Did the 'Companion' thing ever bug you in Firefly?
POSTED BY: chrisisall
UPDATED: Saturday, February 7, 2026 14:42
VIEWED: 45553
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I'm suprised no one as of yet has mentioned the geisha. When I watched the show for the first time, I immediately thought of Inara as a geisha with more spice (after having watched Memoirs of a Geisha).
In Wikipedia it states the following about the origins of a geisha:
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In early seventeenth-century Japan (long before the word geisha was ever used), the predecessor of the geisha, a combination of actress and prostitute, worked on the stages set in the driver[vague] river bed of the River Kamo in Kyoto. The line between actress and prostitute was then blurred. The women would preform erotic dances and skits for their audiences. This new type of performance was dubbed kabuku, meaning "to be wild and outrageous". They[who?] called her dances kabuki, which was the beginning of kabuki theater.[1]
Traditional Japanese views of sex were very relaxed. It was a society that embraced sexual delights and where men were not constrained to be faithful to their wives. In fact it was socially acceptable to be in love with one's wife, but only what was considered a "professional" woman.[vague] For sexual enjoyment and romantic attachment, men did not go to their wives, but to courtesans. In order to maintain this profession, the Japanese government created "pleasure quarters" where the courtesans could reside and work and men could go to relax and enjoy the entertainment.[1]
These pleasure quarters quickly became glamorous entertainment centers that offered far more that just sex. The highly accomplished courtesans of these districts entertained their clients by dancing, singing, and playing music. Some were even renowned poets and calligraphers. Gradually, they all became specialized and the new profession, purely of entertainment, arose. It was near the turn of the eighteenth century that the first entertainers of the pleasure quarters, called geisha, appeared. The very first geishas were men, entertaining customers waiting to see the most popular and gifted courtesans.[1]
Around 1760, women began to join men in the art of the geisha and very quickly outnumbered the men. The first woman to use the term "geisha" was an Edo prostitute named Kikuya and[vague] became a full-time entertainer. Soon, many women, whether they sold sex or not, began using the term geisha. Doing so was a way of acquiring respectability and proving that they were professionals.[dubious – discuss] The geisha who worked within the pleasure quarters were essentially imprisoned and strictly forbidden to sell sex in order to protect the business of the courtesans. Geisha who worked outside the pleasure quarters, however, could do as they pleased. Eventually, the gaudy courtesans began to fall out of fashion and the geisha were seen as the chic and desirable entertainers they are in modern Japan.
While I realize the geisha is Japanese and not Chinese, what in the world would have stopped Joss from utilizing some Japanese cultural tidbits to further the excitement of his (our) show? Absolutely nothing.
As for it bothering or not bothering me? Not in the least. Our society is going to change 360 degrees 10 times over before we reach the timeframe Firefly/Serentiy is in, and I like to think myself a progressive thinker.
My wife, on the other hand, does not and would not approve.
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Originally posted by ImNotHere:Quote:
Originally posted by Platonist:
It doesn’t make sense that whores, trained and certified in the future would suddenly have social status and credibility, notoriety, like celebrities of today, yes, but not power brokers of tomorrow.
I don't think it would have been sudden. It would have been a very gradual shift over 500 years. That's a long time! Think about it - 100 years ago women in the US couldn't vote and showing an ankle was grounds for sexual assault.
I do like the notion that Companions could be power brokers. There's the challenge: can we put aside our issues with sex enough to appreciate the talents they have? They are trained to read and manipulate people, and that would make them masters at politics and business. If we could all just get over the sex thing, that is...
And it's definitely a question of sexism. The stereotypical male power broker has a varied sex history, probably even has paid for it. That doesn't make him dirty. (ETA: in the eyes of those who do business with him, I mean.)
Quote:I agree. There could be many reasons that Inara left the Core that have nothing to do with her job. In fact, we have plenty of evidence that it wasn't her job. She shows no unwillingness to take clients, and nothing but respect for the Guild.Quote:
And, just because we see Inara defending her chosen profession doesn’t mean she wants to do it forever, otherwise if she did, she wouldn’t have left the house to fly on Serenity and end up on backwater moons NOT having any clients to service.
Well, Inara's reasons for doing that have been discussed at length, elsewhere, and were clearly going to be an important element of the plot arc had the show continued.
As for Nandi, Inara doesn't either sympathize or ostracize Nandi for her decision to leave. My take is that Inara accepts that the Guild isn't for everyone. It didn't fit Nandi, that's all.
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hmm-burble-blah, blah-blah-blah, take a left
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Companions aren’t exactly empowered as courtesans were, and Companions aren’t exactly Geisha either, because they include sex, where a Geisha of high standing didn’t.
European Courtesans were only given high status because of who they were attached to at the time and most often that was for a limited time, as they could be replaced at anytime. And, once they were cast aside, it was a spiral slide into poverty. It became a short lived and precarious life style. They got what they could get and moved along. There were no guarantees of acceptance, one day you may find yourself on the outs of the social circle because your belonging was based on someone else.
Companions seemed to have high status solely based on having Guild affiliation, which maintains a high set of their own standards. Companions can pick and choose from several clients at the same time, etc. It’s not a singular attachment unless they choose or get an offer.
I guess I didn’t see the necessity of making prostitution legal and controlled by the Guild, and also attach high social status to those who were essentially sex workers, especially since there were a few instances where Inara didn’t seem to have such status on her own, like her lack of her own ticket to the Ball on Persephone, she had to be escorted by Atherton. Badger had tickets. Shouldn’t she have gotten her own invite if she was held in such high esteem? There are too many inconsistencies and not enough information for me to feel comfortable about believing that legal organized professional prostitution would ultimately lead to power, wealth and high social status for those practicing. It’s a nice thought and all very convenient at times, but not realistic.
Two, love the Professor on sabbatical analogy, and yes, I want to TA
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Platonist: I agree that any comparison of Companions to things that have come before will come up short. Obviously! Women have never had the rights and the power over ourselves that we have now, which is all nothing to what we'll have in the future (I hope!)
One thing you're overlooking is the Companion training. The Guild is more than a "disease free" stamp on Inara's ID. It's a whole load of skills that come from years of training. This is what makes the Companion experience different from the quick sex to be had with a whore, and this is what makes a Companion valuable after she's retired. She is more than just sex for pay - this is repeated in the show again and again!
Quote:You're making an assumption. Badger had tickets that Mal and Kaylee used, not Inara. The fact that Inara was at the party was completely a plotty coincidence, nothing to do with Badger.
Originally posted by Platonist:
I guess I didn’t see the necessity of making prostitution legal and controlled by the Guild, and also attach high social status to those who were essentially sex workers, especially since there were a few instances where Inara didn’t seem to have such status on her own, like her lack of her own ticket to the Ball on Persephone, she had to be escorted by Atherton.
It's very likely that Inara could have gone on her own, but why would she when she had several offers from clients to take her? Anyway, I doubt she'd want to go on her own. When your job is going to parties, you tend to prefer staying home on your free time.
ETA: On further thought, I think you kind of missed the point. Watch that scene after the duel again - Inara was the one with the power to kick Ath out of the party, so to speak, not the other way around!
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Nope, no problem.
"I thoroughly disapprove of duels. If a man should challenge me, I would take him kindly and forgivingly by the hand and lead him to a quiet place and kill him."
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mal4prez, I suddenly feel like the boy in the Parade who calls out that the Emperor has no clothes on because I can’t help feeling that a Companion is a euphemism for a sex worker. And, I too, would love for women to have power by controlling their own sexuality as they desire, in the future, but I think it could have been better served and achieved by making prostitution legal, organized, accepted, and controlled by the Guild without all the unnecessary endowments of high status and social esteem which seem to have been tagged on to convince us that what Inara does is valid and valuable to maintain the social structure and culture of core worlds who embrace enlightenment and moral integrity.
You have to admit, it’s a little gullible to assume that any profession in the future, especially sex work, oh, sorry Companioning, would be held in that high esteem, when none are today. We don’t even trust our trusted attorneys, doctors, and teachers anymore.
And, any educated person can retire and do whatever they want; some marginally educated people can retire and do whatever they want… waves to our own esteemed Arnold.
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Yes. It made me cringe quite a bit. And when I was borrowing it to friends, it was the one aspect of the series I felt I had to defend/apologise for. Its seems a highly unlikely/convenient plot device.
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Everyone seems to be concentrating on the "sex worker" part of being a Registered Companion, but it makes sense to me that the Guild would have as much political status in the 'Verse as they do social and financial status.
wo men ren ran zai fei xing.
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Quote:Ummm... because it's the most coolest part, I conjure.
Originally posted by ecgordon:
Everyone seems to be concentrating on the "sex worker" part of being a Registered Companion
Look, I see it as an amusing/interesting plot device, but realistically, I'm with Malcolm Reynolds on this one.
The laughing Chrisisall
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Well, It's hard not to concentrate on the sex work aspect of the job, when that's all we see Inara do, sex and serve tea, or teach how to sex and serve tea.
She's not exactly shown balancing budgets, writing grants and bills, or solving governmental crisis.
And, I'm okay with this, and I'm sure Mal would be too, if he was the sole receiver.
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