from my bbs,L-Spacetyped by my sweetie, sig.

So I'm watching the Firefly Series boxed set. Well worth the money. In addition to the three never-aried episodes and the extras, the eight or so commentary tracks on various episodes are great.

I never watched the series when it aired, due to my work schedule, and now I'm glad. If I had, I would've been deeply upset when it got cancelled, and now I'm spared the pain and suspense. However, it is *very* frustratng to hear Joss say he's not going to explain something because the answer might come out in a movie someday!

The thing that has struck me the most so far is a comment Joss made while watching the pilot, 'Serenity,' which I understand was aired *last,* of all the inane things. It's much much better to watch it first! Joss and Nathan are watching the opening scene, in which the Alliance overruns Serenity Valley. This is essentially the moment when Malcolm Reynolds breaks. I understand that the war for independence went on for a few more months after this battle, but the war for Mal ended right there. Abandoned by his superiors, his men dying next to him, ignored by his god -- this is the end of Mal's faith in everything. And the rest of the series is about the man who comes out of that valley. What, after all, do you do when your life is over but you remain unfortunately alive?

Lois Bujold investigates similar questions in her books, both the later Vorkosigan books and the Chalion books to date. It's one of the things I love about those books. As MVK says, "a life in ruin with vomiting is still a life in ruin," and much of A Civil Campaign is finding the life on the other side of ruin. I think there are a number of people on this webadel who, in my opinion, can relate to the awful wrenching process of finding your life again. And not just your life -- your self, your new self, the person who did those things and survived those other things and is somehow still here. What do you do now? Who are you now, as you are no longer the person you once were?

Anyway. Back to Mal, and Firefly.

Joss is watching the scene and musing on the nature of protagonists. He says everything he writes is about found family. But everything he writes is also about flawed heroes. Joss summed it up thusly (and I'm paraphrasing, but closely):

"It's the Air Force One thing -- 'It's about a tough, strong President, who, when the chips are down, is, tough, and, er, strong' -- That's not an arc!" I think I see Joss's point. Sometimes it is fun to watch a tough strong president be tough and strong when the chips are down. But the great characters are not that easy. The great characters have arc. John McClaine? Sarah Connor? Ripley? Angel? John Sheridan?

I like stories about people who are flawed and occasionally broken. Watching them change and grow, or not, is part of the narrative tension that keeps me involved in the story. It's what makes me care.

Firefly is a very good character show. I can see why the network cancelled it. It is impossible to sum up briefly, none of the characters are stock and easily explained, and the setting is rich and complex. (I remember when kal summed up the show to me, briefly, when it was still airing. I was very, very dubious.) T.V. does not love complex. It fears complex. Occasionally a complex show can sneak by, but rarely.

Ah well. I understand Joss is trying very hard to make a movie of Firefly. Best of luck to him.

one of the many reasons i like her is because she can analyze media much better than i can. so i just end up saying 'yes! like that!' a lot.