General Discussions

Inara's Jedi mind tricks

POSTED BY: SergeantX
UPDATED: Monday, May 31, 2004 22:10
VIEWED: 16625
PAGE 3 of 6

CORWYN

Sunday, May 23, 2004 1:22 AM

Inara is as good at her job as you are at yours. Possibly more so, as she was, by all reports, headed for the top. Think about what that means for a minute.

Plus, love is the _original_ Jedi mind trick.

Thank You Kindly.

AURAPTOR

Sunday, May 23, 2004 4:45 AM

She's just a chick and knows how to use 'it' to get what she wants.

Ok, she's been trained , as a companion, to read people. As a good head for business, she also tilts the playing field in her favor, when applicable. In OoG, she 'tells' Mal that he's going to rent her the shuttle and at a lower price than he's asking for. If she REALLY had Jedi mind tricks, he'd simply agree, but instead he ask .." oh? and why am I going to do that ? ".

Anyway, if anyone has Jedi powers on Serenity, its clearly River.

" They don't like it when you shoot at 'em. I worked that out myself. "

SERGEANTX

Sunday, May 23, 2004 5:13 AM

Inara is actually very old, I'm guess seventy+ years. She, like all companions takes drugs to maintain her youthful looks, but these last only so long. These drugs are a one way street, because when age finally overcomes the power of the drug the crash is so severe most of the women die from it.
So, traditionally they commit a kind of ritual suicide when the time nears. Inara's time is near and she has chosen her little sojourn on Serenity to disappear into 'the black'. She didn't count on falling in love.

SergeantX

"Dream a little dream or you can live a little dream. I'd rather live it, cause dreamers always chase but never get it." Aesop Rock

MENELUIN

Sunday, May 23, 2004 7:56 AM

Haven't seen "Dune," but (well, here I go again with my Trek parallels) I was thinking more along the lines of Deanna Troi from Next Gen. We know that she's empathic because she's half-Betazoid, but we also know that to be a Counselor, she's had to undergo a lot of training that would enable her to read people well. Sometimes it's not clear whether her abilities are due to the mental skills she was born with, her exemplary training, or both.

I think Inara's a less extreme example of the same. I mean, you get the sense that even for a Companion, she isn't 'typical,' and that there's more to her than most.

//psykotek wrote:
Wednesday, September 17, 2003 14:36
what about Dune's Bene Gesserit
maybe something to do with total body and vocal control?

just a thought

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WEERWOLF

Sunday, May 23, 2004 8:33 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by GraceOM:
Quote:
Originally posted by SergeantX:
I'm also thinking this might be some of Inara's fascination with Mal. Maybe this is a guy that she can't 'read' and might not be as susceptible to her 'wiles'. Anyway, I'm betting there's a lot more to the whole Companion thing than just a high class escort.

SergeantX

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

I think maybe her fascination with Mal is that she can read him. That is, she knows very well that he's powerfully attracted to her, but he's keeping her at arm's length anyway. I'm guessing that's a pretty unusual experience for her The mystery to her (I'm guessing again) is the why of it.

Grace

I think that goes very well with what YoSaffBridge says in OMR: "Most men are on me inside of ten minutes" and Mal lasted a whole day before he finally gave in to her feminine wiles... And she had them turned on full, whereas Inara is doing her best to keep emotional distance between her and Mal, a distance which both appear to maintain only due to calling names and be abusive to one another. And like Inara, YoSaffBridge had Companion training.

----------------------------------------------
"Damn it Mal... I forgot my line!"

CALHOUN

Sunday, May 23, 2004 9:22 AM

Quote:
Gambit3 wrote:
Wednesday, September 17, 2003 13:13
It ain't Jedi Mind tricks.

It's them Feminine Wiles.

I agree with Gambit3. This is exactly word for word what I was gunna say!

FIREFLEW

Sunday, May 23, 2004 11:21 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by SergeantX:
Inara is actually very old, I'm guess seventy+ years. She, like all companions takes drugs to maintain her youthful looks, but these last only so long. These drugs are a one way street, because when age finally overcomes the power of the drug the crash is so severe most of the women die from it.
So, traditionally they commit a kind of ritual suicide when the time nears. Inara's time is near and she has chosen her little sojourn on Serenity to disappear into 'the black'. She didn't count on falling in love.

SergeantX

"Dream a little dream or you can live a little dream. I'd rather live it, cause dreamers always chase but never get it." Aesop Rock

Would this drugs be at all similar to that sand-type powder used in Dune to maintain life? Would Joss put something like that in Firefly, in a universe that planned to be completely differnet to everything else?

Jayne: "Know what the chain of command is? It's the chain I beat you with till you understand who's in command."

ANNIK

Sunday, May 23, 2004 6:20 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Fireflew:
Quote:
Originally posted by SergeantX:
Inara is actually very old, I'm guess seventy+ years. She, like all companions takes drugs to maintain her youthful looks, but these last only so long. These drugs are a one way street, because when age finally overcomes the power of the drug the crash is so severe most of the women die from it.
So, traditionally they commit a kind of ritual suicide when the time nears. Inara's time is near and she has chosen her little sojourn on Serenity to disappear into 'the black'. She didn't count on falling in love.

SergeantX

"Dream a little dream or you can live a little dream. I'd rather live it, cause dreamers always chase but never get it." Aesop Rock

Would this drugs be at all similar to that sand-type powder used in Dune to maintain life? Would Joss put something like that in Firefly, in a universe that planned to be completely differnet to everything else?

IMHO, the pursuit of eternal youth is a common theme even IRL today. Don't most of you get hundreds of spams per week touting the benefits of HGH, or even why you should be taking Viagra all the time?

I don't think that anti-aging is necessarily a crossover into the Dune universe ... I think it is a major part of our RL culture today ... sad and pathetic state that it is.

BTW ... in Dune, even the Fremen eating the life-expanding spice with everything, they have 'crones', wise women and elderly men ... sure, they're probably ancient beyond the normal un-spiced human span, but they certainly don't stay fresh and youthful for their entire lives. (As per the original novels).

Cheers,
Annik
... my sister's a ship. We had a complicated childhood.

ANKHAGOGO

Sunday, May 23, 2004 8:08 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Fireflew:
Quote:
Originally posted by SergeantX:
Inara is actually very old, I'm guess seventy+ years. She, like all companions takes drugs to maintain her youthful looks...

Quote:
Would this drugs be at all similar to that sand-type powder used in Dune to maintain life? Would Joss put something like that in Firefly, in a universe that planned to be completely differnet to everything else?

Actually, in another thread, the "anti-aging drug" theory was suggested as a possibility for the not-a-suicide-kit box with the syringe in it that Inara pulls out in Serenity, when they first see the Reaver ship.
I do like this idea, but I'd guess her age even higher than 70s. Why, I don't know. I also like the idea that after a certain point the crash from the drug is severe. Nice and traumatic.

"Well personally, I kinda want to slay the dragon."

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FIREFLEW

Sunday, May 23, 2004 8:10 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by annik:

IMHO, the pursuit of eternal youth is a common theme even IRL today. Don't most of you get hundreds of spams per week touting the benefits of HGH, or even why you should be taking Viagra all the time?

I don't think that anti-aging is necessarily a crossover into the Dune universe ... I think it is a major part of our RL culture today ... sad and pathetic state that it is.

Cheers,
Annik
... my sister's a ship. We had a complicated childhood.

Yeah, you do have a good point there. It's strange how people will go to such obscene measures to look/feel young. In some cases, it's just sick. Cher is in her 60s, and she doesn't look young; she looks like a plastic doll akin to Chucky in creepy terms...

Although, to address the first point of the sand, is there any reasons to believe that she is this old?

Jayne: "Know what the chain of command is? It's the chain I beat you with till you understand who's in command."