firefly and fannishness

[vaznetti]

My parents loved Firefly, but were very unhappy that it ended so soon, and I was tempted to bring up the subject of the movie -- I'd mentioned it when they were a few episodes in, but at that point they were full of love for Wash and Zoe, and found Book one of the most interesting characters, so I kind of suggested that the movie might not be to their tastes, and we agreed never to speak of it again.

Does this seem strange to anyone else? Because I do consider Serenity part of the canon of that universe, but at the same time in retrospect the movie had a very different feel from the TV show, somehow. Colder and of course more violent, which is a problem for my mother.

I was tempted in part because my mother turned out to be a Mal/Inara shipper, although she agreed with me that the relationship would never work, or pretended to. And there's some nice stuff with Mal and Inara in the film, although of course musesfool has managed to persuade me that Mal will end up with River. Or with Serenity, if River ends up with Dean.

It was weird, actually, talking about a TV show with people who aren't fans -- we did talk about what might happen next, but not in quite the way people do when they're plotting a story, because one fannish story is just as likely to be true as any other, whereas "what happens next" ought to have a single answer, if you're not a fan, because the show has been a single story up to that point.

I feel like I ought to have more to say about this, but my brains's still a little sluggish. Thinky thoughts are quite beyond me.

Comments

[rhi]

Honestly, I'm even weirder: I can use the backstory on River as canon, but I just don't consider the movie to be part of the canon. I thought some of the outcomes of the movie... didn't make any sense in universe. (From a director/writer/actor POV, I can squint and make sense of them, but in universe, they don't fit the rest of tone of it, so I kinda have them half a dimension over or something.)

[vaznetti]

Yes, half a dimension over -- that's it exactly -- and the problem being the tone, or at least the tone in parts of it not quite fitting the rest of the universe.

[rez-lo.livejournal.com]

although she agreed with me that the relationship would never work, or pretended to

Oh, this sounds like a very slippery slope indeed. I seem to remember starting off that way about--well. You understand what I'm saying.

This thing about the official extension of canon? quasi-canon? by commercial producers makes my head spin. It was a short step from novelizations and follow-on movies (as opposed to sequels) to deleted scenes and from there to podcasts and webisodes to spin-off comic books (there are SPN comics coming that supposedly include backstory on John and Mary, frex) and vice versa all over the place. I guess it's only new in the speed and volume of the ancillary material but it's surely going to change fannish production over time in some really big ways? It's certainly one of the reasons I'm less interested in writing fic for currently airing texts. Canon's important to me but there's too much of it. I can't keep up and I don't want to.

//minority report

[vaznetti]

I think the real problem for my mother would be the violence -- she found War Stories hard to watch. I might suggest that my dad see it, and then think about it, but really... I don't know. It seemed to me that they were not greatly interested in the big River-related questions, and that's where the movie is focused.

[musesfool.livejournal.com]

Hee! It's funny, because if pressed, I'm actually more Mal/Kaylee than Mal/River, though I love Mal/River.

I personally loved the movie, but I can see how showing it to people who aren't fannish but who enjoyed the show might be difficult, because it is different - it's a half-tone over from the show, and while I loved it, I know many people didn't.

[vaznetti]

I liked it, but I didn't love it.

Hee! It's funny, because if pressed, I'm actually more Mal/Kaylee than Mal/River, though I love Mal/River.

I like Mal/Kaylee as well, but I somehow came to associate it with people who really don't like Simon (in more than a "just not my character" way), and I rather like Simon, despite agreeing that he's nowhere near good enough for her, so I tend to avoid it.

Mal/Serenity OTP!

[musesfool.livejournal.com]

I like Mal/Kaylee as well, but I somehow came to associate it with people who really don't like Simon (in more than a "just not my character" way), and I rather like Simon, despite agreeing that he's nowhere near good enough for her, so I tend to avoid it.

That's a shame, though I can see it happening. I mean, there's so little Mal/Kaylee to begin with, and that it gets into the Simon-bashing is sad. I work really hard not to do that, because I *do* like Simon, I just don't think he and Kaylee work out in the end. *g*

Mal/Serenity OTP!

Totally.

[technocracygirl.livejournal.com]

Doyle-istically, Joss apparently wanted to make the TV show darker than it was. Grittier, more on the edge. The TV execs said "No," and we got Firefly.

But for the movie, the movie producers said, "We like it, but it needs to be darker and grittier." And so Joss made the 'verse into much more of what he had originally wanted -- dark, gritty, and the edge a bare razor-thin margin between flyin' and crashin'.

[vaznetti]

Hunh. That's interesting. Persoanlly, I like the tone of Firefly just fine, so score one for the network execs -- and how often do you get to type that sentence?

[technocracygirl.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it's a little weird to realize that the execs helped shape the happier, warmer 'verse of Firefly. With all the crap they got wrong, it's amazing to know that they did something right. (IMO -- I wouldn't have wanted the darkness of Serenity for an entire season.

[lasultrix.livejournal.com]

Hmm. OK, Wash dies, but the film's a love song to him, in a way. I think if one liked him, one would like the film. But if they really liked Book, they might feel cheated that his death is just "Previously in the 'verse, Book died."

I am, however, biased, as I saw Serenity first (fully spoilered) and ended up disliking Firefly, mainly for its bugfuck continuity issues. It's a lot easier to have decent continuity in a film.

[vaznetti]

The violence is the real issue. My mother is not good with violence on the screen.

That's funny, about seeing the movie first and then being driven up a wall by continuity problems in the TV show -- I've never really noticed them, but episodic TV is so full of that kind of thing that I probably never even saw it. (The problems with the world-building are noticeable to me, but again, TV shows rarely do a good job of this.)

[lasultrix.livejournal.com]

To be honest, the reason I said 'continuity' rather than 'world-building' is that the entire premise of Firefly makes my brain turn into the Biggest Red Pen in the Universe and Firefly fans tend to be so rabid about their Prematurely Destroyed Loooooove that I get a lot of flack for this. I am so happy you made that comment.

(duelling to the death being the only acceptable form of honour. and holographic pool tables. For fuck's sake, Joss Whedon, have you no pride left? None? Whatsoever?)

[se-parsons.livejournal.com]

My mother had the same favorites as your parents when she watched the show and went out on Friday night of Serenity's release to see the movie with me. She actually went twice, which she never does.

She thought the story was really good and was able to get over the death, so your parents might surprise you.

[vaznetti]

Hm. Well, we've made the never-speak-of-it again pact, so maybe they'll decide to see it and maybe not. They watch very little television, aside from Mystery and Masterpiece Theatre on PBS.