An idea on Inara
POSTED BY: Novagrass
UPDATED: Tuesday, November 5, 2002 18:03
VIEWED: 3877
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I'm not a big Mal/Inara shipper, but it seems obvious that they'll get together after a while. But whatever, that's irrelevant here.
My idea is this: Inara has been training to be a companion since childhood. This means that she has never had the opportunity to experience a monogomous relationship. I wonder, if Mal and Inara get together, if Inara will cease her... business. Inara, having been raised to sell her body (albeit, with more control and dignity than a traditional prostitute) has certainly not been in a situation condusive to self-respect, and no matter how much she may put off the persona of said self-respecting woman, she will still have at least a few issues that correspond to her lifestyle.
When Inara and Mal finally come to terms with their feelings, it will be a complete shock to everything Inara knows, I'd presume. I'm thinking she won't know how to act as someone who is not a companion. Until this point, I'd never realised how interesting Inara being thrown into a romantic relationship could be. Now, if you're going to have a relationship in a show, it should at least be interesting... and it appears that this is the case with Inara.
--Dylan Palmer, Pretentious Bastard at Large--
"Oh my god, I'm a hack!" - Joss Whedon
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I keep imagining all the westerns I've ever known...and believe that Inara is the JW version of Miss Kitty, i.e. the good-hearted saloon girl with a heart of gold.
And the prostitute must either a. rise to power (become a madame)b. be destroyed or c. snag that noble, romantic man.
I'm sure that the Academy has trained Inara in ALL the ways of love, so when/if she gets Mal
I'm sure she'll know exactly what to do with him.
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Quote:
I'm sure that the Academy has trained Inara in ALL the ways of love, so when/if she gets Mal
I'm sure she'll know exactly what to do with him.
Novagrass has a point. Inara has NOT been trained to be a wife or mother. She has been trained to entertain. Considering her experiences with men, she may end up in a loving relationship with a woman.
m.
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Quote:
Originally posted by Evans:
Considering her experiences with men, she may end up in a loving relationship with a woman.
m.
Doesn't the academy train Companions to be with women OR men? I'm remembering "Our Mrs. R" where Inara confronts the girl (forgot her name, sorry)and they do a type of seduction showdown.
That made me think that a Companion is available to anyone, and gender is not so important.
I think her character is one of the most creative and fertile JW's ever done.
However, (more prostitute stereotypes coming up) women who sell sex to men often do seem to end up in loving relationships with women.
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I'm not ruling out a homosexual relationship for Inara, I just don't see it anytime soon, simply because I do not see any possible partners for her on Serenity at the moment.
I think that the main problem standing in of a sucessful relationship between Inara and Mal is that both are very prideful people. Inara has pride in her job and Mal does not. Even if Inara were to start dating Mal, I doubt she give up her job in the short run. She's trained for years for her profession, and she apparently has a reputation for being on of the best. (Notice in Shindig that one person, possibly a companion, was introduced as "escort", whereas Inara was introduced by name.) After all Mal and Inara's run-ins about her profession, giving it up just becasuse she's dating Mal would be admiting that he was right, or conceding defeat, or the like. Like Hell.
Similarly, I doubt Mal's going to put up Inara's "whoring around."
All in all, it's shaping up to be a typically Whedon romance. 
________________
At first it's just a place, and then you start to make memories and then it's like... that's where Spike slept, and there... that's where Anya and I drowned the Separvo demon and right here, here's where my heart got all ripped out... I really hate this place
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Whedon Love always really breaks my heart (Anya, Anya, Anya).
Mal should stop saying 'whore'. It's getting rude.
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"Getting" rude? When wasn't it rude?
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At first it's just a place, and then you start to make memories and then it's like... that's where Spike slept, and there... that's where Anya and I drowned the Separvo demon and right here, here's where my heart got all ripped out... I really hate this place
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I don't really believe that someone who has made a life out of faking things for money will ever be able to really have a relationship in which they have to be real.
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That's a rather defeatist way to look at relationships, and human nature in general.
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In the Dark Ages, Romano-Celtic Britannia was over-run by Viking-like cultures collectively called the Anglo-Saxons. They were led by warlords called Drytinns, and the greatest warriors among them were the Thegns.
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It is in Mal's character to react in that way. You are concentrating on Inara's feelings in a romantic relationship, but if you consider her counterpart, he has undoubtedly more issues . He really has no regard for other people's feelings (ahem, Kaylee and the dress). Not that I am blaming him for it, probably a byproduct of fighting in such a bloody battle (Serenity).
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