time Mal is tricksey, Joss lets us know in no uncertain terms.) I think that this tiny little moment is there to tell us that Mal does indeed feel something for Inara, and that's all.
On the other hand - it is the pilot and he is threading many storylines - some which had to be scrapped.
As an example, one thing I noticed in the shooting script is that in Simon's speech about River, he mentions that he paid the underground to get him to Boros. Serenity goes from Persephone to Boros. Mal has no idea that he is smuggling something. Who made the deal? (I think you prefer the Book angle. I prefer the Inara angle... Have Book as the coincidence. ) incidentally, this could just be a simple mistake as in all the versions of the pilot I have in my collection, Simon says Persephone, not Boros (I may be going mad though as I always thought he said Boros before I had even read the shooting script! insanity.) It says Boros on both TwizTV and the Visual Companion shooting scripts though.
(I had a point about Mal/Inara, but I seem to have forgotten it, so i'll just move along.)
Back on topic, another thing while funny does detract from firefly is ParodyMal. Or PanickyMal. You know how he panicks when that womans water broke? it was funny, but it was also cliched for tv, and different for Mal. I shall call it ParodyMal. (put him alongside DarkMal, AngryMal, HappyMal etc to describe particular characteristics.)
Just thinking about this now, but before hand Mal has deadened his reaction to events. Yes he gets happy, sad, angry, hurt, but each and every time that sensation is deadened by an all conquering sense of calculation. Look at Mal at the start of Out of Gas before the fire. He is in there, but not. Same with most other places. Occasionally he misjudged things to hilarious consequences, but always his own reaction is muted.
When Kaylee gets shot, when he opens the box, when he finds Saffron, when he gets drugged, when he is amongst the crew as a friends and colleague, when the fire strikes, when gets tortured, when he gets back. in each of those there is always a sense of calculation in him. As if he rebuilt each and every aspect of his character with painstaking care to fashion it in a certain way. (to do that natural reactions need to be dampened.)
But when the water breaks, he is all panicky with no sense of calculation at all.
In short, ParodyMal almost feels like a parody.
thoughts? (I could be way off base though - I have not seen a single second of a single episode for about three months now. It's almost sacriledge.)
The Lasiter was sold for profit for two reasons, one it did not work, and two that was the aim of the mission. The laser in Heart of gold worked very well, but I doubt the Crew of Serenity would want it because while it is more powerful than a firearm it also carries heavy pelnalties for unlicensed carriers so the risk would not be worth the rewards.
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HOG
Jayne" Good,'cause I don't know these folk and I don't much care."
"Jayne they're whores!"
"I'm in."
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Quote:Hmm. But I'm failing to see what storyline purpose it would serve to have Mal faking Inara out in that little bit. Unless you're going somewhere wild, where Inara's really an evil secret agent and Mal knows and is trying to play her... I guess anything's possible, but that smells kinda crackfic-y to me. If Mal suspects her that much, how come we see nothing of it for the rest of the series and movie?
Originally posted by nbz:
On the other hand - it is the pilot and he is threading many storylines - some which had to be scrapped.
Quote:Um, sorry, I don't get it. Why is a deal necessary?
As an example, one thing I noticed in the shooting script is that in Simon's speech about River, he mentions that he paid the underground to get him to Boros. Serenity goes from Persephone to Boros. Mal has no idea that he is smuggling something. Who made the deal?
OK, I looked at the script and see that Simon's line originally said "Boros." I'm still not getting how this is an example of a buried plotline. More of a mistake or an adjustment in technicalities, I think.
Quote:OMG! Another not so good moment. And his whole - "It's time. Oh! It's time! *panics*" Soooo stupid. I didn't even find that funny the first time I saw it. So cliche. I won't blame Mal for that though, just the writers.
You know how he panicks when that womans water broke?
Quote:Hmm, okay. I don't disagree at all, I'm just not seeing the relevance. If you mean to push the water breaking thing - hey, I'm right there with ya! It was a stupid choice by the writer, and part of the reason the episode sits poorly with me, despite all the Mal/Inara goodness. (See me tying into the thread there?
in each of those there is always a sense of calculation in him. As if he rebuilt each and every aspect of his character with painstaking care to fashion it in a certain way. (to do that natural reactions need to be dampened.)
)But if you're talking about Mal's treatment of Inara in the pilot episode... I agree that he's deadened and he holds back his natural reactions, but I don't see it as calculated as much as survival mechanism. Meaning, it's not consciously done. I don't think he calculates purely to manipulate people, but to defend himself.
A-ha! I just put on the Serenity the Pilot commentary. Joss says as Mal pushes Inara's shoulder: "Important moment! Originally, this is the first time you [Mal] made it very clear how much you care about her..." (Trying to be good and not stick out my tongue... LOL!)
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hmm-burble-blah, blah-blah-blah, take a left
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I'm not sure if you 2 are women, but I'm highly suspectin.
Breaking water Panicky is not a cliche. It's reality. I'm familiar with numerous EMT crews, and when it's a water breaking call, all the men RACE to get in the driver's seat. They go the fastest as they can to get to the Hospital. If ever a woman gets behind the wheel on a breaking water call, she drives as slow as possible, lights and sirens on full blast, plodding along well below the speed limit, hoping the deleivery will happen before arrival at Hospital.
PanickyMal is not a parody. It's reality. Of all that Mal is, he's still a guy.
Also, I don't think Mal calculates for defense or manipulation of others. He does it to maintain effectiveness. Logical, effective thought is inhibited by emotion, which blinds the mind. To keep his wits about him, he has learned to absorb the emotion in the instantaneous situation - emeotion can be dealt with later. But if you're dead, you helped nobody.
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Quote:
Originally posted by jewelstaitefan:
If ever a woman gets behind the wheel on a breaking water call, she drives as slow as possible, lights and sirens on full blast, plodding along well below the speed limit, hoping the deleivery will happen before arrival at Hospital.
PanickyMal is not a parody. It's reality. Of all that Mal is, he's still a guy.
I know it's off topic, but... why ever would these women do that??
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They want the birth to occur in their care, like as if they're midwives. It's cute, gloriuous, defining moment in a woman's life, blah blah blah. It's a women thing. All the men want to get to the Hospital as fast as possible so the birth does not occur in their presence. They are all trained to perform delivery, but they do not want to do it if avoidable. The female EMTs tend towards wanting to perform the task.
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I don't understand Inara at all. What the hell does she want in life? Does she really want to continue to have meaningless sex with rich men and boys all her life? Is her goal in life to take their money so she can buy fancy dresses?
The speech she makes to Mal in HOG really shows how twisted her brain is....she interrupts Mal's tender moment of truthsomeness by saying how she admired Nandi and learned a lot fronm her...her strength, her friendships; and you can see and feel her love for Mal, Serenity, and the Crew in her words and demeanor. But she's afraid of staying with the people she loves....why? Is it better back at the Training House?...teaching young men and women to have sex and make tea? In the long run Mal is better off without her. She is really just a reflective shadow of Saffron in many ways ...they both use their bodies as instruments to get what they want from men, and they're both drifting aimlessly from one caper to the next. Someday they'll both grow up a little & realize that family and friends are the only important things in life.
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Quote:
Originally posted by jewelstaitefan:
They want the birth to occur in their care, like as if they're midwives. It's cute, gloriuous, defining moment in a woman's life, blah blah blah. It's a women thing. All the men want to get to the Hospital as fast as possible so the birth does not occur in their presence. They are all trained to perform delivery, but they do not want to do it if avoidable. The female EMTs tend towards wanting to perform the task.
Isn't that scarily selfish of them, considering they probably don't have all the pain meds on them that hospital staff would have?
I'm honestly freaked out!
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Quote:
Originally posted by AgentRouka:Quote:
Originally posted by jewelstaitefan:
They want the birth to occur in their care, like as if they're midwives. It's cute, gloriuous, defining moment in a woman's life, blah blah blah. It's a women thing. All the men want to get to the Hospital as fast as possible so the birth does not occur in their presence. They are all trained to perform delivery, but they do not want to do it if avoidable. The female EMTs tend towards wanting to perform the task.
Isn't that scarily selfish of them, considering they probably don't have all the pain meds on them that hospital staff would have?
I'm honestly freaked out!
Too many people put too much importance on pain medication. I am not saying that pain medication does not have a place, but in my opinion too many people are taking way too many pain medications instead of looking for alternate and healthier ways of pain management.
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