Serenity

[slanderous]

Well, and this is now a larger issue than just Whedon's series or this particular film, why should the "American" world be understood or represented as white? As I noted earlier, there is a long history of other nonwhite peoples in America and Europe because of slavery, colonialism and war (among other things), so it's not as if the rest of "us" aren't here too. (As British South Asians say, "We are here because you were there.") So there's a lot of encounter and exchange that could be integrated as "everyday" because it is "everyday" for so many people now. Daniel Dae Kim's character on Angel is a good example of this "everydayness," I think; and certainly Zoe and Book. (But seeing black persons on t.v. shows, etc., as "American" is more common than seeing Asians, who are still generally understood as "foreign.") So I agree with you, MostlyHarmless, that while racial myopia is common, it's also not forgivable.

Although this might be a case of "be careful what you wish for." I shudder to think what has happened, and would happen, in more efforts to show an "Asian world" on fantasy/sci-fi shows -- we'd get more crap like that episode of Charmed in which all the Asians did kung fu and spoke in mystical metaphors and were followed by that damn flute music. At least Whedon didn't go there with Firefly (e.g., kung fu and magic flutes), but he doesn't have the best track record when it comes to Asian/Americans in general, and not just with the "Asian exotic" touches on this series. I remember when he introduced the Vietnamese or Chinese (?) potential on Buffy, whose name "Chao Anh" just means "Hello, older (but not elderly) sir" in Vietnamese. That reminded me of Rambo, First Blood, Part II, where the Vietnamese girl's name is "Co," which means "young girl." None of these names, needless to say, are real names! If it was supposed to be funny, I didn't laugh in either case.

[mostlyharmless]

I thought Chao Anh's name was supposed to be a joke, as Giles kept pretending to understand what she was saying and "translating" to the others, even when she was saying she was lactose intolerant or whatever. So is it a joke at Giles's expense or the girls expense? The joke being that Chao Anh was what she said to Giles but he took that as her name.

And I included Zoe and Book as "American" in that their dialog, culture, customs etc were uniformly American. Had Simon and River been played by Asians I would have assumed they would be Americanised and would still have English as their first language along with Western background. It may have been more realistic and preferable to show a seperate Asian culture where the characters were equals to the main cast wether they be friends of foes while maintaining their language, with perhaps some English swearing!

I give Star Trek great credit in showing a multiracial cast, especialy considering the civil and political situation at the time, but would a similiar crew today have people accusing the producers of tokenisim?

It would be interesting to know the audition process for Firefly. Did Book specify "Black"? Did the Tams specify "White"? On Lost for example Kim Yoon-jin originaly read for the role of Kate. They decided she wasn't right for Kate but created the role of Sun for her. On Buffy Bianca Lawson read for Cordelia. Was the decision not to cast them down to race or something else?

[slanderous]

Yeah, I got that it was supposed to be a joke, but it didn't work for me. That they never cleared it up, or that Giles never got trumped for his ignorance within that "plot," meant that for me the joke failed, since "Chao Anh" was then just a device for the joke and never actually got to have a real name. (But of course, none the potentials really worked for me either, except for the one played by Millie from Freaks & Geeks, and that's because I loved Millie.)

I give Star Trek great credit in showing a multiracial cast, especialy considering the civil and political situation at the time, but would a similiar crew today have people accusing the producers of tokenisim?

And really, that's why the history of science fiction is so fascinating, because so much of it was an effort to imagine a different world. Tragically, I think producers are now so afraid of accusations of tokenism that they've swung back in the other direction, even when multiracial casts would still be more reflective of the world now or even in the future. Though doesn't the new Battlestar Gallactica have a multiracial cast?

[mostlyharmless]

I'll trade you Chao Anh for the "English" potential who had the worst "English" accent since Dick Vanxxxx in Mary Poppins. I cannot believe she was the bst they could get in all of Hollywood.

[slanderous]

Man, we just need to chuck 'em both! (And the Kendra's terrible accent too.)

[spiderwyman]

Israel's scheduled theatrical release for Serenity is cancelled by UIP <---link

(After the film tanked in US, Australia, France, Spain and the UK, this makes it eight countries in total in which Universal has pulled the plug: Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Singapore, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand and now Israel will all get the film in DVD eventually, but it will bypass theatres, as a way for Universal to cut its losses...)

[Witchie]

Info on the Serenity DVD[/color]

It comes out on December 20th. I've got mine pre-ordered. I want it to arrive in time for Xmas.

[spiderwyman]

Fast.
Good for Universal...they need to strike while the iron is cool-to-lukewarm...

[tamaradixon]

Yup. No flies on Universal. Releasing the film within 3 months of its theatrical release.

(pretty much the same as most films nowadays, ie Stealth, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Skeleton Key, ......but let's put a negative spin on it anyways....that's more fun. Right?)

ETA: I'm not crazy about the cover art on the DVD (they need a larger photo of Nathan Fillion! ), but the menus looks great. I'm looking forward to getting this for Xmas.

[Witchie]

The menus are great, TamaraDixon.Makes me want to run out and see the film again, but I'll be patient and wait. I don't know if they'll change the cover art. I wish Nathan's picture was larger because he's the true star of the film, but I'll take what I can get.