The Bodhisattva

‘There is no place I can be, since I found Serenity…’

My excuse? As cliché as “the dog ate my homework”, but in my case it’s true. You know how when the topic comes up, you always state what is oddly enough one of the phrases that is used both by the ‘psuedo-intellectuals’ and the ‘wannabe-cool’? You know what I’m talking about – “I don’t watch a lot of television”. You either say you have better people or things to do, or television programming is simply too puerile and inane for your refined tastes and sophistication – but in reality your almost constantly glued to the tube, and the brief times you are not, you give a silent prayer for TiVo. I myself, don’t watch a lot of television, but not (well not entirely) for those reasons, but one quite more simple, and I think more based in reality than in some cases – the programming available where I live completely blows — both in regards to number of stations available, and what is shown. Believe you me, with ample programming; I have been known to be quite comfortable in front of big screen, with a few choice friends who respect the rotation, properly supplied with refreshment, and in a cloud of smoke, for extended periods of time.

I also am not one moved by bandwagons, the larger they are the more I avoid them and this one was virtually running people over, but after someone loaning me the Firefly DVD’s, I’m hooked. I love it; I think it’s damn brilliant (mostly because I like it:); it’s kind of to SF shows, what I thought Shaun of the Dead was for horror movies, fun move that wasn’t scared to laugh at itself yet didn’t use that very same element as a over-the-top gimmick (see Scream), but runs with it, unafraid where it might take them and leaving fans relishing every moment. Terrific writing, and a great cast; from a captain dropping such delightful one liners to his ‘newly wed’ as “you have the right same as anyone to live and try to kill people”; to a prodigy, turned guinea pig, turned Eternal Champion who openly says she can “Kill you with my Mind”; to the just on point innocence portrayed by every facial expressions by the ship’s mechanic even after being caught fucking by the ship engine - the entire cast just exudes chemistry. Here was a show science fiction fans have been waiting for. I haven’t followed a SF show past the first few episodes since Deep Space Nine (I’m not exactly a trekie but I just thought this was both well written and acted) went off the air. I wasn’t exactly a fan of either Buffy or Angel, which isn’t to say I thought they were worthless, as much as I didn’t think there was anything excellent enough to follow with any regularity, but Firefly I’m just completely enamored with, as I accomplished absolutely nothing on the day I decided to watch every episode back-to-back, to pay proper homage to Joss Whedon’s accomplishment. Ever since Seinfeld went of the air I have to admit I don’t follow any shows with fervor that weren’t on HBO, and that’s not TV… it’s HBO. Amidst the garbage that is Law and Order, and CSI Shannara, and the most telling sign of humanities’ declining taste regarding any measure of quality in their entertainment, reality television (along with the fact that a publication like US Magazine could possibly be profitable), came a show that could have possibly obtained Soprano status –a rare non-Football related program that I actually would attempt to work my schedule around to catch every week; it’s somewhat sad, but the worthwhile television shows has become that much of a rarity. In a recent post pondering Ted Chiang, JP reminded us of what China Mieville said concerning SF, that it was a “literature of ideas”, and Firefly achieves this on the small screen; I mean, here I am with plenty of extra rooms, and in a popular/busy summer destination and never have I considered the obvious benefits of renting out to prostitutes – simply genius. This is not a review (as admittedly it would be a very poor one), but merely my reaction of genuine enthusiasm for this wonderful series. It’s crude at times; but is so in a manner that emanates an organic and realistic feel in a setting 500 years into our future. I can see the some hardliners complain about a lack of actual hard science fiction, but this series is one of those rare series that’s so fun, I think even the most pretentious of us can appreciate there are many avenues of worthwhile SF application. It’s so fun, the Greg Egan fan in me doesn’t even care!

‘You can’t take the sky from me….’

But they did. FOX, delivering a slap in the face of quality that had no parallel until recently when the announcement that SCIFICTION would be discontinued, took the best non-premium channel program off the air. Just when I felt like we were getting reinvited to the party, the networks told us to go back to reading our books for quality entertainment. I have yet to see Serenity, which will be an instant DVD purchase come December for me, apparently the last time I will be able to show my support for a wonderful but entirely all to brief small-screen gem. I remember as a young child being completely fascinated with fireflies (or lightning bugs if you will), I had a little cage and everything; they don’t live very long but they sure are damn fun while they last.

*puts on browncoat*