Firefly Raised the Bar for Science Fiction

POSTED BY: SergeantX
UPDATED: Monday, March 24, 2025 23:29
VIEWED: 12995
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SERGEANTX

Friday, December 20, 2002 3:26 AM

I was thinking today that I really won't be able to watch science fiction with the same interest anymore. Not being childish, its just that Firefly has made them all seem silly by comparison. From Star Trek, to Star Wars, even the newer stuff like Farscape, its all fun stuff, but nothing like the art that was/is/will be Firefly. I suppose if I were looking on the bright side, I'd be encouraged by the positive example Joss and crew have established. Maybe the rest of the sci-fi writers will try their hands at real character development... but I'm not really in a 'bright side' kind of mood.....

SergeantX

"..and here's to all the dreamers, may our open hearts find rest." -- Nanci Griffith

KOBAYASHI

Friday, December 20, 2002 3:51 AM

I completely agree.

The only problem I've had with Firefly is this: It made me loose some of my love for Buffy. :( Thats hard to do, but after watching Firefly, Buffy just looses some of its shine. Firely is most 'Shiny'...

HKCAVALIER

Friday, December 20, 2002 4:37 AM

I've never seen a show in it's first season so strong, so focused, so economical. Not one of the 9 main characters is a dud, or you know, not fully realized. Even the credits sequense sets exactly the right tone. All my favorite sci-fi shows had something wrong with them in the first season. Star Trek TNG, X-files, Quantum Leap all had pretty shaky first seasons. (Remember the endless Kevin Costneresque voice-overs on Quantum Leap?)

GUILLERMO

Friday, December 20, 2002 5:27 AM

I definitely agree with all the comments. I honestly only ever watched a couple of episodes of any Star Trek. I have never was a big fan of the series in whatever form it developed into. Neither am I a big science fiction fan, I couldn't stand Buffy nor its spinoff Angel, I didn't like Dark Angel. The only show I sorta of followed off and on was back in the day when I would watch Dr. Who with my father at night. Actually thinking about it, I have never been a big fan of any television show.

Firefly just seems more focused on the story and character development which I never felt in any other science fiction based show.

UFO

Friday, December 20, 2002 7:00 AM

I'll probably get hammered for this...but here goes. First, I really like Firefly...but it's pretty soft sci-fi. So to say that it "raises the bar for sci-fi" is a stretch. I'm a fairly well read fan of sci-fi and there is some AMAZING material out there that will probably never see a silver or TV screen. It's truly sad that people judge sci-fi by what they see on a screen and not what they've read.

I also wouldn't call Firefly a work of art. It IS an extremely well crafted work of "pop art" delivered in the television medium...I would agree with that.

I mean, it's an really entertaining show...but some of the opinions here boarder on fanaticism.

HOOK

Friday, December 20, 2002 7:27 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by UFO:
I'll probably get hammered for this...but here goes. First, I really like Firefly...but it's pretty soft sci-fi. So to say that it "raises the bar for sci-fi" is a stretch. I'm a fairly well read fan of sci-fi and there is some AMAZING material out there that will probably never see a silver or TV screen. It's truly sad that people judge sci-fi by what they see on a screen and not what they've read.

I agree with this. In fact i have said as much here (see item 2):

http://www.fireflyfans.net/thread.asp?b=2&t=1144#9327

Quote:

I also wouldn't call Firefly a work of art. It IS an extremely well crafted work of "pop art" delivered in the television medium...I would agree with that.

I disagree with this though. I see no reason as to claim that other forms of art such as painting or poetry or literature are higher then others. Each has its own limitations and pluses.

Quote:

I mean, it's an really entertaining show...but some of the opinions here boarder on fanaticism.

hehe...yup there is a little bit of FANaticism here but its all in good fun...I think. Anyway its better to be fanatical about some TV show then say religion or communism. I think a quote from Neal Stephenson's book "In the Beginning Was the Command Line" would be apt...seeing how he is a SciFi writer and all.

"The only real problem is that anyone who has no culture, other then this global monoculture, is completely screwed. Anyone who grows up watching TV, never sees any religion or philosoph, is raised in am atmosphere of moral relativism, learns about civics from watching bimbo eruptions on network TV news, and attends a university where postmodernists vie to outdo each other in demolishing traditional notions of truth and quality, is going to come out into the world as one pretty feckless human being. But perhaps the goal of all this is to make us feckless so we won't nuke each other."

hook

http://diogenes.gotdns.org

STRAYCAT

Friday, December 20, 2002 4:58 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by UFO:
I'll probably get hammered for this...but here goes. First, I really like Firefly...but it's pretty soft sci-fi. So to say that it "raises the bar for sci-fi" is a stretch. I'm a fairly well read fan of sci-fi and there is some AMAZING material out there that will probably never see a silver or TV screen. It's truly sad that people judge sci-fi by what they see on a screen and not what they've read.

Agree completely about the amazing written material, but at the same time, I wouldn't *want* to see much of it on the screen - TV or film - because I believe it would be ruined. Imagine, if you dare, an attempt to film Hyperion, Use of Weapons, Snow Crash, Fallen Dragon, *anything* by CJ Cherryh, to name but a few... these would be incredibly hard to do as TV shows or movies - and I think I'd prefer only to have them as books.

Firefly, on the other hand, wouldn't work that well as a book. IMHO. It does work spectacularly well as a piece of TV tho, and that is what I love it for. In a medium where sci-fi is chiefly
done badly, Firefly shines. As such, yes it's a
piece of art.

Quote:
I also wouldn't call Firefly a work of art. It IS an extremely well crafted work of "pop art" delivered in the television medium...I would agree with that.

I mean, it's an really entertaining show...but some of the opinions here boarder on fanaticism.

Mine included

Andy

UFO

Friday, December 20, 2002 5:26 PM

Funny there are two references to Neal Stephenson in this thread. One of my favs. I recently read _The Diamond Age_ and my brain still hurts from the concepts introduced. But you're right, trying to put some of his works on the screen would be nearly impossible no matter how brilliant and visionary they are.

GTHING

Friday, December 20, 2002 6:31 PM

I agree that Firefly is a rather soft sci-fi show. I think of science fiction as a form of mythology. Star Wars is a wonderful example. Star Trek and Farscape fit that description too. Firefly is more of a study of society's future set as a character drama. We are only seeing people on the screen. River is the only mythological character. Serenity is mythological in its ability to travel the vast depths of space. Otherwise, we aren't seeing much mythology. We are watching a show that is a lot more than just another science fiction show.

Exerpt from My Genre Geek Resume:
~huge Odyssey 5 fan
~former Andromeda fan

PFORHAN

Friday, December 20, 2002 7:13 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by UFO:
I'll probably get hammered for this...but here goes. First, I really like Firefly...but it's pretty soft sci-fi. So to say that it "raises the bar for sci-fi" is a stretch.

Just for clarification here, what exactly is soft sci-fi and hard sci-fi, and where is the line between them? Where do some common/well-known stories and authors fit in that spectrum? Arthur C. Clarke, Fredrick (sp?) Pohl, Blade Runner, Terminator, Star Trek, etc?

Pat.

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