Where'd Mal learn to dance like that? by ebonezer

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Where'd Mal learn to dance like that?

POSTED BY: EBONEZER
UPDATED: Monday, May 24, 2004 17:10
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Sunday, May 23, 2004 4:44 PM

In shindig we see one of may favorate scenes; Mal twirling though a dance as he has a conversation with Inara. Its a great scene to watch and the words have more impact because of it. But where'd Mal learn to dance? A dance like that doesn't look too overly complicated, and you might be able to wing, it, but not while carring on a conversation. Its obvious that Mal knows the dance. And he knows it so well that the movements are subliminal. Most times he's looking at Inara, and not where to go next.

In Our Mrs. Reynolds, we learn that Mal grew up on a farm. Somehow I don't think that there would be a whole lot of fancy dancing like that on a farm.

Am i thinking to hard about this?

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Four out of five dentists reccomend calling Ebo a girl.

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Sunday, May 23, 2004 5:43 PM

DAVCO92

If memory serves his mom's farm had something like 40 ranch hands, so I would call it a ranch rather than a farm. Also, given it's size you can assume that at least at one point there was a fair amount of money involved, possibly making them upper middle class. If that is the case then his mom may have insisted that he learn certain aspects of "civlized" society (basic etiquette, dancing,...) for special occasions, such as annual shindigs.

Burn the land, boil the sea...

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Sunday, May 23, 2004 5:49 PM

QUICKSAND

Good obervation; I've got two possible explanations.

First, it's not so much Mal was from a farm, as he was in the military. Even enlisted men get shingdigs of their own every now and again; surely he learned those steps at either a) a military social function, in an effort to meet girls, or b) at a barndance. Heck, maybe he even learned from an ex-girlfriend? There's a lot about Mal we don't know.

Second, the writers just didn't want to go to the trouble of having him stumbling through the dance, or not dancing at all (and thus not getting the chance to talk with Inara). Actually, that one is true, cuz it's on the DVD commentary... but I think my first answer was more creative.

Ya dig?

___\_o_/___
--------------- (Qs)

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Sunday, May 23, 2004 8:10 PM

HOWDYROCKERBABY1

It was originally written where Mal had no idea what he was doing, but Nathan and Morena practiced the dance too much so they had to add in the little line "I think i actually know this one!"

I bet he learned it from his mother or one of his ranch hand friends.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
MAL: This is my scrap of nowhere. You go on and find your own.
SAFFRON: You can't just leave me here, on this
lifeless piece of crap moon...
MAL: Sure I can.
SAFFRON: I'll die.
MAL: Well, as a courtesy, you might start
getting busy on that, cause all this chatter ain't doin' me any kindness.

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Monday, May 24, 2004 1:27 AM

PURPLEBELLY

Quote:
Originally posted by Quicksand:

First, it's not so much Mal was from a farm, as he was in the military.

I don't think Mal can be career military. If the scion of a large ranch wanted a military career, the wealth and influence would be there for officer training. When the Independent army was formed any amount of formal training would qualify for a commision. So I think Mal fits the pattern of the idealist youth joining as a grunt and gaining promotion by survival.

Zoe, now, is die cast career military. Probably with all her blood-related family lost in action, or loyal to the Alliance; if the latter how about Book effecting a reconcilliation, after he's out of the closet, naturally

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Monday, May 24, 2004 2:11 AM

PURPLEBELLY

Quote:
Originally posted by howdyrockerbaby1:

I bet he learned it from his mother or one of his ranch hand friends.

Or Alan Tudyk could have passed on his tution from A Knight's Tale?

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Monday, May 24, 2004 2:57 PM

EBONEZER

something came up in this thread that i never even thought of. The fact that a ranch with 40 or so hands would have more money then God.

I spend a lot of time hanging out on a ranch (really more of a barn sort of thing, no crops, but LOTS of horses) its a large, 650+ acre place with about 3 - 6 people working there at a time. There is a lot of money in this place. So Mals families place had LOTS of money.

So, if thats the case, where'd all this money go? Obviously if Mal had some, he and the crew may not have had to work so hard just to scrape by. Off the top of my head, i have a few theories 1) Mal has a lot of brothers and sisters, and he got the short end of the stick as far as money goes. He put his share into buying Serenity. 2) Something (perhaps joining the Independent forces) made his family disown him, and he got no inheritance 3) Something made him not want the money, or not want to be part of the family (he says he was raised mostly by the farmands, impling that he didn't spend a lot of time w/ his parents) 4) his parents haven't died yet, and the farm w/ all its money is still waiting for him.

What do you think?

-----------------------------------

Four out of five dentists reccomend calling Ebo a girl.

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Monday, May 24, 2004 5:10 PM

ZOID

ebonezer wrote, in part:

Quote:
...So, if thats the case, where'd all this money go?...

My understanding was that Mal's homeworld, Shadow, had been destroyed. Alliance/BlueSun's terraforming gives them atmosphere and gravity, according to these lines from the script for the pilot, "Serenity":

Quote:

ZOE
Well, some of that's exaggerated, and
some of it ain't. All those moons --
just like the central planets,
they're as close to Earth-That-Was as
we could make 'em: gravity, atmosphere,
and such, but...

If Alliance/BlueSun can giveth gravity and atmosphere, one might reasonably suppose they could likewise taketh it away. Simply turning off the gravity generators would be doomsday for a world like Shadow. Any wealth of land and livestock on Shadow would have been lost, as would any family, friends or significant others (zoid says, clearing his throat conspicuously).

Remember, too, "The Ballad of Serenity":
'Take my love, take my land, take me where I cannot stand'...

Respectfully,

zoid
_________________________________________________

"I'm telling you right now. When all's said and done, that little girl's gonna change the world. Not just this little bit she's done here, neither; big things. I couldn't be prouder if she was my own daughter."

- Malcolm Reynolds, owner-operator of Firefly-class transport, "Serenity"; from A Child Shall Lead Them: A History of the Second War of Independence Wilkins, Richard

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