Have there ever been aliens on Firefly? by Malsyummy!mmmmm

GENERAL DISCUSSIONS

Have there ever been aliens on Firefly?

POSTED BY: MALSYUMMY!MMMMM
UPDATED: Friday, January 2, 2004 10:21
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VIEWED: 2735
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Thursday, January 1, 2004 8:55 PM

ZAPHODB

No. None whatsoever.

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Thursday, January 1, 2004 9:11 PM

ZAPHODB

Joss Whedon said that in the Firefly 'verse that we (humans) are the only intelligent life out there. He didn't want any aliens in the show. Here's a link to a Quicktime interview (Bumpy Foreheads) from the old Fox site - http://www.fireflyfans.net/firefly/video/jossint_2.htm

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Thursday, January 1, 2004 10:57 PM

SPLORK

do you want count the fake alien cow fetus in "The Message"?

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Friday, January 2, 2004 1:00 AM

ZAPHODB

Nah. Sideshow Bessy doesn't count...

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Friday, January 2, 2004 7:10 AM

HERO

We can't be sure. There is always the possibility of alien influence with Blue Sun or the Alliance or the Reavers or Kaylee (some country know-nothing just happens to know how to repair starships, yeah right, what kind of strawberies did they have on that world anyway? Plus she's so darned cheerful, nobody else in the whole Firefly universe is that cheerful, nobody human that is. And she's afraid to shoot, heck even Preacher was poppin off after less then half a season. And I wont even address the issue of breast size and how it relates to what an alien taking human form would choose have...)

H

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Friday, January 2, 2004 7:35 AM

KASUO

Quote:
Originally posted by Hero:
..There is always the possibility of alien influence with Blue Sun or the Alliance or the Reavers

Humans can be (and have been) evil without alien influence. As for Reavers, chuck that up to the possibility of the emptiness of space and people being enveloped by it.

Quote:
.. or Kaylee (some country know-nothing just happens to know how to repair starships, yeah right, what kind of strawberies did they have on that world anyway? Plus she's so darned cheerful, nobody else in the whole Firefly universe is that cheerful, nobody human that is.

Hey! No Kaylee-hating here! I find your lack of faith to be disturbing.

Quote:
.. heck even Preacher was poppin off after less then half a season. And I wont even address the issue of breast size and how it relates to what an alien taking human form would choose have

Wow, I have no idea where that came from. Woosh!

----
"Let's moon 'em!"

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Friday, January 2, 2004 7:45 AM

ZACHSMIND

Actually we CAN be sure. There are no actual aliens in Whedon's Firefly universe, nor should we ever expect there to be any, and I'll tell ya why.

Whedon's said in a number of interviews that he felt the alien thing had been done elsewhere repeatedly. There's H. G. Wells' War of the Worlds, Star Wars, Star Trek, Earth-2, Battlestar Galactica, The "V" miniseries, Alien Nation, Aliens 1-4, E.T., Earth Final Conflict, Babylon 5, Space Above and Beyond, every space oriented B movie of the 50s and 60s, even Clarke's Space Odyssey. Practically every major speculative fiction story taking place in outer space in the past century has assumed as a given that alien life fluourishes just past our present visual acuity somewhere in the void of space. That under certain conditions life is a definite probability, and inevitable process of amino acids forming into proteins in some primordial soup, eventually leading to sentient life that (ethnocentrically as this makes us) will look humanoid in appearance, and may even like chocolate. In fact, I dare you to find a movie or tv show or book of the past half century (since 1950) that's about leaving this solar system to explore outer space, and doesn't involve aliens.

It's been done. It's been done to death. Whedon wanted to break out of that formula and create something uniquely his own. While it was a tried and true plot device for science fiction, to speculate on the existence of life outside Earth, Whedon had chosen not to explore the same dogged path in his own space opera. IF there's alien life in Whedon's universe, the human race will probably never encounter it. This is actually much more plausible a theory - that there may be nonTerran based life in the 'verse, but the 'verse is so darn big that even if there were, not a single human soul will ever meet one and have it over for dinner.

Imagine a field filled with haystacks, and two little sewing needles thrown from two different planes travelling thousands of feet above the field thrown out of the plane at different times. Even if both needles landed in the same hay field, the odds those two needles would ever fall on the same haystack are astronomical - and actually better than our odds of ever encountering alien life even after we escape this solar system.

I don't know if Whedon personally was making a statement about the prospect of alien life by taking as a given that no aliens will ever show their face in Firefly's universe, but from a writing standpoint he wanted to separate his alternate future from that of most all other speculative fiction out there, and by saying no to alien life he pretty much did that from the get go.

Besides, after a decade or so of pointy ears, fangs and ridged foreheads, he'd had his fill of humanoid monsters. Normal humans can be monstrous enough without the help of spirit gum and prosthetics.

Bessie in a jar was confirmed by Simon to not be of alien origin, so she didn't count.

Although we must also keep this in perspective. In Whedon's world all the characters are descendants of us. Meaning they come from family lines which once lived on the Earth That Was but when Earth That Was got all used up they had a mass exodus and are now offworlders. Nomads. I don't think any of the nine principal characters in the show have ever set foot on the Earth That Was. They were certainly never born there.

So from our perspective, they're ALL aliens. =)

------------------------------
"Hang on, travelers..."

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Friday, January 2, 2004 8:01 AM

HERO

Quote:
Originally posted by kasuo:
Quote:
.. or Kaylee (some country know-nothing just happens to know how to repair starships, yeah right, what kind of strawberies did they have on that world anyway? Plus she's so darned cheerful, nobody else in the whole Firefly universe is that cheerful, nobody human that is.

Hey! No Kaylee-hating here! I find your lack of faith to be disturbing.

Quote:
.. heck even Preacher was poppin off after less then half a season. And I wont even address the issue of breast size and how it relates to what an alien taking human form would choose have

Wow, I have no idea where that came from. Woosh!

You must have missed the discussion about breast size of the various crew members. Also its not Kaylee-hating to be critical of the whole Kaylee issue. Thats the same as saying is unpatriotic to be anti-war. I'm just saying I look at Kaylee and see a cheerful girl who can (without formal education) fix starships, in a universe where nobody is cheerful or can fix starships. Its suspicious.

And the frilly dress...come on, something aint right.

Also if she was alien, perhaps even a crossbreed or an android of some sort, its not necessarily a bad thing. She's still beautiful and maybe she just wants to be human...like all good aliens.

Whedon said she was the Willow of the show and Willow had a dark side. That'd be cool, evil Kaylee, malfunctioning alien cyborg, stalking the crew in deep space ala Terminator.

Or if not alien...merely augmented or tampered with in some way. Maybe thats why she gets on so well with River. Kindred spirits.

Hmmm...we know she bleeds from the pilot episodes. So she's probably not a cyborg. I'll have to give this more thought.

Maybe we need an entire discussion on exactly who is and who is not an alien. I have a whole list of reasons why Wash is an alien and Inara (remember the alien 'Companions' from that other scifi show) and all the others except Mal and Serenity.

H

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Friday, January 2, 2004 9:09 AM

HKCAVALIER

I love Joss's lack of aliens from a narrative standpoint. I love Joss's intention to make "Firefly" a part of history, to make it our story and not let the lumpy foreheads get in the way. But I can't help feeling that there is a larger reason why every single space show that has ever seen the light of day has had aliens.

Most of the time the alien phenomenon is used as a handy stand-in for the Divine, be it benign or vengeful. Aliens represent a "higher power" in a way that modern folk resonate with, because angels are considered utterly fanciful and fairies are strictly for kids. But these "otherworldly" beings are a major part of the human experience, at the very least they are emblems of human imagination and hope. By cutting them out of the big picture, I think Joss is adding a whole subliminal level of bleak emptiness to his future. In Joss's hands, "We are not alone" turns to "We have been, are now, and will always be alone."

I've thought a lot about Joss's alienless universe, ever since I first read his blurb at the top of this page that he believes that we are the only senscient life in the universe and 500 years from now we will still be the only senscient life in the universe. From a metaphysical standpoint, it sometimes strikes me as a little heavy handed, even nihilistic. Of course, I have faith that in my universe the Earth won't get "used up," that it's a kind of self-hating hubris to think that human beings truly have the power to destroy once and for all our planet.

Anyway, I've always wanted to comment on Joss's alien-free philosophy. Thanks for being here. It makes me feel less alone...

HKCavalier

Hey, hey, hey, don't be mean. We don't have to be mean, because, remember, no matter where you go, there you are.

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Friday, January 2, 2004 9:34 AM

MAL'SGAL

At the L.A. Comic Book/Sci Fi Convention last month, Gina Torres said she signed on for Firefly specifically because the treatment she got from Joss said in large letters THERE ARE NO ALIENS OR MUTANTS IN FIREFLY.

So that was the concept; no aliens, no mutants, just humans.

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Friday, January 2, 2004 10:01 AM

WHOODAHN

Quote:
Originally posted by Malsyummy!mmmmm:
I was having a discousion about Firefly the other day with my almost stepdad, and he asked me if there had ever been an alien in any of the episodes. I said I didn't know but shamefully I haven't seen every episode so I can't be sure and it's been bugging me so if you know could you please let me know.

There might have been an extra on the set without a green card. Are you gonna call Immigration?

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Friday, January 2, 2004 10:05 AM

ZACHSMIND

Perhaps it's also important to note that The Reavers are believed by many in Whedon's universe to either be aliens or mutants or somehow influenced by non-human sentience, but objectively they're just human beings who have been driven mad by a lack of culture and are untethered to the idea of humanity existing in order to survive. It's like they've looked into the face of their god and realize it's a mask, their perception of the heart of their god has been found to be empty and wanting, so Reavers are very nihilistic and anti-humanity. Madness in its purest form. But they are just humans too. There's no celestial angels in any heaven in Joss's reality. This is fitting, since it sounds like he's an aetheist.

I happen to disagree with him, but that doesn't diminish my appreciation of his storytelling. =)

------------------------------
"Hang on, travelers..."

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Friday, January 2, 2004 10:06 AM

WHOODAHN

Quote:
Originally posted by Malsyummy!mmmmm:
very funny! But its also kinda lame sorry

Ouch!
I thought it was a humorous turn to a serious conversation.

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Friday, January 2, 2004 10:17 AM

WHOODAHN

Quote:
Originally posted by Malsyummy!mmmmm:
yea your kinda like wash huh? turning serious things into humourous things.

Seriously...
I think the best thing about Sci-Fi is thinking outside of the box. Everyone accepted your question at face value, I didn't. Everyone expects to find alien species in space, Joss doesn't.

Joss's concept of space exploration doesn't conform to what is generally accepted, that helps make Firefly a great show.

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