fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #4553 ]

[ SECRET POST #4553 ]

⌈ Secret Post #4553 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

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Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
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05. https://i.imgur.com/sZgduxN.png

It's not THAT bad

Right? It's got its issues like most things, but it's not the nuclear bomb of tv or anything.

I kinda love that the internet has two extremes, though. Firefly is either the best thing EVAR or the worst thing EVAR. Heaven forbid you just like the show while acknowledging its flaws. Or don't like the show while acknowledging its appeal to other people.

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tabaqui - 2019-06-25 01:33 (UTC) - Expand

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(Anonymous) - 2019-06-25 02:13 (UTC) - Expand

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(Anonymous) - 2019-06-25 02:18 (UTC) - Expand

I like Firefly. I'm glad it was ended where it was because it would have become terrible. But I like the parts we got, mostly (the Mal and Inara thing was annoying).

If I could go back in time and take control of the creation of Firefly, I'd have cast a few Asian-Americans and cut about 50% of Mal Being A Dick To Inara. Otherwise, I still like it fine.
(I'd also fix the logo because why are those characters back to front???)

I never did understand why if there is such a strong Chinese influence in Firefly's world did we never see one Asian in the show?

Yeah, actually, has anyone from the show ever addressed this? It's such an obvious thing

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(Anonymous) - 2019-06-25 18:39 (UTC) - Expand

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(Anonymous) - 2019-06-25 20:02 (UTC) - Expand

Probably because Whedon thought it'd be neat to cherry pick from that culture but had zero interest in representation, like so many white creators do. They like the flavor of exoticism, but with white people.

I agree totally. I would've made one or two of the main characters Chinese, and I also would've cut back on Mal slut-shaming Inara (I get him being jealous, and I also get Mal is *supposed* to be flawed and the audience is intended to think he's being a dick. Still, though.)

Other than that, from what I remember, the show is really great. To each their own and all, but it's got a really nice sense of camaraderie and a fun overall vibe, and never gets too pretentious or exposition-heavy while still carrying entertaining plots. I liked that about it.

I called it being terrible while it was airing.

It's funny to see more people coming around to my point of view.

It's the hardcore fetishization of Chinese culture while having literally zero Asian actors at all, much less actually Chinese ones, that absolutely killed it for me. But even setting that aside as much as I was able, holy shit, the writing!! Why is it 98% one-liners? They lose their impact a bit after the first ten minutes, and by the end of an episode I just want to throttle characters to make them stop.

I do not understand why this show is held up as such a jewel of sci-fi.

It's a staple of Whedon's writing. It works on Buffy because they're in high school. It works in Firefly because they're all stuck on a boat together and are bound to pick up some saying and habits from one another.

It really killed Age of Ultron for me. Then other Marvel movies started to try and echo it.

It's one of the reasons I dread seeing Deadpool in the MCU. I do not need a Quill-Thor-Deadpool-Rocket-Spiderman-Ant Man quip-a-thon.

He was positively reigned in for Justice League.

I feel the same way about all the quips. Moderation needed.

*reined

Yep, that's a major issue with Whedon's writing - all his characters have the same sense of humor: Whedon's. It's not that the lines aren't funny by themselves, it's just that he doesn't know when it's too much.

This has always weirded me out, because Chinese culture is used in Firefly like English is used in large parts of the world now.

So to me, the fact that Asian actors weren't there wasn't the point at all; the point was that China won the interstellar culture war so people had Chinese stuff/symbology, etc. because it is the default.

I like more diversity in casting too, but it's possible to just have Chinese culture everywhere because it's the predominant language or spread all over, too, just like you might see a bunch of English signage and people drinking Coca-Cola without a predominantly anglo population.

IMO this is an entirely valid explanation for why it's not a majority Chinese cast. But there should probably still be at least one or two Chinese characters. If Chinese culture is predominant, then it seems improbable that in such a large group of people, no one is Chinese.

Personally, I would love for Simon and River to have been Chinese. I think that would've been an excellent way to marry the "wild west" style elements of the show (which the Firefly crew strongly embodies), with the Chinese-dominant world-building.

I do feel people are awfully quick to call Joss a horrible racist, though. Especially considering Zoe and Book are pretty great characters. I mean, this show was made in, what, 2003? It honestly wouldn't surprise me at all if the network execs had some kind of nauseatingly racist arbitrary cap on the number of non-white main characters they'd greenlight for the show.

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(Anonymous) - 2019-06-25 04:24 (UTC) - Expand

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(Anonymous) - 2019-06-25 19:37 (UTC) - Expand

Like some other actors, I'm not sure I can separate Mal from the jerk that plays him anymore.

I've never heard of the actor being a jerk. Just the opposite - he's a genuine fan of the things he plays in, and has always seemed to have positive interactions with his fans. He was gracious and fun when I met him, at least. Is there some incident or controversy I'm missing?

(nayrt) Apparently he was mean to his co-star on Castle, in some conveniently never-defined way. Just "he made her stressed and upset" sort of things. Personally I give that about as much weight as it deserves.

For me it's Jayne and Adam Baldwin.

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(Anonymous) - 2019-06-25 01:02 (UTC) - Expand

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philstar22 - 2019-06-25 02:44 (UTC) - Expand

lol ok dear

Yeah I thought it was stupid tbh, and not in a charming way. The actors weren't very good, and they tried too hard to shoehorn in the whole cowboy aesthetic without trying to fit it into the era the setting takes place in.

I'm with you OP. I had friends who went on and on about how awesome Firefly was and I just couldn't get into it. And the internet seems to think it's THE BESTEST THING EVA!!!!!
Glad someone else agrees with me that it's friggen annoying as a show. (I probably would like it a bit better if people didn't go on and on about how great it is).

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