Rewriting Shindig

POSTED BY: DMI
UPDATED: Wednesday, February 18, 2009 12:25
VIEWED: 21001
PAGE 5 of 11

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Originally posted by Platonist:
Productive rant, PheonixRose, and I completely agree.

All Shindig does for me is convince me that Joss had no idea where he was going with Inara's character. It was written mainly to create a platform for Mal to espouse his views on the misgivings of legalized prostitution in a Western context. It fails on so many levels, but especially in what we need to believe about the nature of Companioning. Begging the question: what are Companions? Are they Geisha, high class prostitutes, therapists, or courtesans that want long term relationships? Could it be that even with legitimacy, fame and fortune it still reduces people to objects? Joss can’t decide and neither can we.

All Inara's client "choices" are illogical except for the awkward virgin in Jaynestown. And even that’s not a necessity, but a privilege of the wealthy. The rest of them are narcissistic self indulgent egotistical misfits, including the newest one in the comics, Sanda, who beats the shit out of Mal. Why would an educated beautiful woman want to touch any of these people unless she’s desperate for money like most RL hookers or supporting a drug habit with three kids at home? It makes no sense and that’s why Joss turned her into a teacher. Trust me, that is REAL prostitution, right there! He finally got it right.

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Nice rants, PheonixRose and Platonist.

While I can try to explain myself that Inara's clients were compromises she had to make in the rougher, culturally different Border world, it's still... yeah. You are totally right. And do not GET me started on the teacher thing. One of my pet peeves about the movie.

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Originally posted by Bytemite:
Mmm, after watching it again, I'm just not feeling the dancing to increase respectability angle. Maybe the what's meant to be implied, but it just seems too abrupt for it to be something he was considering from when she came over. The request feels like it has an entirely emotional basis.

But that's just how I see it.

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Haven't seen it for 4 days. But I recall that Ath came over to interrupt the deal Mal was trying to work with the reluctant Harrow. Respectability was not what Mal wnated, but to be trustworthy enough for Harrow to conduct illegal activities with. Mal wants the Ath itterruption to end -how better than to create Inara envy until Ath takes her away (at the same time leaving Harrow, who would then be available to Mal again) Mal might feel the diversion to remove Ath from Harrow could endear Harrow to Mal. Mal is also removing the likelihood that Ath will start to inquire about what Harrow and Mal were talking about, how they knew each other, how they were introduced, which Mal may have wanted to avoid, and likely Harrow did want to avoid - so this sensitivity towards maintaining Harrow's deniability may have impressed Harrow, and would have been sufficient cause for Mal to USE Inara towards this gain. Unfortunatly, Ath's treatment of Inara after Mal's dance was not part of Mal's plan, nor the unknown rules of challenge.
So, 1. Ath was interrupting Mal & Harrow.
2. Mal wanted to get the deal done.
3. Mal wanted to not expose Harrow - it would be a sign of untrustworthiness in shady dealings.
4. Mal wanted to get Ath away from Harrow.
5. Mal wanted Ath's attention on Harrow/Mal to be diverted, and was willing to make himself the scapegoat for that cause.
6. You think Mal didn't WANT it to look like he was just being emotional? Please try reviewing Bushwhacked when Mal tells Book to give peace to the Reaver victims, and Simon to handle the bodies, and Jayne to help, and Kaylee and Inara are impressed with Mal's caring and sensitivity while Zoe afixes a quizzical look. Please.
7. Mal was willing to USE Inara to distract Ath from Harrow and/or Harrow/Mal - and it worked.
8. Mla may have detected a note of distain in Harrow when Ath interrupted, and may have considered irritating Ath could increase Mal's standing with Harrow.
9. Mal may have considered that, by the grace that he knew these dance steps, and could fit in, he was dinstinguishing himself from the low life sociopath community.

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I will say that Shindig is not my fave ep, yet as with most of FF far above the remaining fare on TV. I don't desire to condense characters for this ep. I am not bothered by most of the "problems" o the original post.
I am most rubbed wrong with the scene of Badger & goons brandishing guns. In public. Is this really the kind of place Persephone is? at the time of a big shindig?
The other is the duel itself. The Inara claim, and Ath's distraction. Sue, Inara offering herself will give Mal the incentive to whip Ath's behind, but it did seem contrived. Maybe the editing was mistimed. but recall that for broadcast, this was one of the early episodes and the audience may have not yet been up to speed. The editing may have been paced for those accustomed to watching baseball or grass growth. Also Inara clearly pointing out that Registered Companions and their Guild had much, much more power and prestige was needed fo the audience to understand the point.

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Good morning browncoats.

This thread has certainly gotten a number of responses and I agree with many but at the same time there are some that I’m not sure I agree with, JMO. One thing I see is that as long as I’ve been coming to FFF.net there have been few threads that have focused on Inara, in a round-about way this one has and I like it. I really don’t have a problem with the way the episode was written or performed so here I’ve jotted down a number of things as the way I see it.

1) Inara being belittled by Atherton Wing is no different than Kaylee being belittled by Malcolm Reynolds in the episode.

2) Inara choosing the company of Atherton over another client shows that their first meeting may not have been great but it didn’t go badly either. Besides she likely feels safer seeing someone she knows already and going to a party would sound like fun too.

3) Dealing with clients in a business attitude one must put up with things one may not like. That goes for anyone, in any business, not just the Companion trade. You do what you do to make the agreement a success. This doesn’t mean putting up with abuse but it may mean having to put up with things you don’t want to hear. Inara was just doing her job. Like in the scene in the Serenity pilot eps where she’s bored to tears with the young man but fakes being interested.

4) Atherton approaching Malcolm and Sir Warrick at the party to my feeling was something Mr. Wing was doing to impress Sir Warrick. With Inara on his arm maybe meant as a trophy prize. I know it would seem degrading but remember Mal talks down to her all the time. Inara is smarter than most men she dates and she’s just learned to be a diplomat about it. This is how the part is written I think.

5) Entering into a party such as the one on Persephone, strangers are sought out to prove themselves worthy. The party goers want to know who you are and what makes you feel that you belong there. Kaylee is an outsider and her first attempt to mingle with the first young man she meets ends with failure. The second round with the four young ladies doesn’t look much better until the older gentleman comes in to show that they are not all assholes.

6) Kaylees acceptance comes with the group of fellows when she shows that “ This pretty girl” knows her sh*t about engines too. What guy wouldn’t want the company of a girl who could talk shop?

I will end the list here but there is a lot more going on at the party and I feel it was a good episode and well written by Lady Espenson IMO.

Z

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Originally posted by jewelstaitefan:

7. Mal was willing to USE Inara to distract Ath from Harrow and/or Harrow/Mal - and it worked.
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It all makes sense except that it's a bit of a stretch to deny that Ath's hand gripping Inara's arm didn't play a role in Mal's decision. You should add that to the list and then it's complete. :)

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Originally posted by jewelstaitefan:
6. You think Mal didn't WANT it to look like he was just being emotional? Please try reviewing Bushwhacked when Mal tells Book to give peace to the Reaver victims, and Simon to handle the bodies, and Jayne to help, and Kaylee and Inara are impressed with Mal's caring and sensitivity while Zoe afixes a quizzical look. Please.

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On that one, I got right away that he was trying to keep something secret from the rest of his crew. He sends them to put the bodies to rest while he confirms his concerns about the present the Reavers left for them. In doing so, he was trying to save them from unnecessary fear in the event his worries were unfounded (and they weren't, which is just his luck).

Now, I haven't been arguing that all of these angles on Mal asking Inara to dance aren't true or even implied. Only that I, for some reason or another, haven't been picking up those implications, and so to me, his asking doesn't seem to have anything calculated in regards to the deal about it.

If there's to be a rewrite, maybe it could be a little more obvious. Like, perhaps, Mal asking Inara to dance in direct response to her asking why he's at the party or something. That would be very clear that he's trying to protect the business deal from being exposed.

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Originally posted by PhoenixRose:

If I rewrote this, it would probably come out to be a completely different episode in almost all respects. The only thing I'd make an effort to keep would be the exchange between Badger and River, because that was awesome.

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PR, I agree with most everything you said, but you know how stubborn and protective we browncoats can be so I tried to take it easy on the urge to rewrite the whole thing, but since you and a few other people have brought it up, Ath just isn't very interesting and this ep fails to do what an episode early in a scifi series needs to do in the way of clarifying how the world works, particularly in how Inara and companions actually work. Every time my girlfriend watches this episode it confuses her as to just how being a companion works and in future eps when people ask Inara about companion rules the only answer she ever gives is "it's complicated." How frustrating.

I don't know why, but I personally can get around the cardboard cut-out villian (maybe because the uber-cool villian Badger is in the ep) if some of these other things are fixed and as you've pointed out, perhaps we could get a little more explanation as to how companions do what they do.

I haven't had time to dig for the original script yet but if anyone knows where it is, please let me know.

Also, as a writer I love to hear criticism, comments and suggestions regarding my work so if anyone knows a way to tip Espenson off to this thread, maybe she'd be interested in sharing her own thoughts.
-e


A blog on the struggles of an unpublished writer: http://www.blogiversity.org/blogs/dmi/default.aspx

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Originally posted by zzetta13:
1) Inara being belittled by Atherton Wing is no different than Kaylee being belittled by Malcolm Reynolds in the episode.

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I disagree. Mal was somewhat annoyed at Inara, and became more annoyed as Kaylee happily prattled about her rich clients and freedom from restriction. He lashed out about the dress, but I wouldn't say he was belittling Kaylee. It was a far from sensitive thing to say, but I don't think 'poofy fancy dress has no place in the engine room' is really a snub against Kaylee. She does spend most of her time in the engine room, not just because it's her job but because she likes it there. What I think he was really feeling was that he was unsure what place Inara and trappings such as she possessed had on his ship in general, and he was tired of hearing about it. He was being a jerk, but it didn't mean he thought badly of Kaylee. There's a difference, too, in their reactions. Kaylee left immediately and made her displeasure known to the Captain quite clearly. Her delight with the dress and the idea of a fancy party went a long way towards making her forget her annoyance, and she got to tease Mal about his tight pants. Kaylee is a much more straightforward girl than Inara. She might be freaked out in a gunfight, but she's not afraid to be clear on how she feels, and for the most part it's as easy to make her happy as it is to make her upset, probably because it's so clear what makes her happy.
I had a point. Oh yes...
Mal was less nasty than Atherton, and Kaylee showed more spine about it than Inara.

DM, I think the original opening teaser for the episode might only have been a draft and never made it further, I only heard it vaguely mentioned in the commentary as "my original thought was..."

[/sig]

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Originally posted by DMI:

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particularly in how Inara and companions actually work.

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Much as it shocks and pains me to say this of a fine, respectable-looking woman such as Inara, I have come to suspect that she may actually be engaged in having sex with people for financial gain.

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