Chinese culture/gambling/Mah Jong(sp) by TheClaps

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Chinese culture/gambling/Mah Jong(sp)

POSTED BY: THECLAPS
UPDATED: Monday, March 29, 2004 22:14
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Sunday, March 28, 2004 7:16 PM

The one thing that surprised me the most after having finished watching the whole series is that NOBODY was playing Mah Jong (don't no the proper romanization). For those of you who are unfamiliar with the game, it is played by four players with tiles. It is kind of like gin-rummie. It is not however that puzzle game that you play on the computer where you unstack the tiles. Anyways, it is extremely popular, and has a flavor to it that just SCREAMS Firefly.

I recall in one episode Inara and Kaylee (maybe river?) were playing with the tiles just off the dining area, and I found it kind of funny. They should get their consultant on Chinese culture on the case ASAP for the movie.

TheClaps

"Well... -" -Jayne Cobb

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Sunday, March 28, 2004 9:04 PM

ARDEN

I can't really tell if Kaylee and Inara are actually playing some form of Mah Jong in "Ariel" (I'm assuming they are), but I have no doubt that at some point we would have seen people playing the game had the series continued. I agree that it has a very Firefly feel to it, and given the fact that in the first half of the twentieth century Mah Jong became very popular in America, it makes a lot of sense for it to become a staple of the new unified American/Chinese culture. The game was favored, if memory serves me right, by socialites and culture-vultures, so perhaps we might have seen some of the upper class playing it, perhaps Inara with a client and his/her friends. Might be a counterpart to seeing Mal, Zoe, and Jayne playing Chinese Checkers (hate to be ignorant, but don't know the real name of the game) in "The Train Job," in the way that western checkers was considered a more blue collar game and chess favored by the "elite."

You got a wife? All I got is that dumbass stick sounds like its raining.

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Monday, March 29, 2004 5:25 AM

BROWNCOAT1

May have been the losing side. Still not convinced it was the wrong one.

I thought like you Arden that Kaylee & Inara were playing some form of Mah Jong on "Ariel". The tiles they are using certainly look like Mah Jong tiles. Hard to be certain because of the distance and camera angle, but I would say it was some type of Mah Jong.

"May have been the losing side. Still not convinced it was the wrong one."

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Monday, March 29, 2004 7:02 PM

BENSHAHN

Quote:
Originally posted by Arden:
Might be a counterpart to seeing Mal, Zoe, and Jayne playing Chinese Checkers (hate to be ignorant, but don't know the real name of the game)

"Chinese Checkers" is the American name for a variation of the European game called "Halma". It originated in Germany.

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Monday, March 29, 2004 10:14 PM

ARDEN

Thanks Benshahn. Obviously I'm way off base with that theory. Maybe I should check my facts before I go spouting off ideas. Thanks for the clarification.

You got a wife? All I got is that dumbass stick sounds like it's raining.

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