The recent bout of feminist critique of Firefly has finally roused me from my prolonged inability to write anything at all about television, which will hopefully translate not only into some posts on that show that I’ve been mulling for a while, but also into some more regular content from me. Consider yourselves warned.

As is covered in the linked post, although Joss Whedon’s work is beloved by many feminists and is definitely leaps and bounds beyond the bulk of television, … READ MORE

Wash and Zoe’s marriage in Firefly/Serenity has GOT to be one of the best marriages around. They’re equals, they often do mundane everyday things, many of their fights are professional, not personal. So here’s Scarlett’s guide to How to Write Good Ship That Doesn’t Demean the Woman:

#1 Introduce her as a strong, capable character with an important - and platonic - backstory with at least one other character (in this case, Mal). Maintain her existence as a strong, capable character … READ MORE

I’ve been trying for ages to pin down what doesn’t quite work for me about Inara on Firefly.

I love the idea of sex workers who are respected, highly trained, and in control of their trade. One thing I knew bothered me was how Mal introduced her to Sheppard Book as “a whore” and often referred to her as such - but that wasn’t what didn’t work. He never gets called on it to my satisfaction, but I can write it … READ MORE

Kaylee from Firefly/Serenity is a woman doing a man’s job, but she never comes across as either the stereotyped beautiful-tomboy or the butch-tomboy that we see so often in film and television. Rather, she’s a reasonably attractive woman who loves her job, which just happens to be a mechanic for a spaceship.

And a damn competent mechanic she is, too. In a flashback episode , she is introduced as the fling of Serenity’s initial mechanic, a somewhat incompetent guy. While this … READ MORE

Spoilers for Firefly/Serenity

Inara Serra is a Companion. According to Mal, that’s just a high-class prostitute; according to Inara and pretty much every other character, a Companion is like the glamorous older cousin to the Japanese Geisha (appropriate, given the series/movie uses a lot of references to eastern cultures). Sexual services are one of the many she provides as a companion - among others, a partner, conversationalist, confidante, listener, builder (not propper-up) of self-esteem. Her teaching and nursing skills are excellent.

She’s … READ MORE

This is the first in a series of articles on women from Firefly. Includes spoilers for Firefly and Serenity.

Zoë is my favourite character, so I’ll start with her. She’s an action heroine in the same vein as Sarah Conner or Ellen Ripley. She the 2IC of Serenity, and makes sure none of the men forget it. Not that she has to do it overtly. She has this presence of power that the men of Serenity - excepting the captain, the … READ MORE

Thanks always to Beta, who gave me the inspiration to write this piece from her article on the Young Riders.

My favourite episode of Firefly has got to be Heart of Gold, where a prostitute, Nandi, Inara used to know calls on her for help. One of her girls, Petaline, is pregnant to the moon’s Greedy Bastard (TM 2006 by BetaCandy). GB’s wife is barren, so he sees nothing wrong with snatching the kid from Petaline’s womb.

Except damned if anyone’s going … READ MORE

On the DVD extras for Firefly, a Fox sci-fi series that was troubled from the get-go and cancelled after 15 episodes, Chris Buchanan (president of Mutant Enemy, creator Joss Whedon’s production company) said:

“The initial results - they made the network nervous. The men didn’t respond as strongly as they thought they would, and the women responded more strongly.”

Do I really need to say anything else here?