Beautifully said. I totally ignored "Firefly" the first time around, thinking it was another "Earth 2" or "Space: Abominable and Blecherous". Silly me! I caught the first episode when SciFi started rerunning the series a couple of weeks ago, and I am utterly hooked. The film is now at the top of my must-see list.
*SLMW 1.0* No animals were harmed in the production of this message.
BrettM Wrote:Beautifully said. I totally ignored "Firefly" the first time around, thinking it was another "Earth 2" or "Space: Abominable and Blecherous". Silly me! I caught the first episode when SciFi started rerunning the series a couple of weeks ago, and I am utterly hooked. The film is now at the top of my must-see list.
Yeah, me too. Guilty for the same reasons. I heard raves from friends after the series ended and bought the DVD. Shoot me if I wasn't hooked after the first episode. The real first one, not the one Fox decided was needed as a first episode. I'm even planning to take a vacation day on 9/30 to watch the movie a couple of times.
Anders Monsen Wrote:Yeah, me too. Guilty for the same reasons. I heard raves from friends after the series ended and bought the DVD. Shoot me if I wasn't hooked after the first episode. The real first one, not the one Fox decided was needed as a first episode. I'm even planning to take a vacation day on 9/30 to watch the movie a couple of times.
I was hooked on the first episode shown by FOX. It had everything and didn't rely on trying to set everything up. I thought it made the show better with the train heist being first.
Scott Hajek
[i]"A beer right now would sound good, but I'd rather drink one than listen to it."[/i]
RussM Wrote:The "Browncoats" official site is asking for testimonials to support the upcoming movie. Here was mine:
A major theme of Firefly/Serenity that appeals to me is the too-rarely endorsed idea that "your life belongs to you." As Joss has said, Serenity is "a powerful statement about the right to be free." In Mal and Zoe, especially, we see that a belief burns brightly that there are principles worth fighting for...even ones unpopular in the general society. As Mal said, they may have been on the losing side of the war, but he is hardly convinced that his was the wrong side. Truth is not determined by majority vote. Neither are the lives and fortunes of the crew on "Serenity."
Even though they are in the distinct minority, the "Serenity" crew manage to maintain their sense of humor. Like many folks in stressful situations -- soldiers, doctors and nurses, police -- cracking wise is, perhaps, all that helps them maintain their sanity in a world that has seemingly gone insane...and where the inmates oddly enough maintain that _they_ are the "normal" ones.
But accepting chains of any kind is not "normal." Mal recognizes this little-noted fact and takes it to heart...and has the "temerity" to expect the best of his crew, as well. When everyone and everything sometimes appears to stand against them, Mal and his crew must present a united front lest they be overwhelmed by those who gleefully think that they own the lives, the property, the freedom of everyone else.
Mal embodies the old-fashioned battle-cry of heroes of old such as John Carter of Mars: "I still live!" And as long as he does, he will continue to scrap and fight and seek a way to advance towards his goals, no matter how hopeless success might appear in the moment.
Loyalty. Humor. No-nonsense responsibility. Love. These traits only begin to explain the appeal of the Firefly universe.
I enjoy scripts that take their characters seriously; that are unafraid to tackle difficult themes; that surprise me (in pleasant ways!); and that explore an overall story-arc that provides room for getting to know the people as individuals with good and bad characteristics of their own.
I had glimpsed an episode on television, but Fox stumbled miserably in making clear precisely what Firefly was and what it was trying to accomplish. After reading endorsement after endorsement online, I scraped together the money and purchased my own DVD set.
I was hooked from the beginning.
Rare it is when I read a book, see a movie, or watch a TV series and simultaneously want to finish it -- all! -- immediately...and also seek to drag it out as long as possible so I won't be forced to leave a world that is so inviting, so encompassing, so exciting.
But finish the DVDs, I did. I've watched them all a number of times now. I've read the scripts and the transcripts of the episodes (and did three of the latter, myself).
As a long-time science fiction fan who doesn't read so much of it anymore, Firefly has helped rekindle my interest. It is not often that something excites me to this degree. After having read hundreds of books over a number of decades, I sometimes think I have "seen it all" before. But Firefly has proved me wrong.
I want Serenity to succeed. I want more sequels. I want another series on television. But even if my expectations are dashed by a public that is more comfortable with the "safe" and the "familiar" than it is with that which is fresh, unique, and original, I'll be happy to have experienced as much of Joss Whedon's future world as I have.
In the end -- to borrow a phrase from Ayn Rand -- Firefly has provided me with the "emotional fuel" I sometimes so desperately need to face the daily grind that life can sometimes become. Firefly has recharged my batteries; has given me hope; has helped me deal with "Alliances" that think my life belongs to them.
But, of course, it does not. My life belongs to me. And now -- irrevocably, wonderfully, joyously -- Firefly and the crew of the Serenity are a part of that life, too.
Russ Madden
Great testamonial Russ! Are they looking for volume or quality? Yours is quality but if it mattered I would be willing to add mine for quantity. Just tell me where to send it.
KRW