What are you...

[justTripn]

I liked Inara!

And the Berlin Wall . . . I always thought it odd that there was only ONE popular song written about that over here. And now I can't even remember the title or artist: just the line: "I was alive when the world changed in a day . . . " Something like that. It was stunning to sit and watch it all unfold: the fall of the Soviet Union. It happened the year my oldest son was born.

As for what are you . . . I'm kind of on a Michael Jackson ah . . . obsession? But "This is It" was just very touching. I bought the accompanying album and I realize I have an excuse to post something from it: It's a poem about the planet "Earth." Spoken word, by Michael Jackson. I think it's quite striking:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VWXsFM1nIo

[WarpGirl]

I don't get it, what honest good man would be comfortable knowing that the woman he loves loves him sure but is still going to sell herself to other men. Like I said if Mal didn't care, neither would I. But he obviously does care, so I can't see them being good for each other. I never said Inara was evil anyway, just that I could see her being evil.

[justTripn]

I have a friend who is "polyamorous." Like a Denobulan. The polyamoros arrangement this person is a part of is a very stable thing that has lasted, I forget if it was, 10 or 15 years. Like with Pholox, it is a perfectly legitimate premise in sci fi to say maybe one can "share" a partner with others. And some people in the real world apparently make it work. I am WAY too conservative to believe this in my gut, but in a theoretical sense, yes it is possible.

[WarpGirl]

Hey I think Inara can live like that, I don't think Mal can. So she hurts him, and that's not love. Oh well who really cares, I just got into it recently.

[Alelou]

Well, it's not like Mal ever comes out and says, "I love you, Inara, and I want us to be together, but for that to work you have to quit your job." IMO he's as dodgy as our boy Trip at his most self-protective.

Plus they only had one season of UST before the show was killed.

[WarpGirl]

Maybe but correct me if I'm wrong, I've only seen five episodes and the movie... Isn't she trained since childhood to know every man's need and desire. From what I saw that's what a companion is. Kind of like a socialator on the old BSG. So if that were the case she would already know what Mal needs from her. But if she just torments him and then leaves then how is she any better?

[Alelou]

I don't think it's clear to her that Mal's needs and desires in relation to her are any different than any other man's, and he also clearly doesn't entirely approve of her .... I imagine you'll get to see both sides of this if you keep watching. I really enjoyed that particular relationship, myself.

However, I've only really watched the series once, off the DVD set that the library has, so I guess I managed to get through it without developing a crippling addiction. My son asked me to take it out for him but then never even watched it. Maybe during the Christmas break we can work through it together.

I like watching the same actor do his thing on Castle these days, but I wouldn't watch any of those episodes twice either. (That show, by the way, seems to be produced by Rob Bowman and Renee Echeverria -- aren't they TNG alumni?)

[WarpGirl]

Well in the movie they were very platonic... I just don't see it working out.

[Distracted]

The whole idea of the Companions is a fascinating concept. If you buy into the geisha aspects of it and see her as a trained professional designed to be the perfect companion to anyone (and I hate to break it to ya Warpgirl, but it's not just men she's trained to please) then you'll see that she's been trained since childhood to do something that's virtually impossible for most human beings to do: to completely separate her personal relationships from her professional ones. For her, being a hired Companion has absolutely nothing to do with love. She behaves as if she has affection for whoever hires her because it's part of the JOB. So it's entirely possible that she could love Mal and still want to continue to function in the career for which she's trained since childhood, since she honestly has no lasting emotional commitment to her clients. She may be fond of them, but that's as far as it goes.

It's not like Mal is going to be a stable source of income for them doing what he does, and she's got to pay the bills. Of course she wants to keep working. Who wouldn't? She's a highly paid and respected professional. I don't think Mal expects her to give this up to be the unpaid girlfriend of a smuggler. I think that the reason he doesn't declare his love is that he knows he has nothing to offer her and he thinks she's better off without him.

I LOVE this relationship. The UST is wonderful. Will she give up her chosen career for him? Will he compromise his principles and start a relationship with her without insisting that she stop working? Will they come to some sort of compromise, like her only taking contracts that don't include sex? Will he trust her to keep such a promise? Can she make a living that way?

Shoot. Now you've got me wanting to write Inara/Mal fanfiction. I don't have TIME for that.

Incidentally, I have a serious girl crush on Inara. Morality aside, she's just so elegant and poised and flat-out gorgeous. I want to be like that. Without the sex, of course. My husband would have issues with that.

[WarpGirl]

To each his own me she's just sort of there. I don't have any desire to see her dead, just not with Mal. It's just not self-sacrificing enough for me either of them.

[Kevin Thomas Riley]

goo goo...ga..ga.....ddhhh....what? Oh. Don't mention Yvonne Strahovski unless you want me to become an incoherent blob of muttering and stuttering and stammering. 6' blonde with a gorgeous accent?

What he said!

Mmmmm, Yvonne Strahotski....

[Elessar]

Incidentally, I have a serious girl crush on Inara. Morality aside, she's just so elegant and poised and flat-out gorgeous. I want to be like that. Without the sex, of course. My husband would have issues with that.

Are you sure? JK, D.


I think your analysis of their relationship is spot on.... and the Companion idea is basically like applying all of the things associated with finishing school and lady-training and charm school and all that crap to the concept of prostitution... I mean it's basically like prostitution only the complete package... emotional and physical gratification, at least for the customer, and for a short time.

[JadziaKathryn]

I liked Inara, and I too developed a sort of girl crush on her. I don't share well, so I certainly wouldn't want to be in Mal's shoes.

Incidentally, any Firefly fans must go to Hulu and watch the first couple minutes of Castle's Halloween episode.

Listening to: Jordin Sparks, "Battlefield," which is such a great TnT song!

[Alelou]

Incidentally, any Firefly fans must go to Hulu and watch the first couple minutes of Castle's Halloween episode.

YES, that was cute! It's also probably at the ABC Castle site nice and big.

And I haven't had time to watch it yet this week. Hmmm. Maybe tonight...

[JadziaKathryn]

Isn't internet TV awesome? You can watch it whenever you have time. Tuesday nights I'm usually busy prepping for Wednesday's seminar. But no worries, I can watch NCIS Wednesday evening when I'm a free bird. (Though I am irked that Tony's maturity level seems to have regressed.)