Did the 'Companion' thing ever bug you in Firefly?
POSTED BY: chrisisall
UPDATED: Saturday, February 7, 2026 14:42
VIEWED: 45553
PAGE 6 of 21
Quote:I think the show presents something different which you aren't seeing. You're interpreting things to fit your view - there never was any suggestion that Inara couldn't get her own ticket to the ball, for instance. You aren't allowing for everything that is presented.
Originally posted by Platonist:
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.
I'll agree that this Guild thing is not something that can exist today, or even in the near future, but we're talking about 500 years from now. The whole point is that things - including the human mentality - will be different.
ETA: Also, we see Inara do much much more than have sex and drink tea! You might not see all those others things if you're excessively focused... I must admit, it is easy to get tunnel vision with Inara on screen. Even for a hetero female. :)
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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.
Sure, the writers of the show gave her all that status to force the viewer to reexamine our assumptions about someone who would exchange sex for money. But again, that's not all there is to it. Inara wins respect and high status because there is more to her. Cause and effect: the cause is her skills, the effect is her status. Not the other way around.
Or do you really not see the skills? Is the sexual aspect that blinding?
Quote:No, I don't have to admit that! In fact, I think it's a little silly to assume that the rules that apply today will still hold in 500 years. Again - look at how different everything was 100 years ago, only 1/5 of that time!
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.
Quote:I don't see how this applies. It's not about Inara retiring and doing what she wants. It's about a Companion - any Companion - having certain skills as a result of her training that would be valued by those who don't have a hang-up over her sexual history.
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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hmm-burble-blah, blah-blah-blah, take a left
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Two: It comes from China and Japan. The obvious parallel in Japan are the Oiran (actual pay for sex high class courtesans) and Geisha (not pay for sex, but flirty companionship and tea and sophisticated entertainment).
And in China, even though the state frowns on it, concubines and escorts are very much a reality. Especially for the rich inner members of the party, who have more than enough power to bend the rules their way and buy off anyone who might go after them for it.
Then when China and America warily shook hands before the first arcs launched, probably these traditions and the Eastern medicine practices merged with American new age hippie/wiccan goddess worship ideas.
Prostitutes serving on the arcs probably became familiar with all the various services, approaches, and ideas making up the later companion profession, and were well appreciated by any unmarried officers or sailors (though probably not so much the civies). When the arcs arrived in the new system, prostitutes had a lot of power from the military and were able to organize and make a demand of legitimacy from the Alliance precursor.
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Platonist, you forget, sex is addictive, and for ambitious people it gets lonely at the top. That's where I think the power came from initially.
I think companions try not to mess up marriages, and they all take client confidentiality seriously, but here also, secrets and skeletons in closets are also power. A politician say gets a special treatment, and the guild isn't going to tell anyone, probably, but does that politician want to risk making them mad? What if what the politician does is something that maybe outside confidentiality, charges could be pressed against them, or they could be sued? Hell hath no fury...
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Imagine the Companion Guild as a rich and self-governed University (think Harvard) with a large endowment. I'll imagine that the Guild was formed on board the ships from Earth. The Guild has a special low tax status in the first constitution written after arriving in the 'Verse. The Guild has been wisely investing its endowment for centuries.
Aha, yep Two, that's how I see it too.
I should read the entire thread before I comment. ^_^'
Although, it seems also that the Alliance controlls a little bit of the companion training as well, after all, Inara identified in Our Mrs. Reynolds that Saffron is "companion trained" which means "Academy." Probably the same branches of Academy that put River in a special "accelerated" program... And tore her to pieces.
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I'll agree that knowledge is power, B, but I don't think the Guild rules by threats, intimation or blackmail, over time, they wouldn't keep any clients, if they did. I think they've acquired land and wealth more likely, endowments and such.
And more likely, their clients have a broad range of needs, not exclusive to addiction.
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Mal4prez, I think my view maybe narrowly defined because I'm only relying on how the show presents Inara's work, and I’m seeing, that she does have sex every time she goes to work, as in a sex worker. I don’t mean that in a derogatory way. I’m not willing to read into it anymore than what is not shown or stated. And, I'm not debating whether or not a Companion needs the upmost in training, skill and personality to fulfill the role competently, all I'm saying is that I think the show could have done a better job in clarifying the limitations and justifications for having Companions held in high esteem, above other professions, like Shepherds, or Firefly pilots. What is this based on?
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Yeah, I think it's a better explanation, though I think HOW the guild came to power was by leaning on their powerful clients when everyone was on the arc, and also that a merger of east west is what created their philosophy and practices.
But after that, I can see endowments and tax breaks giving them a lot of money. Very much so.
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Look, I feel that prostitution should be legal & regulated, but is the idea that it's a profession to be elevated to some "noble" & semi-spiritual service make any here cringe just a little bit?
As someone else said, it's an industry that can cater to upper and lower ends.
So it can be classy. I don't think it can be spiritual. I can accept a certain amount of mysticism along the lines of human psychology but I think 'spiritual' is pushing it. I believe in love, and I believe in lust, these are valid parts of the human experience - any spirituality in sex that goes beyond mere psychology to me is just pretentious - though that's just me, as an atheist. So the idea doesn't appeal to me personally.
As for it being a 'noble' or 'edifying' service, that notion for me is somewhat unconvincing I must say. It strikes me as being at best a morally neutral service - a restaurant is a good analogy: it can be high class or low class but ultimately it's catering to a basic animal instinct - to eat. Joss tried to put companionship more on a level of 'teacher' and 'priest' - professions that edify the mind and the soul. But the comparison doesn't quite fit - in fact it clashes, and seems forced, imo.
Heads should roll
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Quote:I got this fanciful notion: “Companions want their client's friendship; prostitutes want just their money.” That explains why a Companion is not like a prostitute (temple, geisha, call girl, etc.). And it seems to match Inara's actions. Real prostitutes try to keep their personal lives separate from their work. But for Companions there is no separation. They want love and friendship from clients. That's what I think.
Originally posted by kpo:
So it can be classy. I don't think it can be spiritual. I can accept a certain amount of mysticism along the lines of human psychology but I think 'spiritual' is pushing it. I believe in love, and I believe in lust, these are valid parts of the human experience - any spirituality in sex that goes beyond mere psychology to me is just pretentious - though that's just me, as an atheist. So the idea doesn't appeal to me personally.
As for it being a 'noble' or 'edifying' service, that notion for me is somewhat unconvincing I must say. It strikes me as being at best a morally neutral service - a restaurant is a good analogy: it can be high class or low class but ultimately it's catering to a basic animal instinct - to eat. Joss tried to put companionship more on a level of 'teacher' and 'priest' - professions that edify the mind and the soul. But the comparison doesn't quite fit - in fact it clashes, and seems forced, imo.
I remember Inara looking at photos of potential clients. I imagine a science fiction future where there are Companion Guild certified-accurate psychological profiles that give Inara insight to a client.
When Inara searches a new client's profile, she is picking a permanent friend, hopefully. Inara is searching for people that could fall in love with her. She's out on the Rim because she's disillusioned with the shriveled and dried-up hearts of Core people.
Remember Atherton Wing, the sword duelist? Inara picked wrong. She had such high hopes for him, but all the care that Inara took and all the time she spent with Atherton and he was a monster hidden underneath that polished exterior. Since it was Joss Whedon's show, that's where we got our entertainment, by watching what went so wrong.
Finally:
Julia Roberts in “Pretty Woman” is not how real prostitution works. The best a real prostitute can hope for is to become Sasha Grey in “The Girlfriend Experience” http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1103982/synopsis It is depressing to watch Sasha's life, even as she grows rich & famous. If Companions existed, they, too, would be saddened by Sasha Grey's life.
Sasha is a version of a Companion from a parallel dimension. She's going through the motions of being a loving person with real feelings. When she's with a client, she switches to autopilot. First she does this, then she does that, then she charges the client's credit card. Maybe she has injected herself with Novocaine, making herself numb, mistaking that for self-control? As beautiful as Sasha Grey is, she is faking love. Because Inara/Morena Baccarin has the spirit, my choice is her, even if she shaved her head and morphed into a Visitor lizard. Her spirit shows when she plays a Companion. She is not faking. Or if she is, Inara's doing an award winning performance.
The Joss Whedon script for "Serenity", where Wash lives, is
Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/two
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No, not at all. I think the whole thing was handled quite nicely (as far as TV is concerned).
My guess is that as 'we' become more 'civilized' 500 years into the future the world's oldest profession gets a makeover and blends into the mainstream.
I'm also guessing by the way everyone treats Inara that the semi-religious connotation lends an air of credibility and social acceptance - almost like royalty. I imagine the earth has gone through some major changes economically, as well as political. The Geisha elevated to new heights because of the mixing of the cultures - both East and West.
Perhaps some wise warlord thought it was an easy buck and made the business decision to harness the power of sex.
SGG
Tawabawho?
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