I think to some extent, the overall tone of the internet community is going to be a little exaggerated anyway, just a side-effect of the medium, really. (Despite that we all have a screen-name, we're still posting our thoughts in virtual anonymity, which means there doesn't have to be as much self-editing as you would see if we were talking face to face. Also, posts in general tend to be a bit more stream-of-consciousness and "in-the-moment.")Just because certain threads will focus on the negative, I'd take it with a grain of salt that it reveals too much about the posters' attitudes. It's just that not everyone is going to take the time to say "I really liked the movie, but..." :P
As someone who likes to fancy himself an artist of sorts, I have to say that it's better to have a bad reaction than no reaction at all anyways. If there's alot of bad things to say about a work, at least it's interesting enough to talk about on some level.
Like I said, though, not everything being put into the 'net community at large is going to be fully-thought-out, fair and balanced essay. It's mostly people coming online and writing about how they're feeling at the moment, and their gut-reactions.
(And I'll also submit that I fell in love with the movie at first sight, and I still bawl through the last half hour every time I see it :)

I pretty much stopped reading at the point where you said whinning; just skimmed the rest.

It must be said, that whether you agree or not, there is a significant chunk of the Browncoat community that thought that the movie was not the series. That there are significant differences between the two that cannot be accounted for, and there are a lot of differences.

Given that this community is of a higher intellegence than any other that I've seen on the Inet, this is something that cannot be just caste aside.

Let it be said though, that I believe that there /is/ those that you speak of. But, let's make the difference between those that whine and those that justifiably complain.

I am one of latter. I did not whine. I complained (yes there is a difference) about said conflicts, debated them, and have now pretty much gone to my corner to think my own thoughts.

I mourn the loss of what I had; my Firefly (yes I know I still have my DVD's. But, the movie for me is a signal of the end of something great that can never come back. Thus the mourning). I do this now quietly, only surfacing to let those that realize this after me, that there are those of like mind.

Quite frankly, I'm tired of fighting about this. I had even thought that the community had grown beyond it until I found this inflamitory blog.

Why can't people just let it be? Why can't we just agree to disagree and move on? Some see inconsistancy, others don't. Neither side will convince the other. So, why waste all this energy? Is it just to be right?

Why can't we just collectively, as a community, move on? After all, we still have the series in common. And there's a whole lot more series than movie to talk about.

Why can't we focus on that?

There's a reason why people become fans in the first place: because a show or movie or what have you has touched them in some way. If later incarnations of that show or movie do not touch them in the same way, I see no reason why they should be obligated to be "grateful".

If I like a particular brand of soup, and the company changes the ingredients, I'm not going to continue to purchase that soup just because it once had the ingredients I liked. Now, I might learn to appreciate the new soup, but I'm still going to miss the old soup.

I, for one, wouldn't be so fed up with Lucas if he hadn't made the Star Wars of my childhood UNAVAILABLE to me. He hasn't simply added some disappointing movies, he has TAKEN AWAY something that I would now like to share with MY children, and can't.

I also see a big distinction between the gripes about Serenity and the gripes about the SW prequels. Many of the changes/concessions in Serenity are wholly a result of the circumstances - the cancellation, the change in format, the one-shot nature of it - so I do feel the criticism of Joss is unfair. The SW prequels, OTOH, are the way they are because that is how they were envisioned. If the prequels don't appeal to you, there is nobody to blame BUT Lucas.

Its about damn time someone stood up for Lucas! I'm right there with you. Where the prequels perfect? No. Then again the original weren't either. Many of the things people have complained about with regards to the PT also apply to the OT but no one wants to admit it. The only valid point I see being made is that he over did it a bit with regards to SFX. Then again if he didn't use CGI people would have complained about him not the using the resources at his disposal so its a catch 22. The whole thing about "raping my childhood" is one the most ignorant comments I've ever seen and can't see how anyone can apply it to something that is supposed to entertain.


As far as people complaining about the BDM not being the same as Firefly well the only thing I can say is "no shit!". There is no way Joss could have done the kind of exposition and character development he did in the series over the course of a 2 hour movie. The way I see it the movie was a super concentrated last half of season 1 or maybe even what he had planned for season 2.

In case you can't tell I also think people should be glad of what they do have.