Losing that "western" feel?

POSTED BY: InevitableBetrayal
UPDATED: Tuesday, August 17, 2004 20:39
VIEWED: 7032
PAGE 1 of 3

1 2 3 NEXT PAGE

INEVITABLEBETRAYAL

Sunday, August 15, 2004 5:01 AM

There's been talk of Joss toning down the "western" aspect of Firefly for "Serenity". So...

1) If anyone has any info, could you please illuminate to me the nature of the "toning down"?

2) How do y'all Browncoats feel about it?

_______________________________________________
I wish I had a magical wish-granting plank.

TENTHCREWMEMBER

Sunday, August 15, 2004 5:23 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by InevitableBetrayal:
There's been talk of Joss toning down the "western" aspect of Firefly for "Serenity". So...

1) If anyone has any info, could you please illuminate to me the nature of the "toning down"?

2) How do y'all Browncoats feel about it?

*points at you* BLASPHEMER!!! LOL

1) sorry, got nuthin'
2) see my opening statement. :)

To expound: I like the "Western", or as I prefer "Frontier", aspect of the show. I guess so long as he keeps it, even if it toned down, I can't complain, but I'd rather it still be there as much as possible. It is HALF of why I love the show, and the other half being the science fiction part.

To me, taking the "west" out of Firefly would be like say...taking Vampires out of Angel and Buffy...or Klingons and Vulcans out of Star Trek...or Stormtroopers out of Star Wars (oh wait they did that, no wonder those 2 new movies sucked)...or putting Battlestar Galactica on a planet (crap...they did that too, and *piff*, the show died). See my point? Don't fix what ain't broke, Joss. PLEASE DON'T fix what ain't broke...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BROWNCOATS! Rise again and promote Firefly/Serenity!
visit: http://the11thhour.home.att.net

PIRATEJENNY

Sunday, August 15, 2004 5:27 AM

I don't like it..the western quality gives Firefly it uniqueness..someone else in some other tread commented on this

Firefly isn't your run of the mill average Sci Fi thats on T.V or thats at the movie..

it has storytelling..its intelligent..thats what makes it special..thats why when you watch the series you feel like you happened onto a gift..a special gift..its almost like a treasure

I don't want that speicalness that uniquneness taken away..I don't want Firefly / Sernity to became just another sci fi fanstasy flick

AERRIN

Sunday, August 15, 2004 5:36 AM

I think it depends on how it's done. I supsect (or maybe I just hope) that it's less 'taking away Western' and more.. well. Making it more 'Ariel' or 'Objects in Space' than 'Train Job.'

That is, picking a setting that's maybe a bit more core world and less outer rim.

It that's so, I'm totally down with it. I think Firefly stories can be told there as well as anywhere.

I desperately hope it's not an actual tweaking of the universe as we know it, because the 'frontier' aspect of it is one of the things I truly love.

MOHRSTOUTBEARD

Sunday, August 15, 2004 5:38 AM

To be honest, the way I look at this situation is the same way I looked at people trying to nervously presume what was in store for them with Peter Jackson's The Lord Of The Rings.

I would read so many posts worrying about how PJ was going to screw things up, oh noes, head for the hills. . .and after The Fellowship Of The Ring, this really baffled me. Maybe beforehand I could understand their anxiousness, but afterwards he proved he was doing it right, and that he could handle himself. . .but people still worried incessantly over The Two Towers and The Return Of The King.

Now, we all love Firefly. We all love Joss Whedon. And we should all know that he is talented and that he knows what he's doing. So why are we spending our rutting time being worried? Joss isn't going to let us down.

This is like the complaints over Wash's jumpsuit and Serenity's sets having a little bit more money behind them. Why are we worrying? I'm absolutely, one-hundred percent positive that Joss is going to rock our casbah with this movie, and that there's no need to fret.

"You've just gotta go ahead and change the captain of your brainship, because he's drunk at the wheel."

DAEDALUS

Sunday, August 15, 2004 5:40 AM

I for one am a fan of toning the Western down.. with one caveat -

) Not very ruttin much!

I totally agree that the 'frontier' aspect is a huge strength, and I love the dialogue and sets; but a small toning down might not be so bad. I thought the train from TTJ was very plausible, mining and farming are going to be huge occupations, as core worlds likely wouldnt house them etc. but occassionally things went a little overboard. I found HoG to have a plot and style too much like a typical cheesy western, I thought a few lines of dialogue throughout the series sounded a bit hokey, and I thought that the clothes were too much like their real western counterparts.

Yes, I am fully aware that firefly is a western, that happens to be set in space. Not everything has to be justified by realism, as that isn't the point. But bottom line, I thought the places that seemlessly blended western feel with sci-fi setting and technology were the best Firefly had to offer.

Much as Joss was never shooting for realism, so much of the 'verse made perfect sense to me that the places that didn't felt wrong.

To be honest, what firefly reminded me of the most is the computer game 'Starcraft'. Firefly is much more western, (And starcaft had aliens) but they both share the same gritty-frontier-old-school style that I really enjoy. Starcraft would be too far, but a little toning down would be a nice polish.

My two cents.

FORRESTWOLF

Sunday, August 15, 2004 12:40 PM

Well, I talked about this on another thread, but my requirements are either livestock (horses, cows, or, as someone else pointed out, beagles), dusty plateaus, or saloons (a player piano would be nice).

Failing those things, I hope we at least get something like the Evesdown Docks at least once in the show.

- FW

ECGORDON

Sunday, August 15, 2004 2:05 PM

Bushwacked
Out of Gas
Ariel
War Stories
Trash
The Message
Objects in Space

Seems seven out of fourteen eps didn't really have a Western flavor to them anyway (and in a couple of others it was very slight), so what's the problem?

wo men ren ran zai fei xing.

LEXIBLOCK

Sunday, August 15, 2004 2:24 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by MohrStoutbeard:

This is like the complaints over Wash's jumpsuit and Serenity's sets having a little bit more money behind them. Why are we worrying?

Because the idiot powers that pay always want to change it so they can see their damn money. Look at TNG's jump to the big screen, they totally changed the way they lidt the enterprise inside so it looked like something else entirely.

TENTHCREWMEMBER

Sunday, August 15, 2004 2:41 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by ecgordon:
Bushwacked
Out of Gas
Ariel
War Stories
Trash
The Message
Objects in Space

Seems seven out of fourteen eps didn't really have a Western flavor to them anyway (and in a couple of others it was very slight), so what's the problem?

Right. HALF. That's *my* point. :) But ALL 14 episodes had some "western flavor" simply by the language...things like "reckon" "might bit tetchy" "folk" "ain't" and speech mannerisms like dropping the g off words as in "ruttin'" . All I am asking is that the formula stays. Add characters, subtract characters, new worlds old worlds, Reaver attacks or simply fear of them, Alliance is oppresive because it wants to be or needs to be. It's all about the formula.

Sure you can add liver oil to chocolate chip cookies, but that is not necessarily a good thing, and if you take out the chocolate chips...well they are not chocolate chip cookies.

Firefly is my chocolate chip cookie. Make it bigger, woo! Add more chips, woo!

:) Here's hoping all this talk of "less west" is just rumermongering! (:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BROWNCOATS! Rise again and promote Firefly/Serenity!
visit: http://the11thhour.home.att.net

1 2 3 NEXT PAGE