Why Not Magistrate Higgins? by Jongsstraw

All her guys seem flawed in some way. Atherton Wing is a murderer of sorts, and also a possessive psychopath. In the Pilot, the kid from Persephone with the Sgt. Pepper uniform was a smart-ass dandy who insulted her on his way out. The best "client" we saw was the Minister gal in War Stories. I think partying with the Higgmeister would be a fun diversion for her.

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Tuesday, December 22, 2009 5:10 AM

PENNAUSAMIKE

The choice to purchase sex rather than find it in a committed relationship reflects a flawed personality in the first place, in my opinion.

No matter how much you shine it up, no matter how rich the trappings or how cloaked in ritual, the Companion system is still at its core; one step removed from a blow-job for a twenty in an alley.

Reducing sex to a business transaction is only glamorous in fiction.
The "hooker-with-a-heart-of-gold" is a fantasy construct,
not a real person shaped by the consequences of practicing the sex trade.

Mike

NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Tuesday, December 22, 2009 6:45 AM

NEWOLDBROWNCOAT

I think Inara has a thing for younger men. We only get a limited sample, but there's the young guy in the Pilot and Fess Higgins- that's 2 out of a small sample, so not typical, but suggests the possibility. So her rejection of the Magistrate is a polite way of saying, " He's too old..."

Maybe...

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Tuesday, December 22, 2009 8:04 AM

o_0 @ this thread.

Let's be fair. Inara may have training on how to read people, but she's not psychic. However pretty she is and however wise she seems to be, she's deep down someone who thinks the best of people, like Kaylee, and she can be tricked. Atherton tricked her, and turned out to be more possessive and less respectful than she realized. Mal being there was a good thing, because his presence brought out that ugliness. Similarly, the kid in the pilot is either bratty and was getting back at Inara for her rejection, or is just plain awkward.

Is there a possibility that Inara cares more about her clients than they do about her? Yes, very much so, I think that's a major part of her character, and the series goes out of it's way to show that. Even the Councilwoman in War Stories in the shooting script is actually less than helpful (and downright cold) towards Inara when she goes to ask for help to save Mal. Her best interaction probably is with Fess in Jaynestown.

But that isn't really reflective of her profession, which we are given to understand she's treated differently and EXPECTS different treatment than a common whore. She's pampered and has a shore of pride and education, she's a courtesan, and while the courtiers of most countries didn't respect the acts, they respected the person (except maybe France, they kinda liked both). This is more of an issue with the Border Worlds/Rim and Inara's own innate idealism.

Why aren't we asking about how Kaylee fell for Tracey's advances, huh? He turned out to not be such a nice guy. But just because of what Inara is, she (and her profession) gets attacked like this? I call foul.

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Tuesday, December 22, 2009 8:23 AM

Good thread, I feel the need to reply, too because my understanding of this character comes from more of a professional viewpoint, as someone who works in a professional service orientated field. I don’t get to choose my clients like Inara does, though.

I see Inara’s character as at a crossroads with her professional standing and her relationship with Mal. And this is what was to be explored throughout the series. Inara has a thing for Mal, yes, but she takes her work very seriously, but it is all work, work, work...and its hard work (no pun intended) choosing who you’re going to have sex with from a client menu because you never know what you’re really getting.

Her choices seem to be based more on what she perceives as the client's need, i.e., Fess needs confidence, the councilor wants female companionship, Ath, the trophy on his arm, the Alliance cadet, identity, and so forth. If you had to choose, wouldn’t it be the ones that value what you offer based on your perceptions of that person’s respect for what you do, even if they prove you wrong in the end, like so many did?

In Better Days, she really slips up, though, when she takes Sanda as a client, because he's actually after Mal and uses her to set a trap, but, by this time her professional objectivity is compromised by her feelings for Mal, as we see her thoughts during her work session with Sanda;)

And, I think if the series would have continued Inara would have made a grim desperate choice or would have been coerced into companioning a client, probably to save Mal or Serenity, maybe before she left, and would have been abused. Because like other’s have said, prostitution just isn’t that glamorous and should never be portrayed as such. And, of course Joss was already taking heat from women’s rights groups to justify her role by making it more realistic and that is probably why we didn’t see much of it in the BDM. It wasn’t necessary to tell the story, anymore, and Joss has said he didn’t think anyone was that interested in Guild culture. I’m guessing it was shelved by the end of the movie because it doesn’t work with where he wants to take the story.

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Tuesday, December 22, 2009 9:03 AM

PENNAUSAMIKE

Quote:
Originally posted by Bytemite:
o_0 @ this thread.

SNIP
But just because of what Inara is, she (and her profession) gets attacked like this? I call foul.

To paraphrase Mal:
I might respect Inara, but I don't respect the profession.

She might go along with the concept of the "honorable Companion",
but I don't feel that is any more possible than an "honorable drug-dealer".

While some good can come out of anything,
I feel the sex-trade de-values human relationships by a vast majority.

Just my take,
Mike

NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Tuesday, December 22, 2009 9:08 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Bytemite:
o_0 @ this thread.

Let's be fair. Inara may have training on how to read people, but she's not psychic. However pretty she is and however wise she seems to be, she's deep down someone who thinks the best of people, like Kaylee, and she can be tricked. Atherton tricked her, and turned out to be more possessive and less respectful than she realized. Mal being there was a good thing, because his presence brought out that ugliness. Similarly, the kid in the pilot is either bratty and was getting back at Inara for her rejection, or is just plain awkward.

Is there a possibility that Inara cares more about her clients than they do about her? Yes, very much so, I think that's a major part of her character, and the series goes out of it's way to show that. Even the Councilwoman in War Stories in the shooting script is actually less than helpful (and downright cold) towards Inara when she goes to ask for help to save Mal. Her best interaction probably is with Fess in Jaynestown.

But that isn't really reflective of her profession, which we are given to understand she's treated differently and EXPECTS different treatment than a common whore. She's pampered and has a shore of pride and education, she's a courtesan, and while the courtiers of most countries didn't respect the acts, they respected the person (except maybe France, they kinda liked both). This is more of an issue with the Border Worlds/Rim and Inara's own innate idealism.

Why aren't we asking about how Kaylee fell for Tracey's advances, huh? He turned out to not be such a nice guy. But just because of what Inara is, she (and her profession) gets attacked like this? I call foul.

I was just havin' some fun speculating about the nutty Magistrate being with Inara. BC's seem to have something to say on the subject, and whatever they say is fine with me.

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Tuesday, December 22, 2009 9:14 AM

An interesting point about the abuse, because you're right, the world in which we know the trade has a lot of it. Judging by the sideplot you mention from the Serenity "kitchen sink" script, it's also not unknown in Inara's profession and even comes from Alliance officials and the Core.

We all know that Inara takes her share of abuse, I mean, look at Mal! The things that come out his mouth aren't exactly nice, and he's not even a client (though he's rarely nice to anyone).

I guess the question is, how much abuse is Inara willing to endure to stay independent and have a job? How much abuse would any of us endure? The workplace is a very stressful environment with bosses checking your work and office politics, and retail is pretty much MISERABLE because the customers treat you like dirt. But people work those jobs, don't they? It's something they do, but it's not who they are and it's not their life.

Also, another aspect here is that Inara seems to like her job and is proud of it. Of course it doesn't seem flattering if you just reduce it to a dirty alleyway comparison, but that's not what (or all) she does (and not in dirty alleyways). Judging by her interaction with the councilwoman and Fess (and Sanda, in Better Days), Inara seems to see herself as a therapist or maybe even kind of a spiritual new-age psychiatrist. She genuinely thinks she's helping people and comforting them.

Looking at this another way, Simon treats all the members of the crew on Serenity. Some of them don't like him and treat him badly, and he doesn't really like them either. But he treats them because it's his job, and he gets satisfaction out of it because he sees it as healing people and doing something noble. I see Inara's take on her profession being much the same manner.

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Tuesday, December 22, 2009 9:26 AM

Sorry, part of that post was directed at Mike.

Quote:
All her guys seem flawed in some way. Atherton Wing is a murderer of sorts, and also a possessive psychopath. In the Pilot, the kid from Persephone with the Sgt. Pepper uniform was a smart-ass dandy who insulted her on his way out. The best "client" we saw was the Minister gal in War Stories. I think partying with the Higgmeister would be a fun diversion for her.

So there's really not an inkling of judgment involved here on your part about Inara's profession, her clients, and/or her taste? Other people seem to have interpreted you this way, myself included.

To answer your question, Magistrate Higgins acts like an ass when he introduces her to Fess. His proposition was probably plenty colourful as well (since it says in show that he asked on behalf of his son), so she'd have gotten a good idea about his character from there. I think Inara likes her clients to be respectful. Higgins is not.

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Tuesday, December 22, 2009 9:37 AM

Quote:
While some good can come out of anything,
I feel the sex-trade de-values human relationships by a vast majority.

What relationship is Inara devaluing? She's single, she's not cheating on anyone, being Buddhist she's going to try to make sure none of her clients are cheating on anyone either, since not having illicit relationships is one of the central tenets. Though that councilwoman slipped through, she was married, but in the script it's pretty clear Inara didn't know that and was upset.

I don't think we can compare the quality of her client relationships to her non-client relationships.

There are plenty of things that cheapen human relationships. Dishonesty, gold-digging, drunken marriages... What makes it okay versus not okay is if someone gets hurt. Mal apparently likes her, maybe even loves her, but his hurt isn't over her profession (he even defends it occasionally), his hurt is that she doesn't seem to want to be with him. And that's her choice. Same with Atherton and anyone else who made her an offer to stay with them and she turned them down. She's allowed to have her reasons and to keep her work life and private life separate.

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Tuesday, December 22, 2009 9:38 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Bytemite:

Quote:
All her guys seem flawed in some way. Atherton Wing is a murderer of sorts, and also a possessive psychopath. In the Pilot, the kid from Persephone with the Sgt. Pepper uniform was a smart-ass dandy who insulted her on his way out. The best "client" we saw was the Minister gal in War Stories. I think partying with the Higgmeister would be a fun diversion for her.

So there's really not an inkling of judgment involved here on your part about Inara's profession, her clients, and/or her taste? Other people seem to have interpreted you this way, myself included.

Oh perhaps an inkling or two, based on the glimpses we have on the subject during the series, but no judgements on Inara's profession.

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Tuesday, December 22, 2009 9:43 AM

Yeah, I thought I smelled a little something like that.

I'm just saying, it's not fair to hold her clients against her (I add: mental image EWW) anymore than it is to hold the clients of a prison psychologist against them. It's her job. She thinks she's helping people. Sometimes they turn out to be piss-poor examples of humanity. Joss seems to think that piss-poor examples of humanity tend to be Alliance, who also tend to be rich, though I guess scummy backwater planet bigwigs are given the same brush. Maybe he just doesn't like jerks who use their economic and political clout to abuse people.

EDIT: I want to make it clear here, I'm not offended by anyone. I've heard a number of these arguments before, (generally from guys, though a few girls seem to also feel the same way about this), and some of the arguments even have merit. In general, and also in THIS world, prostitution is SO not a good thing, and I'll even agree that there's some serious problems the profession poses even without pimps such as jealousy and self-esteem issues. But I think as depicted that Inara is not guilty of anything. And, since I like discussing ethics, and I like discussing Inara, I am a clam in mud.

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Tuesday, December 22, 2009 9:58 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 pennausamike:
No matter how much you shine it up, no matter how rich the trappings or how cloaked in ritual, the Companion system is still at its core one step removed from a blow-job for a twenty in an alley. Reducing sex to a business transaction is only glamorous in fiction.

I agree that the difference between a $20 whore and the highest priced Call-girl is too subtle and nuanced to explain why Inara is angry at Mal for calling her a whore. There must be some very obvious difference between a Companion and an upper-class Call-girl/Courtesan. Differences that are so blatant that even Mal should know them. Does your mother suddenly become a whore if she takes money from your father? That kind of obviousness. Everybody in the 'Verse but ignoramuses knows that difference so it never got directly explained on Firefly. Now I've got to invent a difference between Call-girl and Companion.

It's difficult to imagine Companions being highly respected by clients if Companions are paid like bartenders, per drink, even if pouring Chivas Regal aged 25 years. What if Companions are not paid per client or sex act? If they are not paid at all by clients? I like the idea of them being on salary. That would explain why Inara could take a sabbatical from serving clients and move into the position of high school teacher in the movie. She does what she wants, serves where she wants, and there is no sacrifice in pay or prestige within the Guild.

Maybe Companions are Communists with every Companion getting the same salary? The Companions Guild could break down comparisons to being an ordinary Capitalist service industry by paying all Companions the same. That would get rid of the nasty backstabbing of competitive prostitution. There's no CEO Companion being paid 500 times more than the average Companion.

If I really wanted to be imaginative, I could assume that Companionship dates back to the trip from Earth. All the strange customs about money and Companionship started on that trip. I'm certain a starship must be a closed economy where everybody lives in poverty like they have a life sentence in an inescapable prison. I can't see how money would work on a starship. If Companionship originated on starships, what are you going to buy with money? A Rolls-Royce? A vacation in Hawaii? A penthouse apartment? I don't think so. Easy to imagine that there was nearly nothing to buy on the trip out from Earth.

I even like the idea that the total yearly fees paid directly to the Guild by clients aren't sufficient to run all the operations of the Guild of Companions. Maybe the Companions have an endowment like a University or charity hospital, where the endowment pays many of the costs for running private, yet free, high schools. I'd love to see the Companion sponsored athletics, you know, girls fastpitch softball teams.

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

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Tuesday, December 22, 2009 10:12 AM

I think you're suggestion that Inara "party" with M. Higgins for a diversion is ludicrous. And she says as much to his son. He’s crass, brazen and grotesque.

He doesn't respect her profession or HER. He thinks she's a whore, unlike Mal, who thinks what she does, is whoring. She has to constantly defend her profession from those that don’t get the difference. She views sex as an element of the spiritual arts, like a communion. It has nothing to do with getting drunk, partying, and getting laid, like at a Frat party or a brothel.
And, I agree with B… M.Higgins and Inara are like eww…brain bleach time.

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Tuesday, December 22, 2009 11:31 AM

TWO

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

If Companionship is motivated by money for sex, there is no good reason for Inara to turn down Magistrate Higgins. It would be a business like urology -- money is money no matter who's paying. But if Inara's profession is not about money, but about (choose one or more, per your values) friendship, love, female orgasms, kindness, mental-health-services, adventure, then the Magistrate is out of luck with Inara. The Magistrate will need to hire somebody else for his genitourinary health checkup.

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

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Tuesday, December 22, 2009 11:39 AM

True, courtesan is maybe not the best description of her profession, though it was the closest I could come up to that seems consistent with how companions seem to almost be treated like royalty, and undoubtedly contract with them (since the Alliance seems to have absorbed the British idea of Lords, like in Shindig on Persephone, and a figurehead King, mentioned in the pilot).

Therapist is probably the best, closest approximation we have to the function of the service she gives to clients. But with benefits.

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Tuesday, December 22, 2009 3:02 PM

PENNAUSAMIKE

Quote:
Originally posted by two:
If Companionship is motivated by money for sex, there is no good reason for Inara to turn down Magistrate Higgins. SNIP

Sure there is, the "eww" factor.
But still, if the paycheck doesn't come, neither does Inara.
Seriously, I do what I do for a living in part because I like it.
But if the company told me they were no longer paying,
I wouldn't be working here.

Companions surround themselves with beauty and ritual and think of their profession as helping people.
But real life has not borne out that conclusion regarding the sex-trade,
and Joss definitely constructed his future world with the idea that the nature of humanity hasn't changed.

I'm not "arguing" with anyone over this.
A discussion of the complexity of human emotions and their intertwining with the sex act is too complex for my limited typing skills.

But I stand by my assertion that despite the trappings, the Companion system is a flawed way to "minister" to people.
It does, however, provide a fascinating backdrop to explore political and personal entanglements in the fictional 'verse.
If I were running the Firefly production, I would want to explore the Companion system's place in the Alliance and the 'verse further.

Mike

NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Tuesday, December 22, 2009 3:28 PM

Well, I doubt we would have ever seen Inara take any pro bono work because she needs the money to support herself;) Nor should she, its hard work to get yourself mentally prepared to be intimate with someone you just met over the cortex, especially with tea as your beverage.

Companioning as presented is all about perceptions; Inara believes it to be moral, giving, and righteous, most others, including Mal, not so much. Because no matter what rituals, training, or fee you charge, many people, because it includes sex for money, will view it as whoring.

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Wednesday, December 23, 2009 2:19 AM

Inara can be somewhat bawdy and common in her own right. When Mal once asks her about Simon being in her shuttle she says she was giving the boy a free thrust. Wow, that's a tad earthy. Also, she teases Jayne at the dinner table about her funny and sexy stories, saying that he has "no idea". Well if a lech like Jayne has no idea, then who possibly could? Then there's her description of the girls at Nandi's place....she calls them whores, and the only reason according to her is because they're not in the Guild, no other judgement is made. Inara seems to contract with the young, in-experienced types which is perhaps like benign educational therapy for them of a sort, but cannot possibly be totally satisfying for her. It's reasonable to imagine that she must occasionally want something more wild and passionate.

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Wednesday, December 23, 2009 3:50 AM

ZZETTA13

I think Inara summed it up nicely that time she was combing Kaylee’s hair.

“ A companion chooses their clients carefully. It’s guild law!”

Maybe not word for word, but something like that. Also when it shows Inara making choices from her monitor before attending the dance on Persephone she seems to be screening her clients rather well. She went to the ball with Atherton Wing because he’d been nice enough to her before. There was a feeling of trust there. It might be hard to tell whether an individual is flawed, even in the future. Leave it to Mal Reynolds( with his own set of flaws) to bring the truth out about Mr. Wing.

I’m sure that Inara has had several clients that were impressive to her, impressive but not interesting. Mal is a mystery. She tells this to Shepherd Book in the Serenity pilot.

I’m sure that future episodes would have fleshed out the companions character very well.

Z

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Wednesday, December 23, 2009 9:37 AM

Oh, I agree with you, Jongsstraw, Inara has an edgy side to her, no doubt, but I think maybe it's Mal she is looking to satisfy that yearning for rawness and passion and not the clients she contracts with because it’s all about the client in those situations and not really her needs, unless she senses that it’s important to the client that she be satisfied and that’s when she needs to call on Mal's help, as we see her thoughts in Better Days, while she is hard at work;)

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Wednesday, December 23, 2009 10:49 AM