Brilliant speech, from a truly brilliant movie.
Transcription of the critical passage.
This report is maybe 12 years old. Parliament buried it, and it stayed buried ’til River dug it up.
This is what they feared she knew. And they were right to fear ’cause there’s a whole universe of folk who’re gonna know it, too. They’re gonna see it.
Somebody has to speak for these people.
Y’all got on this boat for different reasons, but y’all come to the same place. So now I’m askin’ more of you than I have before. Maybe all.
As sure as I know anything, I know this: They will try again. Maybe on another world. Maybe on this very ground swept clean. A year from now, 10, they’ll swing back to the belief that they can make people…better. And I do not hold to that.
So no more runnin’.
I aim to misbehave.
Scariest, most disturbing bit in bold (mine, natch), which sounds altogether too familiar nowadays. Then again, the entire thing does, when you think about it. It isn’t prophetic or foresighted so much as it is simply observational—a tidy, concise summation of the liberal mindset, that’s all. Even scarier yet? The Firefly/Serenity saga is set in the early 26th century. Guess with shitlibs, certain things really ARE eternal, and/or immutable.
Firefly; Serenity; CAPT Malcolm Reynolds; the rest of the intrepid Firefly crew; the marvelously quirky, ear-catching dialogue (always struck me as pretty dang cool, how the Mother Tongue changed and evolved betwixt now and 2516; my first round of watching the TV show on DVD, I found myself needing to pay closer-than-usual attention when the characters were speaking or it would get by me altogether); the freewheeling philosophy of uncompromising liberty, independence, and individual self-determination which underpins the whole kit and kaboodle—all born of the creative genius, febrile mind, and artistic vision of Joss Whedon. The show and the movie both are bona fide gems: a stunning achievement of writing, casting, acting, SFX, and staging that would do even the most high-minded, talented dramatist proud indeed.
So can someone explain to me, then, just how it is that Whedon is nevertheless such a dyed in the wool, conventional-thinking liberal, please? Because quite frankly, I’m having big, big trouble getting that math to add up. I gotta confess I’ve always stunk out loud at math, so could be it’s just me, I dunno.
In any event, I mean, seriously now, you guys: the passage in bold above, and the standard-issue, Mark 1-Mod 0 Left/liberal flapdoodle approvingly, even mawkishly, cited at the above-linked Mother Jones (*shudder*) article/interview/fellatio-rama—all coming out of the SAME FUCKING MOUTH? RILLY?!?
I just don’t get it. Not all that sure I want to, to be perfectly honest. Greatly to his credit and in marked contrast with the dismal example set by his peers, Whedon doesn’t for a single second allow his mundane, wet-brained political beliefs to impinge on the Firefly and Serenity viewing experience. One can kick back, relax, and immerse oneself completely in the thrills, chills, and pleasures of the Firefly universe without ever once having to dread that you’re gonna be preached to at some point.
This, even though the character of preacherman Shepherd Book provides Whedon with what might easily be considered a purpose-built opportunity to ascend the pulpit and start in sermonizing. But no, nothing of the sort. Book spends most of his onscreen time questioning himself and his own wobble-legged faith rather than hectoring others about their own, although he does offer spiritual and/or moral advice to anyone who ask for such—carefully, thoughtfully, without passing judgment or scorning the foibles of his shipmates. Humble, questing, open-hearted, warm, a people-person if ever there was one—I always felt that Shepherd Book was one of the most appealing, engaging, and intriguing characters in a cast absolutely chock-full of ‘em.
So hats off to Joss Whedon for leashing the near-universal liberal bent towards proselytizing, if nothing else. As a professed congregant of the Left/liberal/Progressivist flock with a worldwide audience that’s bigger than most, rejecting such a powerful temptation must have been almost physically painful.
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The series cancelled far to easily and thoughtlessly by one idiot bitch at Fox, turned into a movie as an apology for the five seasons of television that would have put ST:TOS to shame, and the whole show rings true to the present day.
BTW, Shepherd Book was even more complex than you imagine, being himself a retired terminator for the Empire before he took up with Firefly.
Which made his silence and lack of sermonizing – except about the Special Hell reserved for people who take advantage of ingenues, and those who talk during the theater – all the more thunderous.
It’s annoying that Wheedon’s best work was squelched by the Fox network with the show in its infancy. Infanticide remains the most heinous of crimes, and the witch responsible is so reviled that every time she tries to remove “the person who killed Firefly” from her Wikipedia biography, someone puts it right back up online within days, and even hours.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gail_Berman#Career
Browncoats never give up, baby!
Oh, I was aware of Book’s history. In fact, I recall a cpl-three instances wherein his inner badass was on display, if only momentarily. A great, complex character, perfectly portrayed by a damned fine actor, in my…ummmm, book.
Yeah, I know, I know. Sorry. 😉
As for the Berman bint, we can but comfort ourselves with the thought of all those bucketloads of cash her gross stupidity cost Fox, which a successful Firefly multiyear run would’ve brought rolling in. Blooming idjits, every last one of ’em.
“During this time, Berman infamously canceled the cult classic TV series Firefly following decisions to place it in the “Friday night death slot” and air the episodes out of order.[7]”
Heh. I love it. Mucho gracias for the link there, Ase.
For bonus points, the characters in The Big Bang Theory, and by extension creator/show-runner Chuck Lorre, always rub her and Rupert Murdoch’s noses in their stupid decision.
Side bonus: Co-BBT show-runner “Savage” Steve Holland also helped give the world the entire run of Sponge Bob Squarepants, And directed John Cusack in Better Off Dead and One Crazy Summer. Cusack once screamed at Holland “You ruined my career!”, not realizing that, in fact, Holland made his career happen.
“Nobody in this town knows nothing” – William Goldman, Hall OF Fame Yoda-level screenwriter, and author of The Princess Bride
Well, hell, I don’t even have a clue what all this is… (must be musical…That’s a joke son).
But I do like this line: “I aim to misbehave.”
That might come close to summing up my groups entire youth from age 10 to about 30 🙂
You can’t stop the signal