So then, have you watched Firefly?

[matgb]

So, last week while she was down, we had one of those "what DVDs to watch" discussions on our one (semi-planned) evening in. It turned out that snapesbabe hadn't seen Firefly. At all. Now it appears that tinuvielberen hasn't seen it either (but has now seen the light). This bothered me, y'see, when I first got an LJ, it seemed everyone was a fan, there were Firefly icons everywhere, being a fan seemed like something akin to a cultural norm. Now, of course, I know that's not true, but it sure seemed that way, and for two self-confessed SF fans to have not seen it? Weird. So, poll time:
[Poll #1030452]
Because, y'know, Joss Whedon, creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, does a proper Sci-Fi series, and Murdoch's Fox network messes him around, but the DVD sales are so good that Universal spring for a mid-budget film anyway? Plus, it's funny. Oh, and one of the opening lines is We're not going to die, y'know why? Because we're so very pretty... Which, y'know, is mostly true. So, via Amazon (UK, don't have the US search installed) the series is £15, the film is only £5.

Oh, and after a bit of pestering, here be a link to my Wish List, which I've started updating again; I used to use it as a handy "to buy" list, but then, y'know, finances collapsed. I guess it makes sense to post it, I'll be 33 in less than five weeks. Ouch.

Comments

[miss-s-b.livejournal.com]

See, I was with you till the last sentence. I think that's a VERY sensible comment. One thing that made me VERY uncomfortable about the couple of episodes I watched was (forget her name, bad with names) "the ambassador". I know that prostitution is a fact of life, but to have the subjugation of women treated as so acceptable; necessary, even...

Grargh. I thought that sort of thing was in the past.

[matgb]

The Companion Guild and similar are fleshed out a lot in later episodes, and it's very much made clear that the complete opposite of subjugation is the plan; an opinion frightened (above) shares from what she's said.

They've gone way beyond legalising and accepting it in the background, it's quite well worked through in many ways.

[miss-s-b.livejournal.com]

Background or foreground, if all the prostitutes are women, that is the subjugation of women. It is women being bought and sold by free MEN as objects of sexual gratification and not as people. It is women being dehumanised. If there are also male companions then I will happily eat my words. Are there?

[matgb]

It's implied, but we only see two Companions total, Inara and the former companion running the Heart of Gold; and she offers Mal a boy when he turns the girls down, so yes, they're there.

You know what I'm like, I don't tend to go into huge amounts of detail, so I could dig around the sites but essentially it's implied there are both, and Inara is shown turning down potential clients a few times (and has a few female clients at times).

See, you now have another reason to watch, you can critique the portrayal of the companions ;-)

[miss-s-b.livejournal.com]

What about this "brothel full of cool chicks" that people are talking about? That implies lots more than two.

I'm also with El S that birth should NOT be portrayed as the horrible medical matter it generally is on TV and in films. And I haven't even GLANCED at feminist_sf in WEEKS.

Blargh. I'm going all ranty. Time to crack open the brandy, I think

[matgb]

Brothel != Companion.

It's run by Inara's friend, a former companion, who's gone rogue/independent. The whole centralised authority with strong rules (and protection) vs individuals on their own taking risks and teaming up is a theme the whole way through, the brothel is an analogue of the independents, the Guild is the Alliance, etc...

and pretty much with you on the portrayal of birth thing, but also agree with her point that it's not just the media that does it, the Govt has been doing it for decades as well.

Brandy=good...

[miss-s-b.livejournal.com]

:/

I suppose I shall have to postpone judgement until I've watched it, but I reserve the right to have feminist rage.