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Originally posted by Giantevilhead:
It would be a great opportunity to maim Inara. Her profession depends a lot on her appearance, I wonder if she could still be a Companion if she gets "uglied up."

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Originally posted by Tiger:
Oh my GAWWWD. :-( I'm almost glad we never saw that episode; I don't know if I could stand seeing Inara broken that way.

She's my favorite character, and imagining this episode makes me understand better the people who abandoned Whedon altogether after he killed Wash.

I'd never take it that far, but I uderstand the impulse.

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Originally posted by SadLittleKing:
The most powerful storytelling will move you in such a way that you never thought possible... That's why I watch and love Battlestar Galactica. It has that same type of storytelling... It makes a real impact on me.

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Originally posted by Tiger:
You're preaching to the choir here - I love BSG too and for the same reasons.

There's no doubt the Inara/Reaver storyline would've been powerful, but it sure would have hurt to watch. I just like Inara too much for me not to be a little frightened by it.

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Originally posted by SadLittleKing:
another Battlestar which had taken one of Six's clones prisoner.

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Originally posted by Grounded:
You'd think after the third or fourth Reaver died of rape-itis they'd have tossed her out an airlock?... ;)

Can't imagine an episode like that would have ever made it on air anyway.

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Originally posted by Anasazi:

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Originally posted by Giantevilhead:
It would be a great opportunity to maim Inara. Her profession depends a lot on her appearance, I wonder if she could still be a Companion if she gets "uglied up."

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Dude, that's just wrong on so many levels, I'm not even going to get into it....

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Originally posted by Blinker:
From accounts of a writing seminar he taught last week:

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http://www.livejournal.com/users/_eb/83667.html#cutid1

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Originally posted by Giantevilhead:
The Academy's torture of River wasn't really that bad. It was really high tech, brain surgery and downloading stuff directly into the brain. The Academy River attended probably looks like a five star hotel compared to what it was like when it was first built.

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Originally posted by Belacgod:

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Originally posted by Giantevilhead:
The Academy's torture of River wasn't really that bad. It was really high tech, brain surgery and downloading stuff directly into the brain. The Academy River attended probably looks like a five star hotel compared to what it was like when it was first built.

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You can't be serious. I wrote a long reply full of reasoning and comparisons of Academy and Reaver methods, but my mind still boggles, so I deleted it.

They physically took out part of her brain so she'll never again be able to repress emotion, and gave her horribly traumatic memories that she won't ever be able to stop herself from reliving. That's "not really that bad"? What do you think is "that bad"?

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Originally posted by Giantevilhead:



My guess is that students trained at the Academy in its early days are far more messed up than River.

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Originally posted by LightMeDark:
I think one has to keep in mind that this was in keeping with the original plan of a very dark show. What eventually aired was ligher in tone than what was planned. For all we know, in the original crafting of the story this was a part earlier in the plot and not as completely shocking as it seems it would be given the way the series did turn out (not that it wouldn't still be shocking, of course).

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Originally posted by Blinker:
[Inara] has yet another fight with Mal, in which he says something especially cruel like "I'm not going to get on my knees and kiss your hand like your a lady. You're a whore."

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Mal gets past Zoe (yeah, right) and walks over to Inara's bed where she's curled up and post-traumatic. Gets on his knees, and kisses her hand.

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Originally posted by Jacqui:
I have a hard time picturing Joss taking the "sex = death" metaphor to such a cheesy level.

Or using the "female sexuality and empowerment = death" cliche *at all*. Vagina dentata indeed.

Seriously, Joss has stressed in Inara that sensuality and sexuality is not a bad thing, I honestly can't see him abusing her to such an extent.

Joss, for all his faults, is more subtle than that. Early's threat to Kaylee is so powerful, because it isn't overdone, he's not twirling a big black moustache and sneering and posturing. It's a scary fuckin' scene for us and for Kaylee, because it's so subtle.

A bunch of reavers gang raping Inara sounds like a really bad fanfic, much in the vein of a bunch of reavers gang raping Jayne. It's a cheap plot device to break a character so that they can rebuild them in the way they want.

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Originally posted by AgentRouka:

A healthy happy Inara is a whore but a traumatized, abused Inara is suddenly worth more than that?

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Originally posted by zirzird:
I'd just like to point out that this is precisely the reason it's dangerous for fans to have any say over the object of their fandom. I'm a longtime Firefly fan and an ardent supporter of all things Serenity. But reading through all these comments about how revolting this episode may have been, or how incompatible it may seem with the surviving shows... that's the point, people!! That's the point of art, especially dramatic art: to challenge us, to take us to the point of no return and beyond. Precisely because it's uncomfortable.

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Originally posted by psychoticbride:
I've said to my boyfriend, while analyzing the show a bit, that Mal sees Inara's job as below him, but Inara herself as above him. The handkiss part, that's Mal catering to the part of Inara he sees as being above him.

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