I just came across a great post on the realtvaddict.com about Firefly and it made me feel all nostlagic! Now I want to pull out my dvd set and watch it... except it's in Spain and I'm in Belgium! :o(
So I had to settle for forwarding the post to my Dad saying "read this and then go look for my dvd set and WATCH IT!"
And I'm saying the same to anyone reading this... if you haven't seen Joss Whedon's amazing (and sadly short-lived) Firefly... go, NOW! I dare you to not fall in love with the wonderful crew of the Serenity brought to life by some excellent thespians: Captain Nathan Fillion before Castle. Seductive Morena Baccarin before V. Haunted Summer Glau before Terminator. Mean-lean-fighting-machine Adam Baldwin before Chuck. Kick-ass Gina Torres. Goofy Alan Tudyk before Dollhouse. Sweet Jewel Staite before Stargate Atlantis. Faithful Dr Sean Maher. Wise Preacher Ron Glass.
I had a lot of fun with the goofy language and the original use of Chinese to be able to sweat on network TV... and the author of the post I mentioned above appears to agree with me:
One of the most memorable aspects of the show revolves around its use of language. Everyone in the future seamlessly blends English and Chinese and Whedon uses it as a brilliant device to pass off cussing on network TV. We don’t exactly know what he’s saying, but we do! This crosses over into all the signs and books and writing amongst the worlds as well, creating a lush landscape of familiar and exotic tones. But it doesn’t stop with just Chinese, the dialog turns new phrases out of everyday words faster than a middle schooler texting their BFF. ”Shiny” is synonymous with good or great. Farmers on one planet drink “mudder’s milk” and the term “gorram” is a popular curse with fans everywhere. The language of Firefly is a terrific Tower of Babel; elegant with nods to the old west, steam punk, and cyber punk culture.
Addendum: if you haven't seen Firefly, whatever you do, DON'T see Serenity (the big screen outing of our favourite browncoats) before you've seen the series... very bad thing to do! Wait 'till after! (not that you'll be able to stop yourself from checking it out once you've devoured the 13 episodes of Firefly)
I have NEVER heard of this Firely. Now, I am intrigued...
ReplyDeletewhaaaaat???
ReplyDeletewell you're busy right now with a certain dive trip... but when you get back you have to look it up!
particularly if you enjoy: westerns, sci-fi, funny characters, snappy dialogue, engaging characters, Nathan Filion, Joss Whedon, good story-telling, independance...
and the report back and tell me what you thought of it! ;o)
(after which you will undoubtedly go pick up the movie that made it to the big screen a few years after the series ended: Serenity!)
I was just about to reply and explain my problem with Firefly when I saw the last bit of your post! I avoided Firefly when it was on because Whedon's track record with religious characters is Not Good (see for example Caleb, and Buffy's charming assessment of religion = freaky. Thanks Buffy, yeah, we all like to make random crosses for obscure vampire rituals in our spare time). As it turned out, my fears were needless, as Shepherd Book is a great character, but by then it was too late - I'd seen the movie first. It totally ruins it!
ReplyDeleteCaleb was actually my first introduction to Fillion and I thought he was freakily excellent! (but yeah, really icky character!)
ReplyDeleteShepherd Book feels more like Mal's conscience than he does a proper religious figure per se...
I only discovered Firefly on dvd, but thankfully before watching Serenity... I imagine doing things the other way around must be a major bummer... :o(
I have it all. Ate it up too. Fumed and pouted when they took it away.
ReplyDeleteIndeed, I would have been furious had I lived through it "live"!
ReplyDelete