Random Firefly musings

[stormkeeper_lovedoris]

I’ve always thought of the Firefly ‘verse as being a very cold and harsh place, filled with bad guys who are out to get you and our crew just trying to stick together and survive. (I kinda wrote along that theme in my fic Treasure). But the ‘verse does have some kind and compassionate people in it, doesn’t it? There’s Nandi and her ‘crew’ in “Heart of Gold” and Monty in “Trash”. Or even the post office guy in “The Messenger”. I’m sure there I could think of others if I dwelled on it long enough. Maybe it’s not much different than the world today….stick with your family and they’ll support you, and there are a few other kind-hearted people among all the Badgers, Saffrons, Alliances, and Niskas of the world too.

Comments

[invisibleshrew.livejournal.com]

I think of the 'verse as being a lot like the world today (with me living in the safe Core, not on the edgy rim) - full of decent, well-meaning people. It's family and friends who're first to help in need, but most folks will, if they realize that you need assistance. Most of the ordinary people we see seem to fall into this category - eg the sheriff and townsfolk of Paradiso, the Triumph settlers, the lowland Jiangyin folk.

The problem for our heroes is that they've chosen to put themselves outside the law - so they meet and do business with (other) bad guys, and are in constant potential conflict with authority. But authority is frequently compassionate (the Captain of the Dortmunder in StP abandoning the sure collar to respond to a distress signal, the Paradiso sheriff happy to let things go with just getting the drugs back, Commander Harken actually releasing crims that he caught red-handed), and the crew get on well with some of their fellow bad guys. The crew themselves probably look like dangerous predators to most of the ordinary people who they meet.

Maybe it's even more like our world than I first thought - here I am living a contented, safe-as-houses, huge-support structure existence, while a few doors down the men who live in their gang HQ presumably have a much edgier lifestyle. But I chose this life, and they chose theirs, and partly that will be because we had different options available to us, and partly it'll be because we're different people.

Off to read Treasure now.

[stormkpr.livejournal.com]

The crew themselves probably look like dangerous predators to most of the ordinary people who they meet.

I love hearing your perspective on thing! You have a great point. They *are* outside of the law, so most people would see them as criminals. (The bank robbing scene in the movie leaves little doubt of that). Along with that territory goes 'bad' people. Maybe I've been so conditioned to see them as heroes and good guys that we forget that our crew are smugglers and criminals.

I hope you enjoy Treasure.

[invisibleshrew.livejournal.com]

I've always felt particularly sorry for the poor officious Doctor who gets de-fibrillated in Ariel - when fraudsters in fake uniforms are one of every hospital worker's worst nightmares.

And the cops called out to Durran Haymer's place - just working stiffs who don't particularly deserve to get beaten up or dead for doing their job (let alone how scary it must have been for all the other staff and contractors).

Wow - your 'verse in Treasure is very, very, bleak! I particularly liked the way that having a baby didn't magically grant the crew a free ride from trouble. Because I can see both sides of the argument - "the best time is always now, especially with a clock ticking" and "wait until the optimal time, so that child and parents both get the best possible deal".

In some ways Treasure read as post-StM to me - since a massive recession does seem like one of the most likely outcomes of the Miranda incident, and that is going to hit hardest on the Rim, especially on the settlements that aren't self-sufficient for food (the Paradiso miners, for instance, would be well in trouble).

[zooey-glass04.livejournal.com]

Maybe it’s not much different than the world today

I think thats the key thing about this 'verse, for me. Even though they live on the raggedy edge, and as such encounter some more extreme people, ultimately people are a mixture of bad and good. It works so well, because it's true to life. I particularly liked the sheriff in the Train Job, who understood the grey areas of morality (and of course for Mal, he isn't so willing to see grey areas, which is interesting in itself).

There are people who stick together, but also people who are kind because that's the right way to be. Oh Joss, how I love him.

[ceslas.livejournal.com]

I am in agreement with the above posts and think indeed we have been conditioned by our love to see them as heroes when in fact they are far from that. Admittedly, they are not out to be bad guys per se, just trying to make their way in a 'verse that is all to regimented and ordered for their tastes. But they are definitely going to be dealing with harsher elements due to their unwillingness to play by the rules. Consider, how happy would Mal be living in the USA where he would be a freelance trucker maybehaps, paying taxes, driving hours regulated by the Dept of Transportation, rules set up to protect drivers like you or I from being killed by a truck careening out of control because the driver was at the end of a 24 hour jag driving?
And Jayne, well, he simply is a bad guy. A gun for hire, ethics a little sketchy and compromised by money all to easily...
Inara- leaving a stable situation to live with the rougher element because she wants to see the Wild West...all right then, but then assisting in crime if only by posting bail...

And all of the above is said with the understanding that I love my Big Damn Heroes more than I can possibly express in words... a nice intellectual exercise, but realistically? I love them as the rag tag family they are, warts, bumps, nasty tempers and all...

[stormkpr.livejournal.com]

And all of the above is said with the understanding that I love my Big Damn Heroes more than I can possibly express in words... a nice intellectual exercise, but realistically? I love them as the rag tag family they are, warts, bumps, nasty tempers and all...

Me too. It'd be boring if they were the Brady Bunch. :)