Big Damn Shiny Heroes (The Reboot): Serenity
Shana has officially unceremoniously kick
ed me off of the Firefly podcast, mostly because listening to me kvetch about sci-fi westerns and the American Confederacy is way more fun for me than for her, but thankfully for all listeners she’s replaced me with the wonderful Jessica from The Web of Queer, who will give the series the more sympathetic (or at least fannish) reading it (arguably) deserves.
This episode introduces the podcast audience to Shana and Jessica’s history with the series, then dives into a nice discussion of the kinds of themes surrounding gender we’re going to be dealing with over the course of Firefly‘s run. Kaylee’s love for strawberries, Inara’s profession, and Captain Tightpants, er, tight pants are all subjects of discussion. Also, some spontaneous singing of the theme song?
This should be a monthly-ish addition to the Oi! Spaceman family, and don’t worry, one of these days when I have the energy to write again I will come back to an examination of the Confederacy within the sci-fi Western in essay form. Maybe this will force me to watch the new Westworld series?
October 17, 2016 @ 7:26 am
While I eventually fell in love with Firefly (sometime around Ariel, I think), I had grave misgivings at the start due to the pilot that aired (The Train Job) which honestly felt like a valentine to Trent Lott. The protagonists were presented as ex-Confederates trying to make a living during a brutal Reconstruction, except that the Civil War really was fought to resist a tyrannical invading force and slavery had nothing to do with it.