hey, don't get me wrong: firefly is my favorite show, but Serenity is not really in my top 10 movies. still, to each their own.
Yours probably isn't the same as mine. I don't mean just whoever was on the winning side. I mean truly good, honorable people. If the Alliance is as ambiguous as people keep saying it is, surely they must have them as well? I will say this, though. Probably my favorite line in all of FF comes from a script that was never filmed. I can't remember what the script was called, but it concerned Mal and company going up against one of his old comrades from the war who had turned homicidal (AFAIK, the guy was planting bombs at civilian factories - he was trying to start another war). Mal said something like this: "It isn't war when they're not shooting at you. Then it's just plain murder."
The movie was very Trek in it's messages of family & being true to your beliefs, IMO. "Dead Or Alive." http://www.fireflyfans.net/feature.asp?f=45
Yep, that's the one. Leave it to me to have my favorite episode of a series be one that does not, technically, exist.
It's good, but not as great as some of it's fans would have you believe (doesn't that go for all shows though). It definitely helps if don't mind the cowboy theme.
almost certainly. after the civil war, both sides considered Robert E. Lee (Confederate) and Ulysses S. Grant (Union) to be heroes. and there were countless other nameless heroes on both sides (just watch Glory). since firefly is in part a post-civil war allegory, i'd say it is very likely indeed.
Mal (I love your avi btw), I got a question for ya: *SPOILERS FOR THE UNINITIATED!!!!!* When Mal (movie Mal) shot that surrendering Alliance dude on Haven, do you feel that was that warranted? IMO the time it would take to hogtie & babysit him would have been potentially deadly to the group, not to mention that he was a member of the crew that killed Haven's peeps. So, in the end I feel it was. I've heard lots of other opinions that it was supposed to be Mal all Dark-Side-y & whatnot, but I think it was an act of survival. How about you?
it seemed pretty much like murder. if he was too busy, mal could have told jayne or zoe to "take care of" the survivor (which zoe might have understood as tying him up, although jayne might have shot him first...). mal certainly didn't mind taking the time to chat up (and tie up) the operative before popping the video in for 'verse-wide distribution. i think shepard's death was just a bit much for mal to handle at that moment. ironically right there after, mal talks to the operative and says "i don't kill innocent people." (the operative says "i do"). maybe mal didn't think the survivor was innocent - they had just slaughtered the entire colony on haven just because mal and crew had taken refuge there before. mal - as captain - feels quite comfortable meeting out justice, even capital justice. but really, i think it was just visceral. he was saying, in effect - look, i just shot that survivor, and i'll shoot anyone who gets in my way. now do your gorram jobs!
He only said "I don't murder children." So still a pretty bad thing (which Joss Whedon pointed out in the commentary!) but not quite as hypocritical.
Then, I take it, you've never been in a high-stress situation where every moment counted, and your life was hanging in the balance of your very next move. The law of the jungle cannot be understood by those who've not been forced into it, out of their comfort zone, and into the maw of violence & survival. Just sayin'.
Yeah, I'm going to say most people in the thread probably haven't shot anyone in cold blood. That seems like a safe bet to me.
Have you? What you just wrote sounds like an excerpt from a very bad novel written by a bad writer. Mal was in a crisis situation at this moment.. he lost close friends just because he had contact with them. He blames himself and takes it out on the nearest target.. a soldier who took part in the attack and was barely alive. What makes Firefly so superior in realism than Trek is exactly such a scene.. everybody can relate to it, feel it and maybe act exactly the same. The fringe worlds in Firefly are a harsh place.. better shoot first when in doubt and live than be shot first. This is why i like Firefly so much.. it is a gritty world and people do what they have to to survive. Morals are good and fine but sometimes you just don't have the option to follow morals to the bitter end. No one there likes to die and life is cheap. It is the exact opposite of Trek and i can understand if people don't like it (well.. not really but i'm a Browncoat so ) but nevertheless i believe Firefly had a strong, solid core and could have done much were it not cut short. Serenity just condensed what was supposed to be the main thread of the first few seasons.. it could have branched out in every direction but we'll never know.
Let me tell you something about Hew-mons, nephew. They're a wonderful, friendly people – as long as their bellies are full and their holosuites are working. But take away their creature comforts... deprive them of food, sleep, sonic showers... put their lives in jeopardy over an extended period of time... and those same friendly, intelligent, wonderful people will become as nasty and violent as the most bloodthirsty Klingon. You don't believe me? Look at those faces, look at their eyes... Quark in DS9's The Siege of AR-558
And that's exactly why DS9 is the best Trek show ever! But do you think Mal would have thought twice about luring in a third fraction in the Independence War to fight against the Alliance? Hell.. he'd probably advertise it and smile from ear to ear
So... I lied. I cheated. I bribed men to cover up the crimes of other men. I was an accessory to murder. But most damning of all... I think I can live with it... And if I had to do it all over again... I would. Garak was right about one thing – a guilty conscience is a small price to pay for the safety of the Alpha Quadrant. - the sisko. i don't think he smiled. he did what he thought was right because he believed. lots of innocent reavers died. he lost book and wash along the way. i don't think he smiled. Somebody has to speak for these people. You all got on this boat for different reasons, but you all come to the same place. So now I’m asking more of you than I have before. Maybe all. Sure as I know anything I know this, they will try again. Maybe on another world, maybe on this very ground swept clean. A year from now, ten, they’ll swing back to the belief that they can make people…better. And I do not hold to that. So no more running. I aim to misbehave.
Well, errr... not so much... Got mugged a couple of times & had to use my martial arts skills, but nothing like shooting or anything... I never claimed to be a great writer, especially late at night.