Firefly and Fox, fiction and reality.... by Ruthie

GENERAL DISCUSSIONS

Firefly and Fox, fiction and reality....

POSTED BY: RUTHIE
UPDATED: Friday, June 11, 2004 11:08
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Friday, June 11, 2004 6:25 AM

Not sure where this post is going to go - I'm trying to clarify some midnight thoughts....

OK. So Firefly is a show about a group of individuals who are refusing to be good boys and girls, who won't just fit in to the Allience way of doing things. They've lost a war, they should just be a footnote in history, forgotten about.
So they find their own way of doing things, stay under the radar, and we just KNOW that they'll come out on top in the end.

So. Firefly the show gets accepted to be made and shown on Fox, but what Joss gives them isn't what they expected. They think spaceships = young male audience, but the show refuses to fit in to the Fox way of things, and attracts an audience from all sorts of unexpected demographic groups.

So the show gets cancelled - the usual result of this is that it would be expected to go away and be forgotten about.
But, somehow, it manages to escape to the edges of the Internet and keep flyin'. Now it's all set to come back in a movie - coming out on top in the end.

What I'm trying to say is that there are many parallels between the fictional story being told in the show, and the REAL story of what happened, and is still happening, to the show.

Coincidence? I don't think so. It's almost inevitable.
A story about non-conformists is likely to appeal to non-conformist viewers. And they are the very people who would want to fight back against a system that they see is flawed, incapable of giving them what they want.

So is the story of Firefly a metaphore for what is happening when big organisations force their opinion of what the public wants on that public, leaving that public with no choice other than to conform or rebel?

Which makes Firefly very much a reality show, in that it reflects the reality of what is happening in our real world today.

Now, reality. That is a buzz word. Apparently, reality is what happens when a number of people, selected to have incompatible psychological profiles, are thrust into a manufactured situation, and filmed as they try to adjust to their new 'reality'.

Is it me, or does the fiction of Firefly seem to be a more real sort of reality than the manufactured reality of the reality shows?

As I said, midnight ramblings....
but I think it justifies in my mind why I find my life much more enriched by retreating into fiction than it is by facing harsh reality....

*******************
Ruthie
*******************
By the data to date, there is only one animal in the Galaxy dangerous to man - man himself. So he must supply his own indispensable competition. He has no enemy to help him. (R.A.Heinlein)

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Friday, June 11, 2004 6:33 AM

HOAGIE

wow... that was one polluted stream of conscious

but i like it. it's an interesting take on things as they are. maybe, since we have succeeded in the face of adversity, Joss will buy us all brown coats (they're on sale, you know)

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Friday, June 11, 2004 6:40 AM

NOOCYTE

Mighty fine little essay there, Ruthie! I think you've hit on some nice morsels of truth. The irony here is especially juicy: TV execs who are out of touch with reality becoming obsessed with "Reality" shows...and so missing out on what's really going on right under their noses. Lovely, in, you know, a dark comedy kind of way!

Were I you (which, thankfully for you, I'm not), I might consider cross-posting that at the "Official Board," with a heading which would catch the attention of the cast and crew. I think Joss in particular (who's flush with the existential and semiotic way of thinking) would likely get a kick out of it!

Keep flyin' (under the radar....for now!)!

Department of Redundancy Department

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Friday, June 11, 2004 6:46 AM

PIERSNICA

Firefly is a Cult show, and cult shows seem to be doomed to such unfair treatment. I don't think networks care about such fan bases as much as they care about contributing to the downward spiral of pop culture and fast food; immediate gratification that leaves you empty 30 minutes after it's finished.

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Friday, June 11, 2004 8:12 AM

BROWNCOAT1

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

Interesting correlation between the reality of the shows rocky road w/ a network that mishandled it, and the story itself Ruthie.

I had never really thought of it in this manner, but now that you point it out, it is a bit creepifying.

Piersnica is right though in that Firefly is a cult show and such a program tends to struggle to find a fit on television and w/ audiences.

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

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Friday, June 11, 2004 8:49 AM

GRACEOM

I don't think the networks *want* discerning viewers (the type who are apt to be attracted to shows with...content). Such viewers aren't valuable to the sponsors who want drones in front of their commercials--drones who will immediately go out and buy the big mac in that enormous Suburban they really can't afford.

I mean if you were trying to sell something to people who don't need it, do you think you'd have a better chance with "Firefly" viewers, or fans of the latest gimmick reality show?

Grace :fork"

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Friday, June 11, 2004 10:48 AM

RUTHIE

LOL - thanks for the responses - glad to see that my ramblings have struck a few chords!

Thanks for the encouragement, Noocyte - I've tried a bit of cross-posting, but I expect my ramblings will percolate to the bottom of the official pile....

A cult show. That's a term I just don't understand, despite having heard if often. It seems to me that it just applies to all the shows I like. Is there a definition?
Does it mean something that the people who really like it REALLY like it? If so, Big Brother is a cult show, if I can judge by my kids....
And my hubby watches the news whenever he can. Is he a news cultist?

*******************
Ruthie
*******************
By the data to date, there is only one animal in the Galaxy dangerous to man - man himself. So he must supply his own indispensable competition. He has no enemy to help him. (R.A.Heinlein)

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Friday, June 11, 2004 11:08 AM

SERGEANTX

Interesting isn't it? Last spring, when it looked about as hopeless as it could, some of us talked about the parallels between the struggles of the crew of Serenity and the struggle of Mutant Enemy and it's fans to keep Firefly flying.
Mal loses a war to stay free but ultimately finds a way to be free on his own terms. Joss, it would appear, is doing the same thing with the story. We fought the good fight to keep the series on the air, but we were outgunned and lost a painful protracted battle.
But we'll slide out from under the oppressive regime of network television to fly free in the black!

SergeantX

"Dream a little dream or you can live a little dream. I'd rather live it, cause dreamers always chase but never get it." Aesop Rock

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