Inara's Shame

POSTED BY: Iremist
UPDATED: Friday, May 23, 2008 17:39
VIEWED: 7061
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PHYRELIGHT

Saturday, May 17, 2008 1:10 PM

I FOUND THE VIDEO!!! This is the link: http://www.creationent.com/video/ser-alan-nat-mor-bur07.htm, and she answers the question about 3/4 into the video. It's also preceded by a funny back story about Wash from Alan.

Darksiders can keep their cookies. We have better writers.

Grrr. Argghh.

Patiently waiting to see Cap'n Hammerpants sing!

GWEK

Saturday, May 17, 2008 2:01 PM

ON INARA'S BACKGROUND: I don't think that "dead wrong" is necessarily the way I would go, so much as "not really relevant." Regardless of where she came from, Inara is now a Companion and high class. As folks have said, she demonstrates no shame and no desire to look back.

I believe the comment about Wing's world maybe not being hers should be taken in a completely different light. It's a comment on the crew of Serenity and how they--literally and figuratively--exist between worlds. Just as Mal SHOULD be part of Badger's world--but he's not--Inara SHOULD fit into Wing's world--yet she finds herself more at home with the rough-and-tumble crew of Serenity.

Look at every romantic pairing on Serenity. Each duo is from completely "different worlds" and the ONLY place they can really form as a couple is a neutral ground like Serenity. THAT, I think, is in the neighborhood of what Inara is saying. It's an admission that although she's from Wing's "world", Serenity is her home now.

(Check out the commentary on the episode, where, if I recall correctly, some of these themes are discussed.)

ON THE BLACK VIAL: Joss never dismisses it as a toxin. He says that the one thing that it's NOT is a suicide kit... although that's what many mistakenly take it for in the pilot. He adds that since they never explored what it really was, there's no problem with folks believing that it's a suicide kit.

Tim Minear discusses a discarded episode idea where Inara is captured by Reavers and gang-raped and when the crew rescues her, all the Reavers are dead because Inara has some way to kill anyone she has sex with. When asked flat out if this was the black vial, Minear said he didn't know (and I believe later said that it was not), but I don't see what other conclusion we can draw.

ON MORENA'S COMMENT: Haven't watched the clip, but from the context, it seems possible that she's either joking or misinterpreting something that Joss said (remember, in the Joss-Verse, "family" often doesn't even literally mean "family"). While I won't dismiss the comment outright, I also wouldn't give it too much weight.

www.stillflying.net: "Here's how it might have been..."

BIGRICHARD

Saturday, May 17, 2008 2:12 PM

Cheers GWEK, that was really helpful.
Sorry if I steered some of you wrong with my comments, seems I should check my facts :P

And I most definitely agree with you on Inara's background and current lifestyle.

"Never f$@% with a browncoat dude...." - Kevin Smith

YAHACHUSPAIZ

Saturday, May 17, 2008 5:23 PM

Ahh, i dig it homey. Thanks for fillin me in.

For the love of your god I really hate FOX!!!

ASARIAN

Sunday, May 18, 2008 9:02 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by GWEK:

I believe the comment about Wing's world maybe not being hers should be taken in a completely different light. It's a comment on the crew of Serenity and how they--literally and figuratively--exist between worlds. Just as Mal SHOULD be part of Badger's world--but he's not--Inara SHOULD fit into Wing's world--yet she finds herself more at home with the rough-and-tumble crew of Serenity.

Why, I find that very much in line with what I said on the subject my own self. :) Inara is definitely torn: a citizen of neither world, so to speak. I don't have the Firefly box at hand here to quote the literal words (visiting my parents at the moment), but I believe Jane Espenson, who wrote Shindig, said something to the effect of: "Inara is as uncomfortable in Atheron's world, as Mal is at Badger's tea-party."

--
"Mei-mei, everything I have is right here." -- Simon Tam

MISSTRESSAHARA

Friday, May 23, 2008 7:39 AM

Quote:
This fits other evidence from the series. First, that she never talks about her background or family; second, that when family and children come up in conversation, she becomes noticably tense. (Bushwhacked: "Families?", OMR: "Can you imagine me with a passel a children underfoot - Get out!" or something like that, HoG: she wants to leave because these close relationships are a trap to her.)

I must disagree with this idea. That scene, if you watch carefully, isn't her disgust at the idea of family, but her becoming upset with Mal talking about being with another woman besides her and having a family with (Saffron). Now don't forget he's officially (at least by the laws of that planet) married to Saffron, which of course upsets Inara because she loves Mal and secretly wants to be with him. Listen to her last line when she says "Can I please have 5 minutes to alone" (near enough quote) Her voice chokes, like she's trying hard not to burst into tears. And you can see it on her face. Mal may have been joking, but she was taking it seriously.

And if the idea of a family was so unappealing she wouldn't have made such close bonds with Kaylee, River, Book, and everyone else. I think it's the sense of family that draws her to Serenity more than anything. River said about the cows in Safe "Lost souls." That's who everyone on board are. Lost souls looking for something and finding a small part of it on Serenity.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

DON'T FREAK OUT

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MAL4PREZ

Friday, May 23, 2008 12:15 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Misstressahara:
That scene, if you watch carefully, isn't her disgust at the idea of family, but her becoming upset with Mal talking about being with another woman besides her and having a family with (Saffron).

Hey, don't need to watch carefully to see that she's upset about Saffron! That's pretty clear.

But with Joss, there is often more than one thing happening at a time, and that's what I watch carefully for. Inara is upset over Mal's "marriage" for sure, but her upsetness turns from bitter snark to the near tearful breakdown you describe *after* the family issue comes up. This reaction is what I'd expect from... say... a woman who can't have children hearing the man she secretly loves suggest that he'd enjoy having a big family.

Not saying that's how it is, I'm saying that's how it could be.

Quote:
And if the idea of a family was so unappealing she wouldn't have made such close bonds with Kaylee, River, Book, and everyone else. I think it's the sense of family that draws her to Serenity more than anything.

You misunderstand me. I never said that Inara is "disgusted" with the idea of family or finds it "unappealing". I think her situation is more complicated than that. It must be, because no matter how she's drawn to the crew, that family feeling is precisely what makes her leave! In HoG, she says:

"I learned something from Nandi. Not just from what happened, but from her. The family she made, the strength of her love for them. That's what kept them together. When you live with that kind of strength, you get tied to it, you can't break away. And you never want to.

"There's something that I... that I should have done a long while ago. And I'm sorry -- for both of us -- that it took me this long. I'm leaving."

WTF? This surprised the hell out of me first time I saw it. But, however illogical, the first paragraph relates to the second. Inara is drawn to this crew, she loves them and thinks of them as family, but she can't accept this kind of bond without it being a trap. "You can't break away," she says. She's leaving before she can love them enough to reach that point.

There must be some reason she has this reaction to them. Given that this is a Joss show, I think it's more than her disappointed love for Mal and hurt over seeing him with Nandi. Joss doesn't write bodice-rippers where *everything* is about romance. Clearly, there's more going on with Inara, some reason that she can't let herself freely love the crew - and Mal.

Until we get more stories from Joss, the exact reason will remain hidden to me. But that won't stop me from making my own stuff up.

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hmm-burble-blah, blah-blah-blah, take a left

ASARIAN

Friday, May 23, 2008 5:39 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by mal4prez:

"There's something that I... that I should have done a long while ago. And I'm sorry -- for both of us -- that it took me this long. I'm leaving."

WTF? This surprised the hell out of me first time I saw it. But, however illogical, the first paragraph relates to the second. Inara is drawn to this crew, she loves them and thinks of them as family, but she can't accept this kind of bond without it being a trap. "You can't break away," she says. She's leaving before she can love them enough to reach that point.

In earnest, I'm thinking this really WAS primarily about Mal. Not really because she's so hurt over seeing Mal with Nandi, though. Sure as the turn of the worlds, that stung a mite. But I think Inara suddenly realized her trap: she loves Mal, but can never really bring herself to say it (not even to herself, most like). Seeing him with Nandi, I think she realized, in that painful moment, that this issue would never know a resolution. After all, she can't really blame Mal for it, now can she? She never made her feelings clear to Mal (well, she actually did, but in ways too subtle for for Mal to pick up on). I think, seeing him with Nandi, she understood that the only logical outcome of her staying aboard Serenity would be a continual replay of the same event. Not having opted for an outspoken relationship with Mal, she knows that, a year or so from now, she'll find herself in a similar situation. And time and again. In short, she realized she had painted herself into an impossible corner. Not that nothing is possible between them (I think there is); but, from Nara's perspective at the time, her decision seemed like the only sensible thing to do.

Quote:
Originally posted by mal4prez:

Quote:
Originally posted by Misstressahara

And if the idea of a family was so unappealing she wouldn't have made such close bonds with Kaylee, River, Book, and everyone else. I think it's the sense of family that draws her to Serenity more than anything.
You misunderstand me. I never said that Inara is "disgusted" with the idea of family or finds it "unappealing". I think her situation is more complicated than that. It must be, because no matter how she's drawn to the crew, that family feeling is precisely what makes her leave!

I think 'family' is a complex matter for Inara. On the one hand 'family' stands for having an exclusive partner, for settling down, for hearing the pitter-patter of tiny feet in large combat boots, etc. :) Being a Companion, I reckon this is not precisely her bag (almost can't be, really, as it kinda runs counter to her own lifestyle), On the other hand, Inara, as a person, is actually very much in the family way. This, I believe, is Inara's perpetual tragedy: she's much more nurturing, caring and familial than her profession allows her to be (though, I'm sure the social/therapeutic aspect of Companioning makes up for that in part). Like with the situation with Nandi, eventually Inara will have to make a choice; not for or against riding along with Mal, per se, but between living the high, but largely, empty life, and fulfilling the needs of her heart (leader a decidedly poorer material life, but having the crew as family). I think that, at the end of the BDM, Joss wanted us to know that Inara finally got it right; Mal's "Good answer!" I believe is rather significant, seen in that light. Essentially she tells Mal she'd rather stay with him/them. And Mal may be daft at times, but he definitely got THAT! :)

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