Nerdly woes...ah, Firefly
By the time I got into a Norwegian band called Bel Canto, they'd long released their final album. Upon discovery, the fact gave me a horrible kind of yearning and impotence, much like I now feel about Firefly and Serenity. I've gulped down the series + film in the last week and...what now?
Its characters and their relationships captivated me to such an extent that I stopped being able to tell halfway through the series whether the show was any good or not. anyway, what it had to say about the human heart--save some truly clunky and unconvincing misogyny (e.g. Mal's continued use of 'whore' to refer to Inarra; the whole character of the sheriff in "Heart of Gold")--was fresh but archetypal but nuanced, and always compelling.
What I loved about it:
-The character of Simon and the way it actually turns his Hollywood good looks around into a shape that is whiny and gentrified. I love that he always gets the punches. I love that he always says he's sorry. I'm totally convinced of his goodness. His cringing expression looks like a real struggle between crippling shyness and newfound feeling, rather than the cringing of a Ken-like cypher trying to feel anything at all (which impression a lesser actor with such a face would certainly make). He is so not my type, but I love Simon!
-Gina Torres' performance is a masterpiece in understatement. Zoe could be heartless. She just could; it's too easy to dip into stone-faced nothingness from the starting point of Tough Lady. But she has so much humanity; she is so rich; all her movements, all facial expressions, every vocal inflection is compelling and real. She is one of the most impressive women the small screen has seen.
-Wash & Zoe's chemistry. As he says, "people don't get me and Zoe at first"; the relationship strikes one as fully unbalanced at the start and beatifully unfolds toward the certainty that he is equal to her.
-The character of Jayne, always staying ahead of the joke and the stereotype; his jokes are so precarious, virtually doomed to sink, yet they almost always come off with a bang. I also like the way he quails before the captain, not because he's losing the alpha contest (which he is) but because he really cares too much to ever risk being kicked off the ship.
-Simon & Kaylee gave me a shippy tingling such as I haven't felt since the Clex (also: Jewel Staite!!!! Flash Forward!!!! Canada!!!! OMG!!!! She still looks the same and it's been more than 10 years 0.o)
-Kaylee's sunny disposition doesn't leave a cloying taste in your mouth. First, the actress is very, very good. Second, the character has some depth in the writing; she's not a dimbulb for all the Pollyanna veneer; there's a lot of libidinous prairie wisdom in her, as well as fear and talkin' clumsy-like.
-Ron Glass's effortless Shepherd; he conveys depth, sophistication, humour and mystery with so few lines. There's a veteran actor.
-Guest stars tend to kick ass. In the female camp we have Saffron/Bridget/Yolanda (awesome) and Nandy the ex-Companion (awesome). I just LIKE them. In the male camp I specially note Jubel Early and the Operator (the latter from Serenity). I suppose long years of Andromeda (which I also loved dearly though I resent the fact that it stayed on for four seasons, being in fact an outhouse with a few gems in it, while Firefly kicked the bucket immediately) imbued me with an insatiable craving for huge black men who wax eloquent while stabbing people; that's my favourite sci-fi archetype. For one thing, the actors who do those parts are always so good; they just suck on the words, they roll them around in their mouth (of course Keith Cobb, who played Andromeda's Tyr, was first a Shakespearean stage actor).
What I don't like so much:
-Kaylee is to be perceived as "chubby". WHA?! WHO?! GRRR. Not scoring so many feminist points on that one, Jossers. I mean, I don't imagine it's his fault Smidge got progressively waifier as the Buffy went on, but it is hard to ignore the fact Whedon's shows are largely populated by twiggy females.
-Morena Baccarin as Inarra. I like the actress herself; moreover, I LOVE the courtesan premise. However, she can't do the part. Perhaps Bollywood has spoiled me in this respect: I expect a courtesan to have eyes that kill (Morena's are twinkling, child-grave or child-scared), I expect her to have a body that don't quit (Morena's quit where the hips and ass should be; so much for that Brazilian blood), I expect her to have some sorrow in her face even when her smile is most dazzling (Morena seems like a wonderfully warm, happy person; there's no sadness there yet), and I expect her to have some years on her. That last is the crux of the issue; Baccarin could knock this role out of the park (provided she keeps growing as an actress) in 10 or 15 years. As it is, she is very, very much a young lady. Whenever someone says to her, "You're a _______ woman", it's so unreal. That's the script talking; she's NOT a woman. There's nothing wrong with being a girl, but only women can be real courtesans. Her voice, at least, has some depth to it, though the lines are far too lofty for her to say them with ease (yet). A British actress could do it no problem (e.g. Sophia Myles in New Dr. Who's "Girl in the Fireplace"). Ultimately, an actress should play a courtesan as older than her age, whereas Baccarin positively loses years the more saris and jewels they heap onto her. *whew*
Anyway, it's a hard sell, and given Firefly's character roster is pretty much ALL hard sells, one or two have to flop. It's true Baccarin has an extraordinary face and lots of presence, but she just about flounders beneath the make-up, costuming and high diction.
-Mal's character is all over the place. It's so inconsistent as to be schizophrenic, largely, I think, because of the writing. Granted, it's necessarily the most complex character, but the script overreaches itself in his motivations.
-Because of the above two, the banter between Inarra and Mal isn't terribly funny or sharp, nor does it reveal anything about their characters. Both actors are at their weakest during the banter scenes. They're a natural couple from the show's premise, as he's the captain and she's the most important (single) woman on board, but they're hard to believe together. I think the age difference is too visible. When Mal got together with Inarra's considerably older madam friend, the dialogue sounded much more real.
-Everyone has really white teeth. I can't suspend my disbelief when those pearly whites twinkle through all the grease that's been plastered onto the face.
Well, that's that.
I MISS IT ALREADY!
Its characters and their relationships captivated me to such an extent that I stopped being able to tell halfway through the series whether the show was any good or not. anyway, what it had to say about the human heart--save some truly clunky and unconvincing misogyny (e.g. Mal's continued use of 'whore' to refer to Inarra; the whole character of the sheriff in "Heart of Gold")--was fresh but archetypal but nuanced, and always compelling.
What I loved about it:
-The character of Simon and the way it actually turns his Hollywood good looks around into a shape that is whiny and gentrified. I love that he always gets the punches. I love that he always says he's sorry. I'm totally convinced of his goodness. His cringing expression looks like a real struggle between crippling shyness and newfound feeling, rather than the cringing of a Ken-like cypher trying to feel anything at all (which impression a lesser actor with such a face would certainly make). He is so not my type, but I love Simon!
-Gina Torres' performance is a masterpiece in understatement. Zoe could be heartless. She just could; it's too easy to dip into stone-faced nothingness from the starting point of Tough Lady. But she has so much humanity; she is so rich; all her movements, all facial expressions, every vocal inflection is compelling and real. She is one of the most impressive women the small screen has seen.
-Wash & Zoe's chemistry. As he says, "people don't get me and Zoe at first"; the relationship strikes one as fully unbalanced at the start and beatifully unfolds toward the certainty that he is equal to her.
-The character of Jayne, always staying ahead of the joke and the stereotype; his jokes are so precarious, virtually doomed to sink, yet they almost always come off with a bang. I also like the way he quails before the captain, not because he's losing the alpha contest (which he is) but because he really cares too much to ever risk being kicked off the ship.
-Simon & Kaylee gave me a shippy tingling such as I haven't felt since the Clex (also: Jewel Staite!!!! Flash Forward!!!! Canada!!!! OMG!!!! She still looks the same and it's been more than 10 years 0.o)
-Kaylee's sunny disposition doesn't leave a cloying taste in your mouth. First, the actress is very, very good. Second, the character has some depth in the writing; she's not a dimbulb for all the Pollyanna veneer; there's a lot of libidinous prairie wisdom in her, as well as fear and talkin' clumsy-like.
-Ron Glass's effortless Shepherd; he conveys depth, sophistication, humour and mystery with so few lines. There's a veteran actor.
-Guest stars tend to kick ass. In the female camp we have Saffron/Bridget/Yolanda (awesome) and Nandy the ex-Companion (awesome). I just LIKE them. In the male camp I specially note Jubel Early and the Operator (the latter from Serenity). I suppose long years of Andromeda (which I also loved dearly though I resent the fact that it stayed on for four seasons, being in fact an outhouse with a few gems in it, while Firefly kicked the bucket immediately) imbued me with an insatiable craving for huge black men who wax eloquent while stabbing people; that's my favourite sci-fi archetype. For one thing, the actors who do those parts are always so good; they just suck on the words, they roll them around in their mouth (of course Keith Cobb, who played Andromeda's Tyr, was first a Shakespearean stage actor).
What I don't like so much:
-Kaylee is to be perceived as "chubby". WHA?! WHO?! GRRR. Not scoring so many feminist points on that one, Jossers. I mean, I don't imagine it's his fault Smidge got progressively waifier as the Buffy went on, but it is hard to ignore the fact Whedon's shows are largely populated by twiggy females.
-Morena Baccarin as Inarra. I like the actress herself; moreover, I LOVE the courtesan premise. However, she can't do the part. Perhaps Bollywood has spoiled me in this respect: I expect a courtesan to have eyes that kill (Morena's are twinkling, child-grave or child-scared), I expect her to have a body that don't quit (Morena's quit where the hips and ass should be; so much for that Brazilian blood), I expect her to have some sorrow in her face even when her smile is most dazzling (Morena seems like a wonderfully warm, happy person; there's no sadness there yet), and I expect her to have some years on her. That last is the crux of the issue; Baccarin could knock this role out of the park (provided she keeps growing as an actress) in 10 or 15 years. As it is, she is very, very much a young lady. Whenever someone says to her, "You're a _______ woman", it's so unreal. That's the script talking; she's NOT a woman. There's nothing wrong with being a girl, but only women can be real courtesans. Her voice, at least, has some depth to it, though the lines are far too lofty for her to say them with ease (yet). A British actress could do it no problem (e.g. Sophia Myles in New Dr. Who's "Girl in the Fireplace"). Ultimately, an actress should play a courtesan as older than her age, whereas Baccarin positively loses years the more saris and jewels they heap onto her. *whew*
Anyway, it's a hard sell, and given Firefly's character roster is pretty much ALL hard sells, one or two have to flop. It's true Baccarin has an extraordinary face and lots of presence, but she just about flounders beneath the make-up, costuming and high diction.
-Mal's character is all over the place. It's so inconsistent as to be schizophrenic, largely, I think, because of the writing. Granted, it's necessarily the most complex character, but the script overreaches itself in his motivations.
-Because of the above two, the banter between Inarra and Mal isn't terribly funny or sharp, nor does it reveal anything about their characters. Both actors are at their weakest during the banter scenes. They're a natural couple from the show's premise, as he's the captain and she's the most important (single) woman on board, but they're hard to believe together. I think the age difference is too visible. When Mal got together with Inarra's considerably older madam friend, the dialogue sounded much more real.
-Everyone has really white teeth. I can't suspend my disbelief when those pearly whites twinkle through all the grease that's been plastered onto the face.
Well, that's that.
I MISS IT ALREADY!