General Discussions

Historical references in Firefly

POSTED BY: DontCallMeLawrence
UPDATED: Thursday, March 30, 2006 00:19
VIEWED: 8061
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KIZYR

Thursday, March 30, 2006 12:19 AM

I've been on a little hiatus with posting, so I'll gladly revive the thread with my thoughts. I'm a history nerd myself, though I may not be as well-read as some folks. That and growing up in Tennessee, you learn a decent amount about the Civil War by default.

Quote:
Originally posted by BrownCoat1:
I don't believe that Joss has ever come out and "officially" said that the Battle of Serenity Valley mirrors the Battle of Gettysburg, but the similarities are too stark to think it could be otherwise. ...

Situation-wise, and how that particular battle fit into the whole scheme of the War, I would have to agree with you. But my first thought regarding what the Battle of Serenity Valley would mirror would be Shiloh; what stands out in Mal and Zoe's mind right now isn't just that they lost the battle and hence the war, but that they witnessed so much devastation in that one battle--and, with regards to the loss of life, so much death as well.

That brings me to another thing... Most Civil War deaths occurred in the barracks, not the battlefield, with infected wounds, sicknesses, etc. etc. There's another parallel there with how so many Browncoats died on Hera after the battle was already over.

It's not just how wars can resemble each other when you're in the worst part of it, but the style of the Civil War and Unification War was markedly similar when you look at it from a certain perspective, as well.

Quote:
Originally posted by Cliomuse:
I had friends who had problems with the "backwardness" of some of the behavior on the rim planets in "Firefly." They didn't think it was realistic in light of how "civilized" we are now and where we would be in 500 years. I pointed out that many a pioneer family left a pretty civilized existence in the East to go West where they frequently lost the trappings of polite society when faced with the harsh realities of practical survival.

Very, very, very true. But that reminds me of a related point... The Firefly 'verse doesn't just take off of history, it takes off of the present day as well. Now we have the same degree of disparity with technology, too, and that's something I honestly do not believe will change. Not in the next 500 years, not in the next 1000. There'll always be those areas with the latest technology, and those that still make-do. Over here, we might have huge agribusinesses and tractors to farm immense tracts of land the size of a county. Yet most farmers in the world still make-do with oxen-pulled plows.

That's how it is. Poverty today often isn't a lack of resources, per se, but a lack of distribution--that can be distribution of resources themselves, or distribution of the methods by which to procure more resources (technology, e.g.).

Anyway, to continue in the historical spirit of this thread, am I the only one that believes there're a few similarities between the Operative and Gen. Custer? The Operative may very well have been a quite celebrated figure during the war--not widely celebrated, but lauded among the tiny few who gave him orders. And here he is post-war still carrying out military business on the frontier.

Oh! And huge similarity between Little Bighorn and the Reaver-Alliance battle! The Sioux at Little Bighorn managed to hide their numbers from Custer's sight due to their better knowledge of the topography of the area. When they'd drawn Custer's men in far enough, then they surrounded and attacked him.

Hills and dales... Ion clouds... Taking advantage of overconfidence.... It's all there. Only thing lacking is how the Operative isn't really a 'celebrity' like Custer was in his day.

This is fun; hopefully other folks will feel like picking up this thread once again. KF

~KF

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