New Series
POSTED BY: SpaceGeneral
UPDATED: Saturday, May 29, 2004 02:29
VIEWED: 16802
PAGE 5 of 7
SpaceGeneral,
Have you seen Ron Howard's "Apollo 13," the one with Tom Hanks.
Wasn't that movie so unbelievable? I mean, they went into space, but they never even met any aliens. That automatically makes it crap.
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There's also Mission to Mars, the Red Planet, etc. I'd better clarify what I mean. If the series was set in our solar system then I would accept that there were no aliens. However as I see it, the series is set elsewhere in the Universe and all the planets are bare, I find that hard to accept.
Is no one aware that we might not be alone in this solar system ? Is no one aware that there might be live under the Ice sheet on Europa, a moon of either Jupiter or Saturn ?
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I do believe that some form of (probably non-intelligent) life exists somewhere in the universe, but I don't think that means aliens should be included in all science fiction stories. Alien politics has pretty much become a cliche of sci-fi, and I applaud Joss and Tim for not wanting to go there.
Just cuz a space series set in the future doesn't have aliens, doesn't make it unbelivable. Similarly, having aliens in a space show set in the future doesn't make it any less credit-worthy.
Often it's the story that counts. In "Firefly's" case, it's really the characters that are the most important, and I think the show could take place in any time period and still be a damn good story, but taking place in 2517 with a creatively (but not overbearingly different) setting seems to have been the perfect setting for the series.
I think alien fetishes are really strange, but if Klingons make you hot, go for it.
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Quote:
FireflyFriend wrote:
Monday, May 24, 2004 14:19
I really love this show, but I think Space General has made some good points. Besides I think the Reevers will turn out to be alieans. And its true that some people were confused by so many characters. Friends was a big success and it only had five regular characters. the other were occasional as Space general suggested.
There's no point in being mean just because people see ways to improve the show.
Quote:
"Aliens, you know, that's something everybody else has done and is doing. It's a great metaphor to play with, but it's not what I'm interested in. I'm really interested in 'you are there,' in 'you are a part of this.' And I think aliens take you out of that. I also need to spend some time away from latex." - Joss Whedon
And Friends had 6 main characters.
"...we're still flyin'."
"That's not much."
"It's enough." Malcolm Reynolds and Simon Tam - Serenity
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I'm gonna go think up something really sarcastic and come back later.
Dont ask me silly questions.
I wont play silly games.
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Somebody tries to kill you you go ahead and try to kill them right on back!
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SpaceGeneral really bore down with:
Quote:
Is no one aware that we might not be alone in this solar system ? Is no one aware that there might be live under the Ice sheet on Europa, a moon of either Jupiter or Saturn ?
Ah, nothing quite so compelling as the facts, or something like them. As I have mentioned in previous posts on other threads, the terraforming of planets, moons and larger asteroidal bodies has serious moral implications, precisely because there might be 'live' already 'lifing' on them.
In the Firefly 'verse, however, the fact that Alliance/BlueSun have indeed already terraformed all those planetoids and planetesimals means that all native life has been eradicated from them in the process, in the same way that an alien race -- by turning our planet into a gas giant to suit their physical needs -- would wipe out all Earth-borne life in the process.
BTW, Europa is a satellite of Jupiter. Jupiter and Saturn share no satellites.
Respectfully,
zoid
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"I'm telling you right now. When all's said and done, that little girl's gonna change the world. Not just this little bit she's done here, neither; big things. I couldn't be prouder if she was my own daughter."
- Malcolm Reynolds, owner-operator of Firefly-class transport, "Serenity"; from A Child Shall Lead Them: A History of the Second War of Independence Wilkins, Richard
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Quote:
Originally posted by SpaceGeneral:
There's also Mission to Mars, the Red Planet, etc. I'd better clarify what I mean. If the series was set in our solar system then I would accept that there were no aliens. However as I see it, the series is set elsewhere in the Universe and all the planets are bare, I find that hard to accept.
Why is it hard to accept the planets are "bare" (I am assuming you mean bare of alien life)? If the planets or moons that the Alliance terraformed had life on them, it would have been plant and perhaps very basic life at most. The terraforming process, or what little we know of it from the series, takes awhile to complete & is a very difficult process. Anything native to the planet most likely would be eradicated during the process.
Quote:
Is no one aware that we might not be alone in this solar system ? Is no one aware that there might be live under the Ice sheet on Europa, a moon of either Jupiter or Saturn ?
Oh I do not doubt that we are not alone in this vast universe, but that is the beauty of fiction, you can make it anything you want it to be. That is what Joss has done, written a brilliant piece of fiction in Firefly. He specifically said that he wanted to avoid "bumpy foreheads", etc. He did not want aliens in this story, that does not mean he does not believe in their existance, simply he did not want them involved w/ his tale.
Keep in mind too that makeup and costumes for aliens really cut into your budget, and Joss wanted to use the budget on his cast, crew, and telling a great story, not on cool looking aliens standing around as extras.
"May have been the losing side. Still not convinced it was the wrong one."
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Quote:
Originally posted by Absalon:
We're alone, deal with it. Even if there are aliens, they aint comin and they aint bringin Elvis back.
Agreed.
The reason Aliens would never visit this world is the same reason you would never willingly drive to certain parts of West Virginia, Alabama or Louisiana.
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"Wash. . .we got some local color happening. A grand entrance would not go amiss."
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Quote:
Originally posted by SpaceGeneral:
There's also Mission to Mars, the Red Planet, etc. I'd better clarify what I mean. If the series was set in our solar system then I would accept that there were no aliens. However as I see it, the series is set elsewhere in the Universe and all the planets are bare, I find that hard to accept.
Is no one aware that we might not be alone in this solar system ? Is no one aware that there might be live under the Ice sheet on Europa, a moon of either Jupiter or Saturn ?
What about Heinlen? Asimov? A lot of their sci-fi stories didn't have aliens in them and they are considered the greatest of sci-fi writers ever.
What about Dune, considered the greatest sci-fi epic ever? There weren't any aliens in that and that was set 10,000 years into the future. There were some wierd looking creatures such as the Space Guild but I think they were humans that were transformed to look that way due to the spice. Sort of like Reavers in Firefly.
And whoever mentioned Apollo 13, that is based on a true historic event and isn't sci-fi.
Oh, and play Cantr II at www.cantr.net.
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There were aliens in Dune, so that's a bad example.
Look Spacegeneral (whoever you are) if you really and truly believe that there might be alien life in the galaxy, then you ALSO believe...
there might NOT be alien life in the galaxy.
(The word MIGHT, being what it is, means a percent chance. And if the percent isn't one-hundred, then there's that other percent.)
So, glad to see you agree with Joss and company, Spacegeneral. There might be alien life... and there might not be. Joss is only making one sci-fi show, so there you have it.
--Ant
"Liberty must not be purchased at the cost of Humanity." --Captain Robert Henner
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