Firefly musings. And icons.
Jun. 29th, 2005 11:53 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
agilebritBecause that's what I do.
Anyway, yeah, I've finished watching the series, finally. Haven't watched any of the commentary yet, but I reckon I'll get to that over the next couple of days.
In many ways, this is both remarkably similar and amazingly different from any other show Joss has done. I recognize the "types" of characters in it from Angel and Buffy, which I will break down thusly:
Wash = Xander He brings the funny, with his Hawaiian shirts and his silly remarks at inappropriate moments. Not too good with weapons, but he's very very good at flying the ship, which is a sort of hands-on thing like Xander with his carpentering.
Simon = early Wes in Angel He's very...civilized. And proper. And yet still manages to say exactly the wrong thing at the wrong time. He's quite book-learned, but he doesn't really know how to deal with human beings on a one-to-one basis. And if something bad were to happen to River, I can see him going completely batshit insane, but in a cold and calculating manner, and going on a shooting rampage.
Inara = Cordy without the snark She's beautiful and loving and wants to help people. Can I disapprove of her profession and still like her as a person? Eh, Mal does.
Jayne = Spike, pre-soul He's amoral, rude, crude, and socially unacceptable. Yet there's something about him...the way he waited outside the sick bay while Simon was operating on Kaylee. The way he was thrilled to get a hand-knitted cap from his Mommy. The way he told Mal, before he thought he was going to die, "Don't tell the others what I done." Why would it matter what they thought of him after he was dead? He's got something inside him that knows what the decent thing to do is, but he doesn't feel like doing it very often. It's like his conscience is on vacation.
Book = Giles He's the conscience of the group, the one who makes sure that, while they may go a bit astray, they won't go too far, and they'll know when they've crossed a line they shouldn't.
Kaylee = Willow or Fred She's the genius with mechanical stuff. Like Willow with her computers or Fred with her physics, she knows Serenity and what makes her tick inside out. She's also sweet, vulnerable, and unfailingly kind.
River = Dru Completely out of her mind through no fault of her own. And yet very wise, although no one knows what she's talking about until it's too late.
Mal and Zoe seem to be unique. I thought for awhile that Mal might be Angel, but he's not really fighting for redemption or anything of the sort (although he usually winds up fighting for something). He fought for his great Cause and lost, and now he just wants to be left alone to live his life, such as it is. At the same time, he's built this little family on his ship with Zoe, and both of them will go to the ends of the galaxy to protect what's theirs.
Zoe is loyal to Mal to a fault--but she's not afraid to speak up when she thinks he's being dumb. She also loves her husband a lot and is quite protective of him in a sort of role-reversy way.
The show itself is very human. The characters are real; they're not exceptionally brave or physically strong or (necessarily) moral. When they get shot, they need medical attention, and they don't bounce up right afterwards and act like nothing happened. In fact, I'm not sure I've ever seen a show where the main characters get hurt as much as they do in this one--including Buffy and Angel. No demons or Slayers here with super-healing, just ordinary people. And they get cowardly or greedy or dumb, and bad things happen because of that. Actions have consequences...and sometimes everything isn't all right in the end.
And that's what makes this show different from the ordinary run-of-the-mill dreck that makes up most of television these days.
And, because I can't help myself, here's some more icons:
Anyway, yeah, I've finished watching the series, finally. Haven't watched any of the commentary yet, but I reckon I'll get to that over the next couple of days.
In many ways, this is both remarkably similar and amazingly different from any other show Joss has done. I recognize the "types" of characters in it from Angel and Buffy, which I will break down thusly:
Wash = Xander He brings the funny, with his Hawaiian shirts and his silly remarks at inappropriate moments. Not too good with weapons, but he's very very good at flying the ship, which is a sort of hands-on thing like Xander with his carpentering.
Simon = early Wes in Angel He's very...civilized. And proper. And yet still manages to say exactly the wrong thing at the wrong time. He's quite book-learned, but he doesn't really know how to deal with human beings on a one-to-one basis. And if something bad were to happen to River, I can see him going completely batshit insane, but in a cold and calculating manner, and going on a shooting rampage.
Inara = Cordy without the snark She's beautiful and loving and wants to help people. Can I disapprove of her profession and still like her as a person? Eh, Mal does.
Jayne = Spike, pre-soul He's amoral, rude, crude, and socially unacceptable. Yet there's something about him...the way he waited outside the sick bay while Simon was operating on Kaylee. The way he was thrilled to get a hand-knitted cap from his Mommy. The way he told Mal, before he thought he was going to die, "Don't tell the others what I done." Why would it matter what they thought of him after he was dead? He's got something inside him that knows what the decent thing to do is, but he doesn't feel like doing it very often. It's like his conscience is on vacation.
Book = Giles He's the conscience of the group, the one who makes sure that, while they may go a bit astray, they won't go too far, and they'll know when they've crossed a line they shouldn't.
Kaylee = Willow or Fred She's the genius with mechanical stuff. Like Willow with her computers or Fred with her physics, she knows Serenity and what makes her tick inside out. She's also sweet, vulnerable, and unfailingly kind.
River = Dru Completely out of her mind through no fault of her own. And yet very wise, although no one knows what she's talking about until it's too late.
Mal and Zoe seem to be unique. I thought for awhile that Mal might be Angel, but he's not really fighting for redemption or anything of the sort (although he usually winds up fighting for something). He fought for his great Cause and lost, and now he just wants to be left alone to live his life, such as it is. At the same time, he's built this little family on his ship with Zoe, and both of them will go to the ends of the galaxy to protect what's theirs.
Zoe is loyal to Mal to a fault--but she's not afraid to speak up when she thinks he's being dumb. She also loves her husband a lot and is quite protective of him in a sort of role-reversy way.
The show itself is very human. The characters are real; they're not exceptionally brave or physically strong or (necessarily) moral. When they get shot, they need medical attention, and they don't bounce up right afterwards and act like nothing happened. In fact, I'm not sure I've ever seen a show where the main characters get hurt as much as they do in this one--including Buffy and Angel. No demons or Slayers here with super-healing, just ordinary people. And they get cowardly or greedy or dumb, and bad things happen because of that. Actions have consequences...and sometimes everything isn't all right in the end.
And that's what makes this show different from the ordinary run-of-the-mill dreck that makes up most of television these days.
And, because I can't help myself, here's some more icons:
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no subject
Date: 2005-06-29 07:36 pm (UTC)I find your character comparisons across Jossverse to be interesting. Similar thoughts have crossed my mind. *grin* I'll be interested in seeing what you think about the characters once you've seen Serenity.
But still...Hurrah!
no subject
Date: 2005-06-29 07:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-06-29 07:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-06-29 07:47 pm (UTC)