So I did a Firefly marathon the last couple of days culminating with Serenity; I couldn’t articulate my original problems until seeing it all back to back. Don’t confuse my complaints for being the rants of a Non-Fan. I love the series and the movie both enough to employ Mal-isms in my daily vernacular. It’s just that Whedon
2 responses to “Firefly, Serenity and Problems”
I was disappointed that we didn’t get more closure with Book. Even in his other series when Whedon would surprise you and take out a character you loved, it would still be part of the natural story arc. I think he’s said he’s been heartbroken by some of the deaths, but the story is bigger than him and he has no choice, or some artistic writer’s crap like that. ;)
I thought it was always established that Mal masked his feelings and acted tough, even mean sometimes around the crew. In the movie I just took it that between Book and Inara(especially Inara) leaving him, he had just withdrawn even more. I think his initial bitterness in the series was about the outcome of the war, and for a while Zoe was the only one he really let his guard down around, and Jayne to a lesser degree, because they went through the war together.
EVERYBODY said the same thing about that box art, back when it hit the net as a movie poster. I wonder how much of that was a marketing decision he had no control over, which is a shame because if the audience that sees things like Ultraviolet and Bloodrayne went to see Serenity because of the hot sci fi babe on the poster, they were probably disappointed or completely lost.
A sequel isn’t likely. I think after Wonder Woman a Spike (tv?) movie is his next project, and as time goes on you’re right, there will be a fade from the culture and it will be harder to sell the idea to a studio. Unless history repeats itself and the Browncoats are as formidable an audience as Trekkies. How many years was it from the time the original Star Trek was cancelled to the time the first movie came out? 4 years. And it was nearly 20 years before The Next Generation. So who knows?
Spoken like someone who listened to the audio commentary. heh.
Personally I think screen writers are full of garbage when they say stuff about the natural progression of a story. The story is so dependant on external forces (ie: a new audience, movie execs, ratings from private screenings) that it makes that sort of thing a bit ridiculous.
Re: Mal, it was established that he would take out stuff on folk outside but no one messes with his crew. But even Whedon was saying that he had to make some sort of translation between Mal in the series who was friends with everybody and Mal in the movie who’s in a bad spot. Like when he’s cornered he does stuff he hates (like kicking the dude off the mule). But it was so subtle that audiences didn’t pick it up so the studio told him to add some Mal exposition which STILL didn’t make the transition convincing to me.
I never thought they would have a sequel actually it just seemed like a lot of setups for doing that sort of thing. That’s why the comic is a sad thing to me.