VoyForums
[ Show ]
Support VoyForums
[ Shrink ]
VoyForums Announcement: Programming and providing support for this service has been a labor of love since 1997. We are one of the few services online who values our users' privacy, and have never sold your information. We have even fought hard to defend your privacy in legal cases; however, we've done it with almost no financial support -- paying out of pocket to continue providing the service. Due to the issues imposed on us by advertisers, we also stopped hosting most ads on the forums many years ago. We hope you appreciate our efforts.

Show your support by donating any amount. (Note: We are still technically a for-profit company, so your contribution is not tax-deductible.) PayPal Acct: Feedback:

Donate to VoyForums (PayPal):

[ Login ] [ Contact Forum Admin ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time | Archives: 1, [2], 3, 4 ]

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Date Posted: 10:21:42 12/21/02 Sat
Author: Finn Mac Cool
Subject: Re: Complicated is a nice way of putting it...
In reply to: AurraSing 's message, "Complicated is a nice way of putting it..." on 09:53:05 12/21/02 Sat

My guess is this: when Inara first came on board, Mal was definitely not thrilled about it, but needed the money and the semi-prestige having a Companion on board would bring. Eventually, they came to have the whole romantic tension thing, but Mal had already established himself in the role of speaking against Inara, and he desperately fears stepping out of that role.

Now, why does Mal try to belittle Inara in front of other people? My theory is that Mal generally views prostitution as an unsavory and disrespectable. This wouldn't lead to public displays of belittlement if it weren't for the fact that so many people treat her with high respect. In his mind, it probably goes something like "I spent months in a horrendous trench, pushing back the Alliance, and fighting for what I believed in. But I'm the disrespected criminal. And what does Inara do? She sells her body to whatever born-to-wealth creep who's too much of a jerk to get a woman without money, and she's treated like some dignitary!" I think that Inara's position of respectability from being a Companion has engendered a lot of bitterness in Mal (plus, Inara's business always involves socialization and intimacy with the rich, a class of people Mal has shown little respect for, probably because most of them owe their wealth to being pro-Alliance).

Lastly, why does Inara put up with Mal? I've got a better question: why does Inara put up with a ship that's held together by ducttape and a crew that is constantly creating dangerous situations for her, as well as endangering her position on the good side of the law? By being part of the Serenity crew, Inara really is slumming. Bad ship, bad company, bad reputation, bad lifestyle. If you've ever watched a movie which tries to portray someone entering into a slum lifestyle, the landlord or pimp or store owner or whoever is in charge is always a jerk. She probably expected just as much the instant she came onto Serenity. Either Inara has some problems she's never mentioned that won't let her get a position on a respectable vessel, or there's something about Serenity and assorted company that's drawn her there. And, if FOX hadn't cancelled the show, we might have been able to find out.

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Replies:

[ Contact Forum Admin ]

Forum timezone: GMT-8
VF Version: 3.00b, ConfDB:
Before posting please read our privacy policy.
VoyForums(tm) is a Free Service from Voyager Info-Systems.
Copyright © 1998-2019 Voyager Info-Systems. All Rights Reserved.