ARCADIA'S BLOG

Arcadia

Joss's version of Ballad of Serenity got me thinking
Saturday, September 24, 2005

Yesterday I was watching the special features on the DVDs for the hundreth time. I listened to Joss's version of "Ballad of Serenity" and it got me thinking about all the comments in the special features he and others made about how Fox insisted that they lighten the mood of the show. The way Joss sings it... it sounds a lot closer to how I imagine Mal would sing it, especially right after the war, the disbelief in crushed unblinking eyes. Despite all the hope and the difience of the lyrics, there is a really hopeless quality to the way Joss sang, enhanced by the minimalistic guitar that he sings with.

I love Firefly. I like it just the way it is, but now I'm really curious as to how it would have been in Fox had just let the show stay dark. I especially wonder about what effect that would have on Mal's character. The way that he was played, its sometimes easy to overlook the sadness and hopelessness that he was supposed to the filled up with, the thing you get a glimps of in "Serentiy" when he's getting ready to fight Patience or in "Objects in Space" when River reads him. I *heart* Mal. I loved all the characters, but now I think it would have been cool if they had taken it to the next level and let the man's heart bleed just a little bit more.

Then I think about the new Battlestar Galactica and I think Fox may have actually made a good call. I love BG'03, but when they have a bad episode, it's horrible. When firefly had a "bad" episode (most argue that HoG was sub par) it was still pretty good. Of course, Firefly was never on long enough for any of us to know for sure... only 6 days until the movie. Now that, I bet, will be darker. You can tell just from the previews, with all the prominent gray and blue coloring... not to mention all those creepy things the allience officer says about killing people...

And River will get to be her psychotic self! yay!

On a completely unrelated note, I just started taking piano lessons and my instructor keeps telling me I need to keep my fingers curled. When I curl my fingers, they remind me of claws, so I came up with this theory: piano players are actually ninjas, and if you bother they while they practice, they'll claw you tiger-style, so watch out! ahh!

peace

COMMENTS

Sunday, September 25, 2005 4:55 PM

JOSSISAGOD


To Arcadia, "The instructor keeps saying,"Your Playing it, not feeling it!" The fith time he said it, I took the damn thing and smashed it into kindling." Some argue it's hard to smash a Piano into kindling though. I completely agree it would be fun to see Mal darker and will be fun to see River psyhic.

Sunday, September 25, 2005 1:42 AM

GLOWYRM


...or three or four or maybe even, even more.... gotta love Alan's Dinosaurs!! i often wonder if they got to go home with him...hmmm. my mouth is talkin', might wanna do somethin' 'bout that.
as for the above mentioned 'maybe even, even more' i think a dr. seuss meets Wash (the best gorram pilot in the 'verse) eppisode would have been cool, wash always seemed to be a dr. seuss kind of pilot... i have this wierd thing about matching childrens authors to charracters in tv/movies.

only problem is, cap'n Mal is more a brothers grimm character... dark and sinister, and has a moral(or morals), wash= dr. seuss, kaylee=enid blyton, but zoe jayne river and simon are all as yet 'unidentified'... i can hear all asking about innara and book.

book=any author who re-interperates john 3:16-20 or childrens stories from the bible.

although innara is a "companion" i have this great book called 'hug' by a lady called Jez Alborough. if you ever get the chance you should read the book. three words in total and the letter "e" only appears in the authors name.

without a doubt an amazing book...

and about the curled fingers on the piano... think more along the lines of a cat, their "claws" are sheathed but they are used for both good and evil. so pianists are cats... not ninjas.

Saturday, September 24, 2005 7:34 PM

MYFIREFLY


I agree (although not about the Ninjas, I think). I think that it would have been fun to see Mal a bit darker and brooding at the beginning and slowly get to know him better over the course of the season (or two!). Curse fox and their inevitable betrayal!

Mike


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