Where were Jayne and Wash during the war?

POSTED BY: SixGun
UPDATED: Thursday, December 21, 2006 23:25
VIEWED: 9097
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BAGHEERA

Tuesday, December 19, 2006 12:52 AM

I got the impression that Jayne was a smalltime hoodlum around the time of war given his activities during Jaynestown and Out of Gas.

River's history is pretty well laid out.. she was at home until she went to the academy.

Inara... was either training as a companion or working as one... either way, its not really that associated with the war, although as someone mentioned elsewhere she may have had some encounters that fostered browncoat sympathies.

the commentary mentions Wash's pseudobackstory about shadowpuppets, and while that is slightly absurd, the POW aspect of that after flying a single mission fits in quite well with his character and adds a new depth to his marital frustrations in War Stories that he didnt have any to share with them... perhaps he had friends and comrades that fought and died in the war, but he "missed out" on his chance to serve bravely and harbors regrets that he may have tipped the balance of the war ever so slightly had he not failed in his first mission. of course thats just bs im rolling out with, but whatever...

kaylee (i believe) had never been off planet before joining the crew, and even then she asks permission from her parents... so i doubt she took any active role in the war.

the real question is book... but he aint talking.

~~~

now the thing about colors...

im more inclined to believe that the colors for the opening sequence are simply aesthetic choices then for "green represents money", especially given that the money isnt even green anyhow.

there IS significance to the lighting colors used in the different rooms however. this was referred to in one of the commentaries... if the reasoning behind those colors can be given, its possible there is the same reasoning behind the character lighting.

in all, i felt the colors in firefly generally represent the emotional state and stage and not as a direct image. ie... brown is earthy and nourishing and provides the foundation for the crew and doesnt serve solely as a symbol for browncoats... green could be for solitary energy, passion, and emotion ... purple could serve as nobility of purpose, love, and god knows what else.

saying inara is "basically a prostitute" is a total misconception that even the series never fails to poke fun at.

a whore has sex with anyone who pays her, and without being given money, no service is given.

to misquote Mal "I disrespect the profession, but not Inara"

Even if Companions generally act as whores, Inara doesnt.

Inara makes it clear that while a whore will serve anyone for the right price, she wont. so in a sense she is not a woman of negotiable virtue. in fact, she frequently "services" the crew as the ship's conscience and provides counsel to the crew when they are in need for free.

so the whole "green is for money" just doesnt jive... especially since Jayne makes it clear (in his own stubborn way) that even if he is the tough as nails mercenary, Mal is someone he wouldnt sell out.

I believe someone associated Jayne as being Mal's bulldog earlier in this thread, and I think this really holds true and illustrates the relationship they have. Before meeting Mal, Jayne was a beaten and abused puppy that had no faith that anyone else would ever look out for anyone but themself, so Jayne lived only for Jayne... and even if this change isnt readily apparent in the one season of firefly, there IS a change and growth to Jayne due COMPLETELY to Mal's good treatment of Jayne once he picked him up from "the pound", and gave him a nice doghouse to stay in, fed him well, and treated him as a living being and not just a tool to be used and thrown away when it breaks. (there are subtle references in the pilot and ariel that Jayne would never sell out Mal, no matter what price... even if his spoken words contradict that)

So while Jayne and Inara's "professional titles" may indicate money... their actual characters dont.

TERRI

Tuesday, December 19, 2006 2:03 AM

Yeah, I get what you're saying about Inara. But Saying that money doesn't mean green is like saying that the heart that we all think of (you know, the one that looks nothing like the actual organ) doesn't represent love. We know what it means, whether or not it actually corresponds. Inara is a companion, she's a prostitute. She chooses her clients, yes, but the point I'm trying to make is that she doesn't sleep with them because she loves them, though I suppose she'd have to like them, but she's still paid for her services. Whether or not she 'counsels' the crew doesn't change the fact that she's paid for her sexual services. She sleeps with someone (hand chosen, maybe, personally attractive, possibly) but she sleeps with someone and they pay her. Am I mistaken as to it working that way? The least that you can do is agree that she is paid for her services, and that green can represent money. As for Jayne, maybe (or maybe not) Jayne would betray Mal, though I wouldn't go that far, I still think that he might if the money was good enough, but we already know that he would betray others on the crew if the money was good enough, and that's what I mean. Granted he learns his lesson in Ariel, but Jayne isn't the brightest bulb in the box, and I doubt that (while the lesson will last longer and longer) it will stick completely once he get's a look at a good wad of cashy money floating around. I think that it fits. I think that having Zoe and Mal in front of brown, and Book and the Tams in front of purple signifies something. Why would the other colors have a meaning behind them and those do not. On top of that, okay, so Inara's jealous, of I assume whoever Mal's with. But what does green mean for Jayne, or Kaylee for that matter?

PURPLEBELLY

Tuesday, December 19, 2006 6:34 AM

Surely, if we're looking for keys to colour-coding then the simplest approach is to adapt the conventional red-blue-green nomenclature; two protagonists (brown and purple) and a neutral (green). Not that I think the colouring is any more than a graphic design choice, and the order is anything other than chronological.

JVP

Tuesday, December 19, 2006 8:36 AM

I was going to suggest that perhaps the colours may have no significance as well, was just playing along is all.

I think Jayne gets a bum rap for being greedy. He may like coin as much as the next feller, but well, he does a lot of things "for free" (ie. almost all of the Serenity movie :p).

~

ASORTAFAIRYTALE

Wednesday, December 20, 2006 4:19 AM

Hmm..I've always felt like Jayne probably wouldn't have cared enough to fight in a war. All he cares about is money, so I doubt that he would be dedicated enough to risk his life for a cause. Also, he says in the Train Job that "He didn't fight in no war."
Wash I think he might have been a part of the war, and I actually do like Alan's theory.
But then it's also likely that he didn't get to do much fighting, because otherwise he might better understand Mal and Zoe's relationship, which he clearly doesn't understand in War Stories.

---------
Love keeps her in the air when she outta fall down, tells you she's hurting before she keels. Makes her a home.

BAGHEERA

Thursday, December 21, 2006 11:25 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by asortafairytale:

Wash I think he might have been a part of the war, and I actually do like Alan's theory.
But then it's also likely that he didn't get to do much fighting, because otherwise he might better understand Mal and Zoe's relationship, which he clearly doesn't understand in War Stories.

Well, I'd like to affirm what you said about him not doing much fighting with his...

"I was in a firefight once.... well, I was fired from a fry cook opportunity once..." line, while laced with his traditional 'no bearing to reality' humor, does seem to imply that he has never seen the type of action that Mal and Zoe saw.

and well...

companions are not whores.

the one character to actually believe Inara was one got blacklisted in Shindig.

Inara also pointedly notes the difference in Heart of Gold (although she does not disparage the profession of whores, either)

Companions are more comparable to courtesans then they are to whores, prostitutes or callgirls... and if you cant tell the difference between those four, then try to wrap your head around the fact that much of a courtesan's "paid time" was not used in her talents between the sheets, but rather for her ability to socialize and hold a conversation. quote Dangerous Beauty ~ in the middle ages ... "Courtesans are among the most educated women in the world" they were welcome in libraries, where even the wives of nobility could not tread, and such and such and such...

the greatest difference between Inara and prostitutes though...

is that I cannot see Inara "selling" herself to someone.

certainly, she might sell her time to someone, and "share" of herself with that person in that time... but at no point should that person make the presumption to think he owns her. (again, illustrated by Shindig)

Keep on walking preacherman.

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