Re: Unspoiled Serenity Cruise: The Train Job -- All Things Debatable on Firefly

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Date Posted: 15:16:05 06/24/03 Tue
Author: CW
Subject: Re: Unspoiled Serenity Cruise: The Train Job
In reply to: shambleau 's message, "Re: Unspoiled Serenity Cruise: The Train Job" on 10:50:52 06/24/03 Tue

The problem is, if as a writer, you don't make a consistant universe, people either laugh at you or get confused. In either case you end up with no audience.

I also don't see ME as being out of their element in sci-fi so much as not caring that much about it.

Frankly, I find this statement of yours disturbingly close to the mark. Just exactly who did ME think the audience for Firefly supposed to be? People who like science fiction care about it, and usually care about the science in it. If Joss wanted to sell a soap opera in sci-fi dress (and I think you're right in implying he did) why didn't he come out and say that in all those interviews he did last summer? We had plenty of Buffy and Angel fans who wouldn't even give Firefly a look last fall because they expected it to be sci-fi first and foremost, or if they'd heard the rumors sci-fi/western.

We agree on the the important point that the problems could have been fixed. But, frankly Joss didn't do his homework well enough before he started the project. You say he loves westerns. It doesn't show. What he knew about westerns is what you brought out, direction techiniques and character relationship issues. Unfortunately, unless you're calling your work soap opera up front, you have to sell the audience on the story before any of that means anything. Loving something is a heck of a lot different from knowing anything about it. The first rule of writing is stay close to what you know. Joss wouldn't know a cow if it bit him, so why did he insist on a western theme, with horses and real cattle? Joss never claimed any knowledge, let alone expertise in science, so why did he start up a show in which the science was going to be picked at? Why? Because too many people have been telling the guy, he's a genuis. He's not. He's just a very talented fellow, whose biggest talent probably is selling himself even more than writing and directing. He makes makes mistakes like the rest of us and tries hard to correct them. We can see Joss' talent in Firefly and we should celebrate it. But, not seeing its weaknesses isn't doing him or ourselves any favors.

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Re: Unspoiled Serenity Cruise: The Train Job -- shambleau, 17:07:05 06/24/03 Tue