Why Not Magistrate Higgins?

POSTED BY: Jongsstraw
UPDATED: Wednesday, December 15, 2010 23:54
VIEWED: 9270
PAGE 1 of 3

1 2 3 NEXT PAGE

JONGSSTRAW

Tuesday, December 22, 2009 1:59 PM

Inara told Fess Higgins she would not have come there to be with his father. Did she just say that to him to build up his confidence or something? Would she actually have gone there for the Magistrate if he had asked her?

PIZMOBEACH

Tuesday, December 22, 2009 2:06 PM

He owns people, he wears paisley smoking jackets during the day, and he's just not very fun.

But A), she knew Fess hated his duddy, so she was getting on his good side.

Scifi movie music + Firefly dialogue clips, 24 hours a day - http://www.scifiradio.com

JONGSSTRAW

Tuesday, December 22, 2009 2:30 PM

All her guys seem flawed in some way. Atherton Wing is a murderer of sorts, and also a possessive psychopath. In the Pilot, the kid from Persephone with the Sgt. Pepper uniform was a smart-ass dandy who insulted her on his way out. The best "client" we saw was the Minister gal in War Stories. I think partying with the Higgmeister would be a fun diversion for her.

PENNAUSAMIKE

Tuesday, December 22, 2009 3:10 PM

The choice to purchase sex rather than find it in a committed relationship reflects a flawed personality in the first place, in my opinion.

No matter how much you shine it up, no matter how rich the trappings or how cloaked in ritual, the Companion system is still at its core; one step removed from a blow-job for a twenty in an alley.

Reducing sex to a business transaction is only glamorous in fiction.
The "hooker-with-a-heart-of-gold" is a fantasy construct,
not a real person shaped by the consequences of practicing the sex trade.

Mike

NEWOLDBROWNCOAT

Tuesday, December 22, 2009 4:45 PM

I think Inara has a thing for younger men. We only get a limited sample, but there's the young guy in the Pilot and Fess Higgins- that's 2 out of a small sample, so not typical, but suggests the possibility. So her rejection of the Magistrate is a polite way of saying, " He's too old..."

Maybe...

BYTEMITE

Tuesday, December 22, 2009 6:04 PM

o_0 @ this thread.

Let's be fair. Inara may have training on how to read people, but she's not psychic. However pretty she is and however wise she seems to be, she's deep down someone who thinks the best of people, like Kaylee, and she can be tricked. Atherton tricked her, and turned out to be more possessive and less respectful than she realized. Mal being there was a good thing, because his presence brought out that ugliness. Similarly, the kid in the pilot is either bratty and was getting back at Inara for her rejection, or is just plain awkward.

Is there a possibility that Inara cares more about her clients than they do about her? Yes, very much so, I think that's a major part of her character, and the series goes out of it's way to show that. Even the Councilwoman in War Stories in the shooting script is actually less than helpful (and downright cold) towards Inara when she goes to ask for help to save Mal. Her best interaction probably is with Fess in Jaynestown.

But that isn't really reflective of her profession, which we are given to understand she's treated differently and EXPECTS different treatment than a common whore. She's pampered and has a shore of pride and education, she's a courtesan, and while the courtiers of most countries didn't respect the acts, they respected the person (except maybe France, they kinda liked both). This is more of an issue with the Border Worlds/Rim and Inara's own innate idealism.

Why aren't we asking about how Kaylee fell for Tracey's advances, huh? He turned out to not be such a nice guy. But just because of what Inara is, she (and her profession) gets attacked like this? I call foul.

PLATONIST

Tuesday, December 22, 2009 6:23 PM

Good thread, I feel the need to reply, too because my understanding of this character comes from more of a professional viewpoint, as someone who works in a professional service orientated field. I don’t get to choose my clients like Inara does, though.

I see Inara’s character as at a crossroads with her professional standing and her relationship with Mal. And this is what was to be explored throughout the series. Inara has a thing for Mal, yes, but she takes her work very seriously, but it is all work, work, work...and its hard work (no pun intended) choosing who you’re going to have sex with from a client menu because you never know what you’re really getting.

Her choices seem to be based more on what she perceives as the client's need, i.e., Fess needs confidence, the councilor wants female companionship, Ath, the trophy on his arm, the Alliance cadet, identity, and so forth. If you had to choose, wouldn’t it be the ones that value what you offer based on your perceptions of that person’s respect for what you do, even if they prove you wrong in the end, like so many did?

In Better Days, she really slips up, though, when she takes Sanda as a client, because he's actually after Mal and uses her to set a trap, but, by this time her professional objectivity is compromised by her feelings for Mal, as we see her thoughts during her work session with Sanda;)

And, I think if the series would have continued Inara would have made a grim desperate choice or would have been coerced into companioning a client, probably to save Mal or Serenity, maybe before she left, and would have been abused. Because like other’s have said, prostitution just isn’t that glamorous and should never be portrayed as such. And, of course Joss was already taking heat from women’s rights groups to justify her role by making it more realistic and that is probably why we didn’t see much of it in the BDM. It wasn’t necessary to tell the story, anymore, and Joss has said he didn’t think anyone was that interested in Guild culture. I’m guessing it was shelved by the end of the movie because it doesn’t work with where he wants to take the story.

PENNAUSAMIKE

Tuesday, December 22, 2009 7:03 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Bytemite:
o_0 @ this thread.

SNIP
But just because of what Inara is, she (and her profession) gets attacked like this? I call foul.

To paraphrase Mal:
I might respect Inara, but I don't respect the profession.

She might go along with the concept of the "honorable Companion",
but I don't feel that is any more possible than an "honorable drug-dealer".

While some good can come out of anything,
I feel the sex-trade de-values human relationships by a vast majority.

Just my take,
Mike

JONGSSTRAW

Tuesday, December 22, 2009 7:08 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Bytemite:
o_0 @ this thread.

Let's be fair. Inara may have training on how to read people, but she's not psychic. However pretty she is and however wise she seems to be, she's deep down someone who thinks the best of people, like Kaylee, and she can be tricked. Atherton tricked her, and turned out to be more possessive and less respectful than she realized. Mal being there was a good thing, because his presence brought out that ugliness. Similarly, the kid in the pilot is either bratty and was getting back at Inara for her rejection, or is just plain awkward.

Is there a possibility that Inara cares more about her clients than they do about her? Yes, very much so, I think that's a major part of her character, and the series goes out of it's way to show that. Even the Councilwoman in War Stories in the shooting script is actually less than helpful (and downright cold) towards Inara when she goes to ask for help to save Mal. Her best interaction probably is with Fess in Jaynestown.

But that isn't really reflective of her profession, which we are given to understand she's treated differently and EXPECTS different treatment than a common whore. She's pampered and has a shore of pride and education, she's a courtesan, and while the courtiers of most countries didn't respect the acts, they respected the person (except maybe France, they kinda liked both). This is more of an issue with the Border Worlds/Rim and Inara's own innate idealism.

Why aren't we asking about how Kaylee fell for Tracey's advances, huh? He turned out to not be such a nice guy. But just because of what Inara is, she (and her profession) gets attacked like this? I call foul.

I was just havin' some fun speculating about the nutty Magistrate being with Inara. BC's seem to have something to say on the subject, and whatever they say is fine with me.

BYTEMITE

Tuesday, December 22, 2009 7:14 PM

An interesting point about the abuse, because you're right, the world in which we know the trade has a lot of it. Judging by the sideplot you mention from the Serenity "kitchen sink" script, it's also not unknown in Inara's profession and even comes from Alliance officials and the Core.

We all know that Inara takes her share of abuse, I mean, look at Mal! The things that come out his mouth aren't exactly nice, and he's not even a client (though he's rarely nice to anyone).

I guess the question is, how much abuse is Inara willing to endure to stay independent and have a job? How much abuse would any of us endure? The workplace is a very stressful environment with bosses checking your work and office politics, and retail is pretty much MISERABLE because the customers treat you like dirt. But people work those jobs, don't they? It's something they do, but it's not who they are and it's not their life.

Also, another aspect here is that Inara seems to like her job and is proud of it. Of course it doesn't seem flattering if you just reduce it to a dirty alleyway comparison, but that's not what (or all) she does (and not in dirty alleyways). Judging by her interaction with the councilwoman and Fess (and Sanda, in Better Days), Inara seems to see herself as a therapist or maybe even kind of a spiritual new-age psychiatrist. She genuinely thinks she's helping people and comforting them.

Looking at this another way, Simon treats all the members of the crew on Serenity. Some of them don't like him and treat him badly, and he doesn't really like them either. But he treats them because it's his job, and he gets satisfaction out of it because he sees it as healing people and doing something noble. I see Inara's take on her profession being much the same manner.

1 2 3 NEXT PAGE