What makes Firefly/Serenity Sci-Fi?? by Penguin

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What makes Firefly/Serenity Sci-Fi??

POSTED BY: PENGUIN
UPDATED: Monday, February 27, 2006 07:55
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Monday, February 27, 2006 6:48 AM

Just curious...Is anything set in the future automatically considered Sci-Fi?

Is there a definition of Sci-Fi?

Why isn't Firefly/Serenity just considered a drama/comedy?

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Monday, February 27, 2006 6:52 AM

KWICKO

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." -- William Casey, Reagan's presidential campaign manager & CIA Director (from first staff meeting in 1981)

Zoe: "You live in a spaceship, dear."

A baby seal walks into a club...

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Monday, February 27, 2006 6:53 AM

PARKER6097

well I would that yea most anything set in the future is considered sci-fi. I would define science fiction as fiction which revolves around scientific advances that have not yet been made (i.e. people living on spaceships, a whole new solar system of people) So firefly definitely fits into the sci-fi category.

But as with all of Joss' shows, it's not limited to that category, It's also a drama and a comedy and an action show. Same way buffy and angel aren't limited to being fantasy or horror (whichever category you think best fits them) they're also comedies, dramas, actions and at times musicals lol. Hence the awesomeness that is Joss.

"Post-holer, a post, for digging holes"

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Monday, February 27, 2006 7:18 AM

FLACO

Pretty much we tend to embelish the future with things we haven't developed yet. That kind of wishful thinking drives us forward. It's Firefly's blend of the mundane (horses, six shooters, canned food, finding a job...) with the fantastic (hovercraft, laser pistols, space ships...) that makes it work for me. I mean Star Trek did away with the mundane aspects of life as we know it so it becomes a little harder to relate to because our reference points are all gone. Mal on the other hand is shown actually using a urinal for Godsakes. I never saw Capt. Kirk/Picard take a piss!

Joss put the drama/humanity above the techno/sci-fi and that's why it's all so endearing.

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Monday, February 27, 2006 7:21 AM

STAKETHELURK

Quote:
Originally posted by Penguin:
Is there a definition of Sci-Fi?

Short answer: No.

Long answer: Sci-Fi, Science Fiction, SF, Speculative Fiction, whatever you want to call it, is one of those things that you know it when you see it--i.e., everyone has a different definition. Some people define it very narrowly (I've seen some classify "Firefly" as Fantasy), others (like me), see it as a broad catch-all term. Lots of folks wind up somewhere in the middle.

My take on science fiction is that it is a genre which explores the effects of science and technology on characters or society--science and technology that is speculative rather than extant, but which is at least intended to be scientifically plausible. There are a wide variety of approaches to the material. Some science fiction focuses very heavily on the speculative science and can be much more interested in it than the characters. Other science fiction focuses especially on the characters, with the science treated as a much looser device to explore them rather than as something worthy of attention in and of itself.

Joss' approach seems to me to fall into the latter category. The two main SF elements that persist throughout the show are Serenity herself and River's psychic abilities. Serenity serves almost as a tenth character itself, but our connection to the ship comes via the crew. Serenity is only alive because they, as Early would say, imbue it with life. The ship gives us a window into Mal's mind especially--that's where our focus is on, rather than how the ship operates or what technobabble they're going to use to get out of the heist this week. Likewise, River's psychicness is used to tell us about her character and the other characters. The most memorable "psychic" moment from the series, the one that people still talk about today, is not when Simon explains to Jayne how the Alliance altered River's mind, but rather the teaser from "Objects in Space" when River gives us a window into the minds of the crew. Joss always approaches the SF element by seeing how it affects the characters, rather than exploring the SF just for the sake of it.

Which brings us to your other question, "Why isn't Firefly/Serenity just considered a drama/comedy?"

The SereniFly 'verse is a drama/comedy, but it's not just that. The SF element plays a crucial role in the story--that's what makes it SF. Joss has never been happy with just one genre, which is why it's also a Western, a Romance, and occasionally also Horror, Action, Noir, Period Piece, Thriller, and Farce. It's the fact that the 'verse plays with all these different genres that makes it so unique. But there's no tidy genre label for something that crosses all genres, so critics tend to place it in its most distinct genre--it has spaceships, psychics, and occasionally lasers, so it must be Sci-Fi.

I'm not complaining; the Sci-Fi genre has all-to-often settled for the mediocre to the awful. It takes a show like "Firefly" and a film like the BDM to remind people why Sci-Fi matters and what it can do at its best. Most people who "don't like Sci-Fi" don't know what good Sci-Fi is and when they see an example like "Firefly" sometimes they can't think of it as Sci-Fi. But the 'verse is Sci-Fi, just a different *cough*better*cough* kind of Sci-Fi than what people usually think of. It reminds us of how broad a genre Sci-Fi really is, and how powerful it can be when it's done right.

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Monday, February 27, 2006 7:28 AM

DAVESHAYNE

Quote:
Originally posted by Penguin:
Is there a definition of Sci-Fi?

Not a generally accepted one that I know of. For me sci-fi is about how human beings relate and adapt to conditions different than those that pertain in real life. In the case of Firefly/Serenity this includes space travel and terraforming worlds. From that we see a number of social structures that have evolved in that environment and how they interact with each other and the people who create and live within those structures.

David

"A lot of people are asking me, you know, what exactly is Firefly? It's a tv show you morons!" - Joss Whedon

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Monday, February 27, 2006 7:55 AM

MYCROFTXXX

Quote:
I never saw Capt. Kirk/Picard take a piss!

Yeah, and for the first few seasons there were several episodes where the crew was shown sleeping in their UNIFORMS.

Back to the original question... the term Drama/Comedy as standalone genres is kinda black and white in today's entertainment business. After all, where would you put a Tarentino movie? Drama? Noir? Action? The problem with Sci-Fi is the "checklist" to categorize a movie / TV show as Sci-Fi is:

1) Does it happen in the future?
2) Is there speculative technology? (spaceships notwithstanding)
3)(optional) is there a love interest no matter how subtle?

BTW, spaceships don't have to be directly involved. Look at several of the most recent crop of Sci-Fi movies: AI, I-Robot (there are others, can't think of them off the top of head) where no space ships appear or are even mentioned. Then there's the whole Alien franchise. Is it Sci-Fi or is it horror? I've always thought of it as Horror with a dash of Sci-Fi 'cause the storyline doesn't really rely on fantastic technology other than some extension of existing science (ie, cloning).

Finally (and you've probably seen this in my previous postings), Firefly/Serenity is DEFINITELY Sci-Fi even with the heavy Western influence. My screen name hints at what I mean. Robert Heinlein pointed out a long time ago that when Humanity finally leaves our little messed up mudball and strikes forth into the universe it won't be as a utopia of pure technology but would take a more chaotic frontier approach. In some instances, the technology would be pure Sci-Fi (I'm surprise they don't have robots on core planets in the 'verse for one) and those on the fringes or just plain unlucky will have to make do with what's at hand and that's a close match to what the Firefly 'verse is like. Personally, I'd rather live in that world as opposed to the Star Wars/Star Trek one.

One last note... another "Sci-Fi" cross genre movie that hints at this same uneven-ness of the human diaspora into space is Bladerunner. You can certainly tell that Joss was inspired by several aspects of this most excellent movie (especially the director's cut.) just like The 5th Element but to different ends.

Firefly Sci-Fi? Most definitely. Takes from other genres? Most definitely. Statement about the human condition? ABSOLUTELY!

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