In out of Gas, Jane to Anara

POSTED BY: 2by2gingerblue
UPDATED: Thursday, December 16, 2010 07:11
VIEWED: 14711
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PATCHIST

Sunday, August 16, 2009 9:07 AM

Maybe Jayne said it without real malice attached when he said 'whoring' just trying to push Inara's buttons.

We all know Jayne wasn't burdened with overabundance of schooling. HA!

AURAPTOR

Monday, October 19, 2009 3:17 AM

I just think that Inara knows who Jayne is, and from his perspective, it's all 'whoring'. Mal, though not exactly scholarly, does have enough sense to understand, if not approve of, the difference between whores and companions.

Plus, I agree that Inara knows Jayne is trying to ruffle some feathers, and she one ups him by paying his remarks no mind. She's smart like that.

The T.Rex they call JANE!

ASARIAN

Monday, October 19, 2009 4:09 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by LeopardFlan:
That's a good perspective. I had always thought that Inara was just concealing the reaction to being called a whore, and spinning it into a joke...

I'd say that precisely accurate. Not only that, in preparation of the punchline, Inara riles up Jayne's fantasies ("Do I ever! Funny and sexy."), only to slam him down mercilessly soon thereafter.

P.S. It's "Jayne to Inara," not "Jane to Anara." For one, Jane really is a girl's name. :)

--
"Mei-mei, everything I have is right here." -- Simon Tam

2X2

Tuesday, October 20, 2009 12:33 PM

Jayne also respects 'whoring'. He has no issue with it, does not see it as a negative thing, and enjoys spending his time with whores, and therefore attaches no judgement to his use of the word when using it to describe what Inara does - completely the opposite with Mal.

MSA

Tuesday, October 20, 2009 4:50 PM

I'd agree that Jayne lacks polish, subtlety, and education. Inara deals with men from differing backgrounds on their level, so I took it as that's Jayne's level of understand of what she does. He doesn't mean in unkindly and he didn't mean it in a rude way so she doesn't take it that way.
Mal on the other hand says it like it's a curse word... much different

To love someone is to see a miracle invisible to others.
--Francois Mauriac
It's fuzzy-minded liberal thinking like that that gets you eaten.

ANOTHERSKY

Sunday, November 1, 2009 11:59 PM

I would disagree, in that I think she does resent Jayne's understanding of her and "whores" as the same thing, but at Jayne's level, there is no appropriate counterargument. Thus what I see as a sardonic bowing-out.

Jayne wants titillation, not just tickling of his funny bone, and I think Inara feels that indulging him in this way would cheapen herself and her profession. She is after all a very high status, highly rated and highly priced Companion. bwah.

___
Going for a ride.

TOADSMOOTHY

Thursday, December 16, 2010 12:00 AM

I figure she knows Jayne doesn't mean anything derogatory by using the term "whore." After all, Jayne LIKES whores! hahaha

GWEK

Thursday, December 16, 2010 3:41 AM

Jayne and Mal use the word "whore" in very different ways, although both of them have the same issue: they can't see the difference between a whore and a companion.

When Mal uses the word "whore" against Inara, he generally uses it to cut, to injure. On some level, that's because he has trouble drawing a distinction between "whore" and "companion," and he knows that Inara's profession will always stand in the way of a relationship between them. Because she won't/can't change, and that hurts Mal, he uses it to hurt her right back.

Jayne also has trouble seeing the difference, although we see many times that he prefers whores, because they relationship is simple and straightforward (he even gos so far as to verbalize it in BETTER DAYS). Still, in his simple mind, sex for money is sex for money. When he uses the term "whore," it is not with the malice that Mal has, because there's no personal "pain" involved... although it may be with a certain smug superiority, because I imagine that Jayne DOES feel a little superior to whores (although Jayne himself, whose loyalty can be purchased to some extent, is essentially a whore himself...).

If I recall correctly, Inara shuts Jayne down in the conversation, and does it with a bit of cruelty, although her reaction is indeed different from what it might be if Mal used the word--because ultimately Jayne is not CUTTING her the way Mal would. Doesn't mean it doesn't sting, though.

www.stillflying.net: "Here's how it might have been..."

TOADSMOOTHY

Thursday, December 16, 2010 7:11 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by GWEK:
he knows that Inara's profession will always stand in the way of a relationship between them.

It may be a fine distinction but, is Mal against her being a Companion because he wants her exclusively or because he cares about her and feels her profession degrades her, that she is better and deserves better? I am basing this notion on what he said (and did) about how Atherton Wing (and others) viewed and treated her.

I think she does hide behind her position and uses her official status to elevate the reality of what she does for a living. Perhaps Mal is saying:"No, you're a whore, a fancy whore perhaps, but a whore nonetheless. I love you and you deserve better than being marginalized and disrespected by guys like Atherton Wing."

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