okay... I'm getting all excited bout 'Serenity' coming out (no kidding! you say? look at my avatar)
still months to wait!!!! apparently it comes out in november where I live- still need to check that.
if you've not already seen reviews theres some here=
http://www.aintitcool.com/display.cgi?id=20330
anyway- so I decided to use the anticipation energy building up to post a thread about the genius of firefly.
A few reasons why I love it....
The Language
Whats really great about this show is the language is really cool. Just like Buffy speak, Firefly speak is very unique. On the one hand it is very old western, but then Joss adds his sparkle and a dash of metaphors and gives each of the characters their very own way of speaking.
Mal: That's good. You lie there and be ironical
Saffron: But we've been wed. Aren't we to become one flesh?
Mal: Well, no, uh... We're still two fleshes here, and I think that your flesh ought to sleep somewhere else.
and then there’s the Chinese! Ahhh the Chinese.
Interestingly enough all the characters throw some mandarin into their sentences every now and again- especially when they are swearing (nice sneaky way of getting past the censors)
The idea being that America and China were the last big super powers and that everyone speaks a bit of both language… its cool when you think about it coz it makes a nice change from other sci fi programs where everyone speaks English in the future- even the aliens :s
(to be fair- not an entirely orginal idea- see blade runner)
works very well though!!
Some of my fav lines:
Ta ma duh!
"F*** me blind!"
dong ma?
"understand?"
Wuh duh ma huh ta duh fung-kwong duh wai-shung doh
"Holy mother of god and all her wacky Nephews"
"Shun-SHENG duh gao-WAHN."
"Holy testicle Tuesday."
Ahhh the list goes on, and on….
The verse:
As mentioned before, there is a lot of melding of cultures, especially between America and China, but a mash of a load of others as well. Not just from our present day cultures but there is also a lot of influence from the past as well. A very interesting view of what the future might be like- and you’ll find no bumpy headed aliens here…
The Humour…and the pain.
Oh Joss- why do you do it to me!!??- set up a nice story and then dash our hopes into a million pieces. As in Buffy and Angel no one has a happy life and if they do its very short lived- such is real life though I guess. He works in his amazingly funny sense of humour and then the standard pain and misery into the show beautifully.
Joss Whedon is my God….
He knows how to write people so well! The firefly verse is a great compliment to the story- but where as in something like trek is about alien/planet/science of the week- firefly is very much about the people on serenity and dealing with the challenges that arise for them as they go through their lives.
theres a slight possibility i have too much time on my hands at the moment...
snrub wrote:
Snrub declares Firefly one of the best TV shows ever made!