Firefly was about Extraordinary peeps, not the 'common man' by chrisisall

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Firefly was about Extraordinary peeps, not the 'common man'

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POSTED BY: CHRISISALL
UPDATED: Thursday, February 16, 2012 10:00
SHORT URL: http://bit.ly/zq3I0N
VIEWED: 1767
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Wednesday, February 15, 2012 6:52 PM

CHRISISALL

"The people history stepped on" isn't quite accurate IMO.
Mal & Co. are the cream of the survival crop- able to carve out a living in severely tough times; even STEAL a living if need be (bobbly-headed dolls only gets you SO far).
So my question: Who would they be in today's society as we watch it wither into pre-Earth-that-was?
You? Me? Frem?
Surely not Wall St. raiders....

The laughing Chrisisall

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Wednesday, February 15, 2012 7:20 PM

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)

In every society, in every time, you'll find the people on the fringes who'll do whatever it takes to survive. Mal & Co. are basically gang-bangers - they'll smuggle, they'll deal drugs and steal them, they'll go 1-8-7 on a mutha-f**kin' cop, they'll steal from thems that gots and give to thems that's not, and they ain't above a bit of whorin' and pimpin' when it comes time.

They'd find more commonality with the Crips & Bloods than they would with the tea-baggers, I reckon.

"Although it is not true that all conservatives are stupid people, it is true that most stupid people are conservatives." - John Stuart Mill

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Wednesday, February 15, 2012 9:16 PM

RIONAEIRE

Beir bua agus beannacht

I disagree with Quicko. I don't think Mal and crew would stoop to dealing drugs, that luh suh comes back to bite you, gets messy, and Mal doesn't seem like the type to do it. He's not above petty crime, but I don't think he'd be the dispenser of death to the everyman the way drug dealers are. I do agree with Quicko in that Mal and crew are the folk on the fringes who do what needs doing, we have them in every time period, who they are in our current setting could be argued about, but I think they are not necessarily the people we would think, the people who show up on the news etc.

Would I be one of those people? I've accepted that I wouldn't survive in a post apocolyptic setting for any period of time, I know this about myself and I've accepted it. But in pretends I play about the future my charactors are tough and have what it takes. I guess I will live vycariously through them.

"A completely coherant River means writers don't deliver" KatTaya

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Thursday, February 16, 2012 12:36 AM

THESOMNAMBULIST

Originally posted by chrisisall:

Quote:
So my question: Who would they be in today's society as we watch it wither into pre-Earth-that-was?
You? Me? Frem?
Surely not Wall St. raiders....]

They'd be working on an oil rig, that Mal bought!

Cartoons - http://cirqusartsandmusic.blogspot.com

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Thursday, February 16, 2012 12:38 AM

THESOMNAMBULIST

Originally posted by Kwicko:

Quote:
Crips & Bloods than they would with the tea-baggers, I reckon.

Sorry to be all British on this one but Kwicko I actually don't know what this means...? Help a brother across the pond out please?

Cartoons - http://cirqusartsandmusic.blogspot.com

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Thursday, February 16, 2012 2:42 AM

KWICKO

Quote:
Originally posted by TheSomnambulist:
Originally posted by Kwicko:
Quote:
Crips & Bloods than they would with the tea-baggers, I reckon.

Sorry to be all British on this one but Kwicko I actually don't know what this means...? Help a brother across the pond out please?

Cartoons - http://cirqusartsandmusic.blogspot.com

I mean they've got more in common with the various inner-city gangs than they do the "libertarian" Tea Party people.

And the reason I think they'd have no real issues with dealing drugs is this: In 2 out of 14 episodes, they did indeed steal massive shipments of drugs with the intention of smuggling them off-world and reselling them elsewhere.

There's a misconception that our Big Damn Heroes were noble as a grape, but they really weren't. They have a code of ethics, but that doesn't mean they can't still be arch criminals. In the world of Firefly, at the fringes of life, it's hard to be a "good guy"; more often, you end up with a choice between really horrific people and petty criminals who are somewhat better, but in this 'verse, there are very few true "good guys". There's bad guys and not-so-bad guys.

"Although it is not true that all conservatives are stupid people, it is true that most stupid people are conservatives." - John Stuart Mill

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Thursday, February 16, 2012 4:44 AM

CYBERSNARK

Well, there's a difference between running drugs (delivering a shipment to a buyer) and dealing drugs (selling doses to individuals). Even aside from the moral issues, there're practical concerns; dealing means you need to stay in one place (putting you at greater risk of getting caught) and cultivate contacts to reach out to new customers. Running drugs is just another type of smuggling.

Also, given what we've seen of life on the Rim, it's entirely probable that most of the "drugs" Serenity carries are legitimately needed as medecine.

But ultimately, it's just business. Every businessman has some scruples, even if they seem arbitrary.

-----
We applied the cortical electrodes but were unable to get a neural reaction from either patient.

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Thursday, February 16, 2012 4:47 AM

BYTEMITE

Well, Niska did hire them to STEAL drugs from Paradiso, there's probably only so many things that Niska was going to do with the drugs.

And then there's stealing the prescription meds from the hospital, when Simon suggests they have "street" value, he's not saying people are using them for the recommended purposes.

So indirectly, they're drug dealers, or at least smuggling the drugs TO the dealers. EDIT: I see people covered that one already.

I'm sure Simon picked out drugs that are low risk, though, so they probably aren't death dealers.

And at least they don't traffic in slaves. Not sure if they've ever run guns before (which would also have unfortunate implications, along the lines of being death dealers).

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Thursday, February 16, 2012 4:59 AM

BYTEMITE

As for the thread topic, I actually think the "people history stepped on" thing is accurate.

I mean, look at them. Mal and Zoe lost a war, Jayne's just a thug, Kaylee's sweet and all but doesn't really have the gumption to start a famous ship-and-parts-building factory or anything else potentially verse changing. Wash is an amazing pilot, but like Kaylee, hasn't done much with his skill. Book's fallen from grace and forgotten (though he's seeking redemption anyway). Inara will be important only so long as she has her looks, and she's moving away from the Guild anyway. The only one's who really have any larger significance might be Simon and River and that's really more behind the scenes significance than anything the public would remember.

At the same time, I don't think it's impossible some of the places they visit might build up folktales and a legend around them, like Jaynestown, but it's unlikely that will represent anything remotely like reality. No, history will forget them as they are. But that doesn't mean they're insignificant to us. And that's what's really important - not renown, but being remembered fondly by those who did know you.

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Thursday, February 16, 2012 7:12 AM

CHRISISALL

Quote:
Originally posted by Bytemite:
As for the thread topic, I actually think the "people history stepped on" thing is accurate.

Okay, I'll give you that- they been stepped on, just not ground down entirely like most folk they pass by on most moons.

The laughing Chrisisall

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Thursday, February 16, 2012 8:22 AM

TWO

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

Quote:
Originally posted by chrisisall:
"The people history stepped on" isn't quite accurate IMO.
Mal & Co. are the cream of the survival crop . . .
So my question: Who would they be in today's society as we watch it wither into pre-Earth-that-was?

I could see Inara having the fame and adulation of a Morena Baccarin. Inara was bound to rise in the world, no matter what world. And Jayne would be a low-level thug for a Mexican drug cartel. Joining Serenity was the best thing that ever happened to Jayne. Wash is flying the cartel's planes. Kaylee is an employee fixing John Deere tractors in Nebraska and is married to a highway patrolman. She likes manly men with guns.

Zoe, Mal, Book were profoundly diverted from their lives by the Unification War. With no Alliance, their stories come out completely different. Zoe is in the military for 25 years, working on helicopters, never rising past sergeant. Mal is a cattle rancher, and not very successful businessman, because of drought and fluctuating prices for beef. Book is one of those big-time gangsters that come to an unfortunate end on Breaking Bad.

River lives her dreams as a prima ballerina. Retiring at 30, she gets a PhD in biology, wins bronze in biathlon (skiing/shooting), but decides to open a dance school in Minneapolis. She visits Simon every two week. Simon works in Rochester, Minnesota, where Mayo Clinic is, as a thoracic surgeon. His practice has the lowest rate of post-surgical complications of any in the state.

The Joss Whedon script for "Serenity", where Wash lives, is
Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/two

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Thursday, February 16, 2012 10:00 AM

CHRISISALL

Now THAT was an interesting read! Nice, Two.

The laughing Chrisisall

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