Inara's leaving by example

GENERAL DISCUSSIONS

Inara's leaving

POSTED BY: EXAMPLE
UPDATED: Tuesday, December 30, 2003 04:11
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Monday, December 29, 2003 5:43 PM

What motive did Inara have for leaving? I just watched Heart of Gold on DVD...is there something i'm not getting from the ending?

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Monday, December 29, 2003 5:45 PM

TEELABROWN

Parshally, no work. But other than that, I think we enter fandom.

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"Freedom is the Freedom to say that 2+2 makes 4. If that is granted, all else follws"-Winston, 1984
Keep flyin', and remember, THEY can't take the sky from US!

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Monday, December 29, 2003 5:48 PM

EARLY

My understanding is that she's in love with Mal, and Mals in love with her, but both are too stupid to let the other know, and she feels hurt that he had sex with her friend and wants to get away from him cause she's love sick and thinks that'll help. Being trapped on a firefly everyday with a person you love, but think doesn't love you or at least won't show that he loves you would be hard I imagine.

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Monday, December 29, 2003 5:49 PM

EXAMPLE

I know they (mal and inara) were talking about her work (or lack thereof) in the past few episodes. It's just that her leaving at that moment seemed kinda out of place.

To Early:

Yeah, that seems to be what I was thinking

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Monday, December 29, 2003 6:32 PM

ZACHSMIND

There are many points in the short-lived series which circumstantially hint to us that Mal & Inara shared a mutual attraction that made them act like kindegarteners. Is that a word? Lemme start again.

Inara's a complex little missy. We don't know precisely why but we're given indications that at one time she could have been a prominent and influential member of the Companion Guild. Instead, she chose to leave the core planets and have a much more mobile and unpredictable base of operations. She didn't need Serenity as much as Serenity needed her, or so she wanted people to believe. We don't know the details, but we do know she was running from something. In moments of fight & flight, Inara's the kinda person who runs. Interesting how opposites attract, cuz Mal's the kinda guy who doesn't run from a fight. Well. Some of the time.

Which brings us to Inara dealing with her feelings for Malcolm. We know from "Heart of Gold" that Inara felt jealous when she learned Mal spent the night with another woman. She also realized the irrationality of this, cried when she was alone to get it out of her system and then she was relatively fine. But this just more solidified her new goal: to run.

See there is no scenario here that's suitable for a person in Inara's position. A man like Mal's not gonna let his "woman" be a prostitute. He'd want her all to himself. So even if she is attracted to him, it would eventually lead to her having to quit her job, which meant leaving her independence. Another bit of irony. Malcolm fought for independence, but people who get too attached to him tend to lose their own independence.

Malcolm's wanting to create a little piece of what he thinks is the right way of things on his ship. The Alliance may hae won the war, but on Serenity he's king. On more than one occasion Mal made it known that this was not a democracy. It's his way or the highway. Inara knows this. She noticed he was purposefully avoiding the areas she needs to frequent in order to maintain her independence. So she had to leave.

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"Always thought you needed a bit more evidence to convict a man than the color of his coat."

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Monday, December 29, 2003 6:50 PM

JULIABUG

Since we're talking about Inara, am I the only one who thinks her shuttle looks a lot like the inside of Jeanie's bottle on I Dream of Jeannie? Except much more posh and shiny, naturally.

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Monday, December 29, 2003 6:53 PM

KERNELM

Well, I personally think there's some background reason (exactly what it is, I'm not sure, though the popular theory is that she's dying) which prevents Inara from becoming too involved with somebody. Certainly her occupation itself could be enough of a barrier, but I think there's more to it.

Thus, the constant back and forth between Inara and Mal (specifically from Inara to Mal... Mal has always been fairly clueless, while Inara acts hot and cold towards him). Thus, in this theoretical framework, while she knows she has feelings toward Mal, she also knows she can't act on them. And she doesn't know just how strong the feelings are. Then, in HoG, when Mal sleeps with Nandi, the depth of her feelings for Mal becomes apparent to herself, and she realizes that if she stayed on Serenity, she wouldn't be able to stop herself from becoming involved with Mal. I think the conversation at the end of HoG fits this scenario well. But of course, all this is pretty much spec. Here's hoping it's all explained (along with River/Blue Sun and Book's background) in the FF movie/season 2.

Also, while she does complain about lack of work, her talk with Mal at the end of HoG indicates a more emotionally based reason for leaving.

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Monday, December 29, 2003 7:16 PM

EARLY

Yeah I think the work thing is the excuse to get her out of there.

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Monday, December 29, 2003 7:30 PM

CANTTAKESKY

Very interesting insights. You sound like a psychotherapist. :) At least you offer the type of perspective that a psychotherapist would--relationship dynamics, behavioral patterns, etc.

Quote:
Another bit of irony. Malcolm fought for independence, but people who get too attached to him tend to lose their own independence.

I don't quite agree that people attached to Mal lose their independence. We can see from Our Mrs. Reynolds that he doesn't want someone who IS dependent on him and doesn't think for herself. Everyone on that ship is independent and strong-willed; they have all defied Mal on one occasion or another. I don't think he would get along with them otherwise. What he does expect is teamwork under his leadership, as long as they are on his ship--anything else is dangerous. Demanding some personal sacrifices to be on his crew is not the same thing as requiring loss of independence. All teams require that team members reprioritize to put the team first when appropriate.

I also don't think that Mal would require her to leave her job. He has too much respect for her as an individual and person to simply treat her as "his woman." (Isn't that why he socked Atherton Wing, cause he didn't respect her as an individual and treated her like "his woman"?) Mal loves Inara, and would want her to do whatever would make her happy. He starts off his "truthsome" speech by saying he isn't asking for anything. Sure, he doesn't like her job and gets jealous, but ultimately I believe he was willing to simply love her unconditionally, without expecting changes in return.

Back to Inara. I do agree that Inara is purposely avoiding Mal's affections. I, for one, don't believe for a second that Inara doesn't know how Mal feels about her. It took Nandi TWO looks, once at Mal and once at Inara, to see how they feel about each other. And she and Inara were trained at the same academy by the same people. There is no way that Inara, who is at least as good as Nandi in the arts of seduction, would not know when someone was smitten by her. That, after all, is her bread and butter, and we are told over and over again that she is one of the best.

Why is Inara purposely avoiding Mal's affections is the big question. Is it because of guild law? I think she is far enough removed from the guild and all its trappings that she might be able to bend the rules a bit out there in the black. Is it because of the mysterious reason she left the guild to begin with? Personally, I lean towards this explanation. Whatever the reason was, it must have been very serious because she wouldn't have left such an illustrious career behind otherwise. It might have something to do with the needle, as hinted in the Serenity commentary.

Maybe she got involved in the wrong way with a previous client. Maybe she has a fatal illness and therefore does not want to get too attached. Whatever it is, she wants to keep it a secret, and would rather leave than have a heart-to-heart with Mal.

I sure hope this is one of the goodies Joss threw in the movie script for fans.

Can't Take My Gorram Sky

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Monday, December 29, 2003 8:08 PM

SHINY

Quote:
Originally posted by KernelM:
Well, I personally think there's some background reason (exactly what it is, I'm not sure, though the popular theory is that she's dying) which prevents Inara from becoming too involved with somebody. Certainly her occupation itself could be enough of a barrier, but I think there's more to it.

I agree that the dying thing might be part of it...In the commentary to Out Of Gas, Tim Minear mentions there is a hint to Inara's backstory in the scene that starts at Chapter 5, at around 15:00...in this scene, Inara says 'I don't want to die at all'

In the commentary, Tim also mentions that the flashback to when Inara and Mal met (Chapter 8, at around 26:00) also contains a clue (although I didn't catch anything special...just Mal asking what she's running from, and that she supported Unification'

RIVER
Purple elephants are flying.
MAL
Good. Thanks for the update.

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Monday, December 29, 2003 8:24 PM

ZACHSMIND

I just came up with another possible reason, that's less headshrinky and more a matter of economics: Mal can't afford her.

I mean, if she settled for Mal, her pocketbook wouldn't attract flies.

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"Always thought you needed a bit more evidence to convict a man than the color of his coat."

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Tuesday, December 30, 2003 4:05 AM

CANTTAKESKY

Hahaha! That is good.

I would hope our girl Inara would be willing to give up her luxuries for the man she loves, wouldn't she? Well, who knows.

Can't Take My Gorram Sky

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Tuesday, December 30, 2003 4:11 AM

BROWNCOAT1

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

I think ZachsMind's early assessment is most likely closest to the mark. Inara is a runner. Whenever things get too tough, she runs.

It is apparent in the episodes that there is some sexual tension between Inara and Mal, but neither seems able to work past their own emotional shortcomings to express it to one another.

I think that Inara is jealous and feels in some way betrayed by Mal's spending the night w/ another woman. I think she feels that she has no chance w/ Mal and so she left Serenity. I think that being in close proximity to someone you want but think you can't have is more than she could bear.

The stuff about not getting enough clients is a smokescreen and just an excuse for leaving the ship.

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

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