Firefly Raised the Bar for Science Fiction
POSTED BY: SergeantX
UPDATED: Monday, March 24, 2025 23:29
VIEWED: 12995
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I had a similar debate with a friend a few weeks ago, he holding that Firefly was not science fiction at all, that it is a western that just happens to take place in an extrapolated future. There are merits to the argument, and I'll admit Firefly neglects many traditional sci-fi conventions in favor of character drama, but I think it is science fiction. But rather than focusing on the various social and practical effects of a future world, it focus on the characters. The whole setting/situation strikes me as very Heinleinesque.
Frankly, I could care less what genre it falls under, its the first TV I've seen in years that makes you think that the people behind it really cared. The problem is viewers want to know what to expect... and if they guess wrong, or are misled, they feel disappointed, usually not willing to take a look at what's really going on. The problem gets worse when the execs in charge of selling it to the public don't understand it, or don't care enough to be honest about what it is. I think this show appeals to a much older crowd than they expected. They apparently thought, judging from the advertising they did do, that the younger set was the likely audience. A more careful analysis of the series, its themes and strengths, would have given them some better ideas about how to promote it.
I'd really like to see the whole trash science of 'marketing analysis' go away, but if they must run everything by the numbers, they could at least try to do it well. The bean counters can only deal with things they can classify and label, things that neatly fit the expectations of their real target audiences: shiftless, semi-conscious humanoids that respond well to advertising. When something new comes along, something capable of doing much more than they can imagine, it takes work to realize its potential... F*x just didn't do the work.
SergeantX
"..and here's to all the dreamers, may our open hearts find rest." -- Nanci Griffith
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Don't most science fiction authors prefer to be called "futurists" anyway?
I'm pretty sure the term science fiction is just a categorization invented by the book publishers back in the '50s when they wanted to make the genre more palatable to adults. Prior to that, the genre was marketed towards pre-adolescent boys.
Firefly has certainly raised the bar on futurism!!
mattro
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Wasn't it Bradburry that came up with the term "Speculative Fiction" and further, went on to say that all great literature is Speculative?
I tend to get the same feeling from the whole hard vs. soft sci-fi as I do from the tired, entrenched argument of hard vs. soft science. Hard sci-fi is obsessed with the "hard" sciences--various branches of physics, chem, (xeno-)biology--it's analytical, a little dry, not particularly emotionally satisfying, owing to the hard sciences' discomfort with unquantifiable realities (like love); soft sci-fi focuses on the soft sciences--psychology, sociology, parapsychology--it's more fantastic, emotional, epic, "timeless," humanistic.
I think prose is fundamentally more analytical than Drama and is therefore far better suited to hard science, whereas Drama (T.V. included) just doesn't work unless it's grounded in emotions and human conflict.
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Quote:
Originally posted by UFO:
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.
Pop art! I feel so insulted. That puts Firefly on the same level as Fastlane!
BTW, if you want to read a really amazing SF story, read Spider Robinson's "Antinomy." It's the best thing I've ever read.
Also, not all SF is "speculative fiction" or "futuristic fiction." That leaves out the genres that take place in the now or the past, but have robots or occur on other planets or whatever.
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I think that comparing TV show sci-fi with published book sci-fi is an apples/oranges comparison. A TV show can never show all of the depth of a book because the beauty of literature is the reader's imagination. And a book will never be able to be available to such a wide audience.
To me, there is a snobbery involved with literary audiences. I read constantly. I read every day, and I read many different genres. I go through books more frequently than I go through tanks of gas... and I commute. I've never been a big fan of sci-fi books because they all seem to take themselves so seriously. There is an attitude (with all kinds of literature, not just sci-fi) that it is a more artistic form of art then movies and TV. There seems to be an attitude that if most people understand it and relate to it than it isn't really art. The idea of art for the sake of art... the kind of art that doesn't make any sense, and people try to look very knowledgable by implying all of this deep meaning.... it's frustrating to me.
I'm not typically a TV watcher. I watch a grand total of 3 TV shows with any degree of regularity. Mostly because I don't like most of the stuff they show on TV. But I watch a ton of movies. I love them.... even fluffy silly romantic comedies. And just because it's not "arty" doesn't mean it isn't "art". To say that "pop-art" is less artistic than "art" is foolish and vain.
Back to the topic of Firefly as a "soft" sci-fi... That may be the case. Joss & all of the people involved in the show have said from the beginning that the show defies classification, because it fits into many, and at the same time, doesn't really fit in any. So maybe a better thing to say is "Firefly raises the bar for Television".
My mother is a Trekkie and because of this I have been subjected to dozens... maybe even hundreds... of hours of Star Trek television. this may be "hard" sci-fi, or "pure" sci-fi. Maybe so. But it has never held my fascination the way Firefly has. So maybe Firefly isn't a great example of science fiction. But it is an amazing example of art... pop or otherwise.
______________
But not boring like she made it sound.
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Quote:
Originally posted by UFO:
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.
First off: "border" not "boarder" *g*
Oy with the poodles. This is a big pet peeve of mine. If it's on television, it can't be art? Does that include movies? Cause I defy anyone to try and convince me that "Seventh Seal" or "La Strada" are not art but "just movies." If a movie can be art, so can a tv show. Admittedly, it's more rare on tv.
Not intending to blow up at UFO, who of course has a right to express opinions. It's just that the pooh-pooh attitude "it's only tv" drives me up a wall. I've been known to say that to people who get overheated about issues on tv m'self, but I *do* believe that just because something is created for a mass audience does not mean it cannot be art.
And "Firefly"? The best art available on tv. I watch a LOT of tv. Trust me, I know whereof I speak.
DL
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I certainly won't disagree that Firefly is not really "sci-fi," and that's not a bad thing. The show is more like an historical fiction; you just have to have a viewpoint from about 100 years in the show's future. From that viewpoint, you don't need to dwell on the technology, any more than a show about the 1950's feels the need to explain internal combustion engines or the actual workings of an atomic bomb; the technology simply is, and it's not the point of the story, any more than the tech of Firefly is. Strip that expectation out of the show, and what you have is a character drama.
Firefly has more in common with West Wing than it does shows like Enterprise or Stargate SG-1, or even Farscape.
That said, I do agree that it raises the bar; it's too bad that FOX couldn't see that and support the show accordingly, rather than taking that bar and beating the show with it. This is a superb cast, with the advantage of some of the best writing on television; every one involved with the show is more than willing to discuss just how good a time they are having, and how impressed they are by what they're given to work with, and it shows onscreen. There's not a single "minor character" on the show, and yet you never get the feeling that the attempt to make everyone important ends up filling the time with unnecessary characterization; it all works seamlessly. In 12 hours, this crew has shown more humanity, diversity, and clarity than in a season and a half on ENT; I cared about them from the very beginning, something I still can't manage to do with ENT, and I'm a Trek fan!
FOX blew it, plain and simple. Let's hope that another network sees the quality of this show, and the possibilities if they treat it like a drama and not just another sci-fi show. Besides, having it on the air, continuing to raise the bar, might just entice its competition to try to do the same, and that would be a boon all around.
"We have to believe in free will. We have no choice." -- Isaac Bashevis Singer
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Quote:Jeeze people, did I NOT call it "pop art?" Is this NOT a form or ART?
Originally posted by DarkLady:
If it's on television, it can't be art?
You choose to paint with a larger brush, I choose to paint with a smaller brush.
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Quote:Hell yes it's pop art. It's a sci-fi show that's marketed to the mass public (unsuccessfuly). It has cows in space and six shootin' cowboys who pilot spaceships...and it's a TV show. How is this not pop art?
Originally posted by InvisibleGreen:
Pop art! I feel so insulted. That puts Firefly on the same level as Fastlane!
I never said it wasn't entertaining.
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