The Tam Parents

POSTED BY: AnotherSky
UPDATED: Friday, February 26, 2010 00:39
VIEWED: 10633
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ANOTHERSKY

Friday, May 1, 2009 10:00 AM

So, all we know about them is that their names are Gabriel(an angel) and Regan(most famously,Lear's pernicious middle daughter)they're fabulously wealthy, they must be somewhat intelligent to have produced two genius offspring,and they move in high society. They can pull strings. And (in the cutscenes at least)Gabriel likes quantities of fancy wine. Apparently passed this on to Simon.

So, what makes them abandon River as lost, and disown Simon as a horribly bad connection?

Are they involved in Blue Sun? Are they just fabulously selfish? I've just having trouble with them and their motives...what do people think?

ALIASSE

Friday, May 1, 2009 10:20 AM

Have a look at the thread I started on 'The Academy and its students' - still on the front page, just (it didn't go very far). See what Cliosmuse has to say about the original shooting script for Safe - that the Tams may have been under duress. For me that's the best explanation, combined with the other things that some of the other posters mentioned.

STEAMER

Friday, May 1, 2009 4:06 PM

There's another cutscene from 'Safe' in which they reveal that they're more concerned with supporting the government than they are with looking out for their children. They think the Alliance is so great that they refuse to believe River is in trouble from the government, which as Gabriel says (in cut dialogue) they will stop at nothing to support. He does also say, however, that they have to be careful about how they act, and 'this is about our lives'. Now what does he mean by 'lives'? Does he mean it in the abstract sense that their lives as they know them will come to ruin if they accuse the Feds of hurting River? Or are he and Regan literally afraid for their lives - that if they try to help her, the blue-glove guys will come after them and shut them up?

Being that Gabriel is portrayed as a big-time richbug businessman, my own guess is that his corporation has strong ties to the government - like a defense contractor or a scientific institute. Going toe-to-toe with the government that provides him with much of his work might well mean the loss of his life and/or the work he built it around. It seems like Simon has inherited his sense of devotion since he's every bit as devoted to saving River as Gabriel is to maintaining his standing in the Alliance. It's bastardly of the Tamfolk to be sure, but evil lurks in the hearts of all men (and women for that matter). Where it comes from is anybody's guess - although that old adage 'Power corrupts' may have its place here.

Kaylee cautions
Mal defies 'er
So much for
The catalyser
FIREFLY

Captain of the New England Browncoats
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BLUESUNCOMPANYMAN

Friday, May 1, 2009 4:42 PM

Steamer. Execellent post.

The subject of Blue Sun, The Alliance, and the Academy has long been an interest of mine. I have a lengthy blog post called "What is the Blue Sun Corporation?" that analyses Blue Sun and touches some of these issues from a different angle. Your further analysis adds more value.

I further propose that Book knew many of these things. I believe most strongly that Book was an operative during the Unification War and the layers of evil within the parliment, the nobility, and Blue Sun were somewhat familiar subjects to him. They represent some of the many reasons he left the life of an operative behind to become a shepard.

ZEEK

Friday, May 1, 2009 4:56 PM

I think we would have seen them again if the show had continued. I think they would not be characters that we end up liking.

SCHISM

Saturday, May 2, 2009 2:20 AM

Some civilian Nazi members were so fiercely loyal to the party that they sold out their own friends and family.

People are essentially retarded at heart.

Strange how two losers could produce two intelligent and NOBLE children.

CELLARDOOR

Saturday, May 2, 2009 2:39 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Schism:

Strange how two losers could produce two intelligent and NOBLE children.

This was the matter my family raised when I showed them the episode with the Tam parents in it: "Are they just greedy? stupid? How in the heck did two such brilliant children come from such dim-witted or brainwashed parents?" I don't think we came to a conclusion. It does seem like Gabriel's primary motivation was his own image and societal standing, including having the brilliant doctor son he could brag about, but not once Simon threatened that option. Still, very strange, I agree. =\ (not just about the intelligence, but also the nobility you mentioned, Schism)

Comparing Gabriel and Regan to civilians in Germany of that era seems one of the best comparisons I can think of. Not all those people were morons, but they certainly were blinded by their government's promises.

ALIASSE

Saturday, May 2, 2009 12:47 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Schism:

Strange how two losers could produce two intelligent and NOBLE children.

Well, selfish parents can produce the most giving kids - because they require the people around them to cater to their needs they train their kids to think of others i.e them, and the kids can transfer this to their relationships with other people. Maybe the Tams were not noble but for some reason they required Simon and River to be. Could be they wanted them to be 'noble' towards them

ALIASSE

Saturday, May 2, 2009 1:31 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Schism:
Some civilian Nazi members were so fiercely loyal to the party that they sold out their own friends and family.

Same for Soviet Russia, Mao's China - all society's in the grip of mass ideologies. We don't see a mass ideology like this in Firefly. I would have liked to see - if the series had continued - how Joss would have conceived one in the context of the Verse. Personally I see the political ideology as being more analogous to Latin America at the time of the Dirty Wars, where those in power were motivated mainly by greed and hatred of anything that wasn't them (the poor, students, socialists of any shade, and anyone who supported these groups, including of course the Church).

BYTEMITE

Saturday, May 2, 2009 5:17 PM

I think it's possible that River and Simon were raised both by the hired help and each other more than they were their parents. It happens a lot in rich families, and children can often end up with different values than their parents.

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