Firefly Conversion Stories
POSTED BY: engineangel
UPDATED: Sunday, February 5, 2006 23:39
VIEWED: 18987
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hey travelers,
i am sooooo happy. I have just had my first taste of converting a person to Firefly. I told my friend about the show and Serenity. She seemed interested, so I told her I would bring in the first two DVDs the next day for her to take home and watch. She said that would be great, but that she would have to keep them for a while since she had soooooo much homework and wouldn't be able to watch them for some time. I told her to keep them as long as she needed to and brought the disks in. The next day, she sees me and hands the disks back to me. I am really confused at this point and stand there gaping with my mouth open. For a second, i thought that she didn't like the show (how can anyone not like Firefly??!!!) but then, seeing the bewildered look on my face, she said, " i finished them last night."
"you finished both disks last night?!!" i replied.
(she nods)
"but that's, like, eight hours"
"i had less homework than i thought," she said.
all I could say is "... Wow ..."
It was great. The only bad part is that (sigh) I can't give her the next couple disks for a while, because her parents found out that she stayed up until .. get this .. ONE IN THE MORNING to watch all of those episodes and now she can't watch tv for a while!!! (sniff) -she doesn't know how long- I don't know what you think, but i'm pretty sure she REALLY liked the series!!! Hopefully, she will be able to watch the rest of the series soon and will get to go see the movie, but i'm not sure how long she'll be "TV/movie grounded."
Travelers, if you have a conversion story or any special techniques you use to introduce Firefly to the world, share them!!! The rest of your crew wants to know!!!
Listen to THE SIGNAL - the only podcast devoted to Firefly and promoting the movie Serenity. Look at the thread "THE SIGNAL" on www.fireflyfans.net. And keep flying!!!
River: "There's too much snow on top. It's going to cave in. His brain is in grave danger."
Zoe: "River, honey. He's putting the hair away now."
River: "It doesn't matter it'll still be there."
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Sounds a bit like how I converted my sister (she was 23 at the time, she's 10 years older than me). I got out of school early, and I was watching the Buffy episode 'The Body' that day. She walked into the room and found the show to be too depressing, so I offered her Firefly, giving a brief description and all. She's a sci-fi fan, plus she's incredibly fond of smart TV/movies, so I put in Disk 1. Note this was roughly around 1:30 PM.
Now, fast forward to about 13 hours later. Sprawled out on the couch, I wake up to the sound and light of the tv. Prying my eyes open, I stare at the screen for a few moments until I glance at my sister and realize she was watching Objects in Space. My jaw dropped and I didn't even bother to ask her how she liked it...she'd just raced through the entire set! She loved the show, and the moment she proclaimed this at the end of OiS, I realized I had made my first convert in shiny fashion. She'll also be seeing the movie with me hopefully opening weekend...we've been waiting together for it to open, and while she couldn't attend the two pre-screenings I went to, she's just as excited as the rest of us! Woo!
"Bwaa...it's kind of a warrior...strikes fear into the hearts of..."
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I found the series earlier this year and watched it over one weekend.
One or two episodes in, I started trying to tantalize my fiance into watching it, mostly by telling him about Inara and Kaylee (hell, he's a red blooded man, you throw the lure where it'll do most good). He kinda dithered about it for a while.
Then he walked in kinda at the start of Out of Gas, I began the episode again. He was hooked. After it ended, all I had to say was "wanna watch it from the start?" and he was Joss' bitch, all over again.
I then converted my mother, simply by saying "You have to watch this, *Joss* did it!" and she sceptically agreed... and I put 'Serenity' on and by the time River came out of the box, she was hooked.
Same as my best friend. Made her watch an episode or two, I think she was just humouring me for the first few episodes, but then by the end of the series, she was also a fan.
I'm currently working on converting my sister and her husband. They're being a little more stubborn, they've seen 'Serenity' (the episode) and have agreed to watch more. I think I may wait two weeks and just hook them with the movie.
*~*~*
"Your toes are in the sand."
"And your head's up your..."
"Hey!"
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That is soooooooo awesome!!! Jaqui, the fact that you have just found Firefly this year and have already converted 3 people to it, just goes to show how amazing Firefly is and how much of a genius Joss is. Perididdle, It is great that you got your sister into Firefly and i hope that she will become as obsessed with it as i am!!! 
Good job to both of you!!! 
Jaqui - my advice for converting your sister and her husband is to intriegue them with the line "it's like a western in space" - that has worked for me (giving my friends an appitizer and finding that they like the taste and want more detail). After that I usually go into how great the cast works together - what a wonderful family they are and make on the screen, telling my audience about the amazing chemistry between these people. 
In my opinion, Jaqui, it's better to see the series before the movie because if you do that you will understand the characters and what is going on soooo much better. BUT if the people you are trying to convert are just plain stubborn 
about watching the tv show, and have already agreed to go to Serenity with you, I agree that it's better to hook and reel them in with the movie and then get them them to watch the tv show telling them that it was where the movie originated from.
speaking of the movie, what have both of you done to show it to people and get them to watch it? i need more ideas!!! so far i'm going to make posters with a description of the movie on them and hang them up around my school. I'm also lending out my copies of Firefly disks to anyone who would like to see the series and mentioning the movie to them. I'm thinking of standing around the movie theater and handing out some tickets to Serenity or getting people to want to see it.
listen to THE SIGNAL - the only podcast devoted to promoting and discussing Firefly and Serenity - the movie. Then look at the thread, THE SIGNAL, on www.fireflyfans.net.
River: There's too much snow on top. It's going to cave in. His brain is in grave danger.
Zoe: River, honey. He's putting the hair away.
River: It doesn't matter. It'll still be there. Waiting.
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I've converted a bunch of people through sheer... obsessive force of will.
I talked. And I talked. And I threw firefly quotes at random, and showed people pics, and talked to them about this incredibly witty show. In the end, I have a grand total of... Libby, Lee, Mags, Kail, Vix, Carolin, Matt, Nicole, Sarai, Jess, and I think a couple of other people I know who went out to buy the DVD box set just off my word alone... and those are only the people I talk to on MSN!
Everyone in my house knows what Firefly is. When I went to the Serenity convention, my dad had eight hours in the car of hearing about it.
My computing teachers grew to love Firefly after I told them about it. English teacher. Geography teacher. My friend Simon.
That's at least nineteen people I've persuaded to buy the DVD box set and got an instant conversion... and I get the feeling there's more...
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that is just plain shiny!!! Nineteen people ... WOW!!! unfortunatly when i talk to my friends, i sound plain crazy ... which i am ... and totally obsessed ... which i am ... It seems though that if i get too excited, i just turn them off to the show and the movie. I managed to keep my enthusiasum down some when i explained it to some of my other friends, and got some better responses, as in wanting to hear more about the show and watch it. hopefully, my river-like quality (namely being completly insane) won't make people afraid to watch Firefly lest they will become insane as well. (They will, but don't tell them that)
listen to THE SIGNAL - the only podcast devoted to promoting and discussing Firefly and Serenity - the movie. Then look at the thread, THE SIGNAL, on www.fireflyfans.net.
River: There's too much snow on top. It's going to cave in. His brain is in grave danger.
Zoe: River, honey. He's putting the hair away.
River: It doesn't matter. It'll still be there. Waiting.
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No no no, the tactic is that you talk about absolutely NOTHING else until they finally give in and buy the show to shut you up. The first two eps they're wondering what they hell I was on about, and the mental blocks are still high. Then the mental blocks start to be beaten away until by the time Jaynestown comes around, they are well and truly in the spirit!
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This is a long story, but a good one.
I saw two episodes when it ran on Fox and remembered liking it. I believe the first episode I saw was 'Bushwhacked,' and then 'Shindig.' However, the Fall Play ramped up and I missed the rest of the show. Sadly, when it was cancelled, I just sort of forgot about it (sorry).
I went to see 'Batman Begins' with what had to be twenty of my friends, they ran the trailer for 'Serenity.' I remembered the show immediately, and I loved the snappy dialogue from the trailer. Unfortunately my friends were not impressed. Undaunted, I pressed on, and went out to pick up the series that very day. I found it used for only 25 bucks.
Why anyone would let a gem like this go is beyond me.
Arriving home I started watching it, and got to the theme song, when the power went out.
I sat there, cursing the TV gods, for I knew that I had been faithful, when the power came back on. I watched another ten minutes, and then we lost power again. This continued all evening.
I finished the pilot that night. It took me three hours.
I blew through the series, and mentioned it to my dad who is a huge Stargate and Battlestar Galactica fan. He had gotten me hopelessly addicted to Galactica, so I thought I'd return the favor.
After my dad finished the entire series in a marathon three day run, and when you're a doctor, and you work 85-90 hours a week, that's impressive, he sat there in silence for awhile and then told me to get out there and find more episodes.
I then set to work on my sister. She resisted, and only paid lip service to the idea of watching it. However, my grandparents work on a farm, have no cable or internet, and needed help for a couple weeks. Grunt work mostly, mending fence, baling and stacking hay, tilling the arena, etc, thus, at night we were too tired to go out and do anything. I asked her to watch Firefly and she sort of rolled her eyes, but agreed to give it a shot.
To this day she refuses to watch the last disc because, in her words, "If I don't watch the last episodes, then it never ends for me." She's also recently finished constructing her Zoe costume for Halloween.
Unfortunately, now I can't be Wash, because, well, that'd be weird.
My brother came next, walking into the living room during the pilot when they cross paths with the reavers for the first time. He's since bought his own set, and made shirts for the premiere.
The latest victims were my roommate, and a friend here at school.
My roommate loves the show, and has even converted his girlfriend, a sorority member, and she's now converting her sisters at the house.
What is it about this show? It connects to people, lights a spark, buries itself somewhere in the subconcious.
Sorry about the length, but I did convert quite a few people.
Matt
"There are no obstacles. Only challenges."
--Groove
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don't be sorry for the long response, ItasianInvasion!!! I love them, especially when they're great stories, like this one!!! Man, what a wonderful conversion story. And there isn't just one conversion in there, not two, not three, but 7 or more!!! WOW. it just totally shows that Firefly reaches people in a way only Joss could make possible.
Quote:
I sat there, cursing the TV gods, for I knew that I had been faithful, when the power came back on. I watched another ten minutes, and then we lost power again. This continued all evening.
we all know the TV gods can be cruel!!! They allowed FOX to take Firefly off the air.
Quote:
What is it about this show? It connects to people, lights a spark, buries itself somewhere in the subconcious.
in regards to this question: it's everything -the cast, the director, the story - the connection lies in the aspect of family that eminates from this show with an amazing warmth and a dazzling light. It's Firefly - what else can you say?
Quote:
Why anyone would let a gem like this go is beyond me.
my thoughts exactly!!!!
keep flying!!!
EngineAngel
listen to THE SIGNAL - the only podcast devoted to promoting and discussing Firefly and Serenity - the movie. Then look at the thread, THE SIGNAL, on www.fireflyfans.net.
River: There's too much snow on top. It's going to cave in. His brain is in grave danger.
Zoe: River, honey. He's putting the hair away.
River: It doesn't matter. It'll still be there. Waiting.
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Lets see... originally, i suppose my mother converted me, because I watched some of the original eps when they aired... but then, she bought the show along with Neverwhere, and i watched the whole series in a few days... So anyhoo....
I converted 3 of my friends, who i just bugged about it until they wanted to see it: they couldnt buy their own DVDs, but they'll sure be seeing the movie. Also, i recently found that one of them, his mother is also very interested in the movie, just because she liked the show also.
My oldest sister really likes it, which is cool because she is really harsh on all things artsy.
My other older sister will probably go see it locally from her school, just to placate me, because she likes it, though the hasnt watched all the eps. She has, however, read all the scripts: she doesn't like TV as a policy, so this is a good compromise.
My mother's tiny company has enough browncoats that the manager folk are doing one of those field trips on the 30th to see Serenity. :)
And despite that my dad hates all things violent, and most things TV/movie, I'll force him to go see Serenity in a few weeks time.
So, actually, that is 7 people from extension o me it think. 
I survived a day in Whitefall and all I got was this lousy signature!
Terrifying Space Monkey of Destiny
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