Heart of Gold (Spoilers!) by JaynesGirlfriend

FIREFLY EPISODE DISCUSSIONS

Heart of Gold (Spoilers!)

POSTED BY: JAYNESGIRLFRIEND
UPDATED: Wednesday, June 11, 2003 22:12
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VIEWED: 3090
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Tuesday, June 10, 2003 3:43 AM

I cannot remember the last time I started a thread (well, I can, but it didn't go well..), I'm such a bad fan.

Obligatory Just in Case SPOILER SPACE
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Here Thar Be Spoilers

With "Trash" I loved the script, but thought the episode was just okay. "Heart of Gold" was the exact opposite for me. There were a couple of funny moments in the script with Jayne and the whores that I really liked, but overall I wasn't terribly impressed. On film though I think this episode is definitely one of the very best right up there with "Serenity" and "Out of Gas" for me.

The character work is amazing. "HoG" has great moments for everyone. The baby talk with Zoe and Wash was great. I thought it was interesting that it was Zoe pushing for a baby instead of Wash. Gina Torres has done a great job giving Zoe layers and her desire for a more traditional female role in addition to her less traditional ones just adds to that. And for once I didn't feel the need to fast forward through the Inara/Mal scenes. Usually I find that whole relationship kind of tedious aside from the quippage, but this time I finally felt invested in it.

I thought the treatment of the idea of male homosexuality was interesting. Especially when compared to the treatment of lesbianism in "War Stories." Though I'm honestly not sure which I prefer. I liked that everyone (writers as well as characters) was so non-chalant about gay men ("Isn't that thoughtful?") here as opposed to the almost embarrassing fascination with the lesbian acts in "War Stories." But taken together it seems as though the production staff doesn't think that their audience would be as interested in gay men as they would be in lesbians. Or that while its okay for one of their female characters to be interested in the same sex it just wouldn't be right for one of their guys to be the least bit "sly." Or I could be totally over-thinking this and about to be getting my ass bit.

Overall, LOVED IT!

"I was gonna get me an ear, too." - Jayne

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Tuesday, June 10, 2003 8:36 AM

SHINY

JG, totally agree with you on the character work, although I did think some of the early scenes introducing people at the whorehouse could have been better/smoother. I also liked the Wash/Zoe interaction, but they cut the ending of it (the "[being raised on a ship] worked ok for me" part)

In terms of Gay versus Lesbian homosexuality, I think Kaylee is fairly consistent in her innocent appreciation of the male whores and her reaction to Inara with the Councilor. To be realistic, the typical man responds differently to the idea of lesbian women than the typical woman responds to gay men, so I'm not sure how else you could portray this. I don't feel that the Inara/Councilor relationship was portrayed in a stereotypical male fantasy sort of way, although Jayne responds to it in that way, that's also certainly in line with his character.

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Tuesday, June 10, 2003 2:38 PM

JAYNESGIRLFRIEND

Quote:
Originally posted by Shiny:

In terms of Gay versus Lesbian homosexuality, I think Kaylee is fairly consistent in her innocent appreciation of the male whores and her reaction to Inara with the Councilor.

Totally agree on this. Good character consistency on the writers part since this seems to be Kaylee's reaction to all sex in general.

Quote:

I don't feel that the Inara/Councilor relationship was portrayed in a stereotypical male fantasy sort of way, although Jayne responds to it in that way, that's also certainly in line with his character.

My problem with Inara/Councilor was that the Councilor was pretty much useless. The rest of Inara's clients(when seen) are either given a proper subplot of their own that ties into the main plot("Jaynestown") or are the main plot ("Shindig".) With the exception of "Serenity" when it was used to establish Inara's character. But the Councilor really did come off as just an excuse to have Inara with a female client. It didn't really provide any sort of character growth for Inara or add to the plot (ear-sticker-on thing not withstanding.) The whole thing just felt eploitative to me.

Quote:

JG, totally agree with you on the character work, although I did think some of the early scenes introducing people at the whorehouse could have been better/smoother. I also liked the Wash/Zoe interaction, but they cut the ending of it (the "[being raised on a ship] worked ok for me" part)

I wish they'd kept that too. I don't think that fact about Zoe has been brought up in any other episodes, has it? Agree about the whorehouse characters too. Apart from Nandi, they didn't come off as well rounded on film as they did in the script. I wish they'd spent a little more time on Petaline and Chari at least.

"I was gonna get me an ear, too." - Jayne

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Tuesday, June 10, 2003 7:45 PM

SHINY

Quote:
Originally posted by JaynesGirlfriend:
the whole thing just felt eploitive to me

Perhaps, but think of it this way: maybe it will convince Spike network to pick up Firefly!

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Wednesday, June 11, 2003 11:58 AM

MANIACNUMBERONE

I can see why this episode was cut from the running (if it was in the middle as some suggest) It was very controversial. That partt where the big bad boss guy makes the woman get on her knees... eeesh! frightening! Lots of great things in this ep, one little question. The lady (Nandi?), was she Inara's sister? Cause she called her Meimei in their wav call.

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Wednesday, June 11, 2003 1:13 PM

JAYNESGIRLFRIEND

Chari on her knees was much more graphic in the script IIRC. I think they were actually pretty restrained in the filming of it.

I got the impression that Inara and Nandi were in the same Companion House together. Inara seems to use mei mei as a general term of endearment, she calls Kaylee that too.

"I was gonna get me an ear, too." - Jayne

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Wednesday, June 11, 2003 1:36 PM

TALONPEST

I got the impression that Inara and Nandi trained together

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Wednesday, June 11, 2003 10:12 PM

MANIACNUMBERONE

Inara and Nandi did train together it sounded like to me, and also it sounds as though Nandi got banned for some reason or other. (what could that have been?) But it was Nandi who called Inara meimei, not the other way around, which is why I thought it strange. I thought maybe Inara was feeling guilty about not having given Nandi a wav, since her banning, because there might have been a family relationship.

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