I retrieved this 2002 14-episode series from Netflix, and I’ve watched almost every episode. It is an excellent sample of Western-scifi, which is not an easy genre to pull off. The noble Hollywood failure, Cowboys and Aliens, is a good example of how problematic it can be to mix outer space with the good old-fashioned Wild West.
Why the series got canceled after one season is stillI retrieved this 2002 14-episode series from Netflix, and I’ve watched almost every episode. It is an excellent sample of Western-scifi, which is not an easy genre to pull off. The noble Hollywood failure, Cowboys and Aliens, is a good example of how problematic it can be to mix outer space with the good old-fashioned Wild West.
Why the series got canceled after one season is still speculative. The former president of Fox said the numbers simply weren’t there; others say the series was aired out of sequence and doomed to a bad Friday night slot. The cast should have been a winning combination—an eclectic group of unique characters, each one with their own history, quirks, and emotional problems. Nathan Fillion was positively charismatic in his role as Captain Malcolm (“Mal”) Reynolds, and even looked like he was set to inherit the mantle that had been left behind by the young Harrison Ford. Unfortunately, that never happened. All of the cast are still active and working today, mostly kept employed in other television series. Firefly became a major feature film that was well received in 2005—the title was changed to Serenity, which was the name of Captain Mal’s spaceship. Serenity was a “Firefly,” which was the name of the class of spaceship that Captain Mal was flying. The first time he saw the used Firefly, he fell in love with it and purchased it.
I have a different theory about why the series could not become a mainstream hit. There exists throughout the series a preoccupation with the theme of legalized prostitution; it is a major thread in every episode and comprises the entire plot line of Episode 12, entitled “Heart of Gold” (as in “a whore with a heart of gold”). The character of Inara, played to perfection by Morena Baccarin, embodies the role of what would seem to be a geisha or a courtesan. She is a licensed prostitute, called a “companion,” and she is a permanent part of the spaceship crew, although she has her own shuttle attached to the ship, which means she can leave at any time to visit rich clients on other planets. As a registered companion, she is extremely selective, charges high fees, and is considered to be therapeutic in her role.
A spiritual side of Inara’s profession is alluded to but not enough to lift her completely out of the stigma of being a prostitute. Captain Mal often refers to her as a “whore,” but she always rebukes him for using that word. The “whores” as seen in Episode 12, are freelancers who work out of brothels and are looked down upon because they are not properly trained and licensed. Inara dresses lavishly, her shuttle looks like an Asian boudoir, and she does what looks like a Japanese tea ceremony for her clients. There is a plot thread regarding her secret feelings for Captain Mal; she is in love with him, but he is off limits to her. How a legal prostitute can have her own personal love life is never clarified, so it is easier for her to be in love with a man who has only a peripheral interest in her and often plays mind games to keep her hanging on.
I personally believe that the overemphasis on legalized prostitution is what brought this series down. It could not have possibly become a new Star Trek under those circumstances. What kind of message would that send to children and adolescents? Legalized prostitution does not have to be consigned to the futuristic world of science fiction. Prostitution is legal in Italy, although brothels and pimps are not. Prostitutes in Italy are considered to be sex-care workers, and there are government guidelines and laws to protect them. Coincidentally, in the Italian vernacular, they are known as “Lucciole,” which translates into English as “fireflies.” Needless to say, the reality of legalized prostitution could not be nearly as glamorous or as beautiful as Inara (who in only one episode has to go in for a government-mandated medical examination). As with the glamorization of prostitution in the 1990 film, Pretty Woman, much damage can be done to impressionable young girls by idealizing this kind if life. The prostitution theme is infused into nearly every episode of the Firefly series, a peculiar and obsessive plot device that may have proved to be the series’ fatal flaw.… Expand
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