# A stupid thing that annoyed me about "Firefly" / "Serenity" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 1, 2008, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-that-annoyed-me-about-firefly-serenity/466026 "2008-10-01T17:37:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Euthanasiast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Euthanasiast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euthanasiast)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2008, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-that-annoyed-me-about-firefly-serenity/466026/21 "2008-10-01T23:11:42Z")
Weren’t the twins that the Serinity crew were dealing with in the bar (where River left everyone’s shit in ruins) Asian? I’m referring to the two that were shocked that Mal could tell apart. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2008, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-that-annoyed-me-about-firefly-serenity/466026/22 "2008-10-01T23:13:36Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > While this is a sad joke, it’s probably the real answer behind the OP’s question. We never saw very many Asians because Whedon and company never had any time to really delve into that part of the universe. > > But as such, it was already mentioned that Simon and River likely came from a very rich family that had interbred with Anglo and Chinese members for who knows how long. > > Also, there were Asian characters doing an Irish jig in the episode “Safe.” Maybe, maybe not. Sunnydale was pretty whitewashed despite being a West Coast city large enough to support a UC campus. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2008, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-that-annoyed-me-about-firefly-serenity/466026/23 "2008-10-01T23:37:03Z")
> [@The New and Improved Superman](#): > > (Actually, a shrewd bit of foresight, since the series & movie both came out BEFORE China’s sudden rise in ecomomic power.) That’s pretty clearly not true. “Firefly” premiered in 2002. Observing that China was a major economic power in 2002 would have been about as shrewd a bit of foresight as observing that the Ravens won the Super Bowl in 2001. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2008, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-that-annoyed-me-about-firefly-serenity/466026/24 "2008-10-01T23:45:06Z")
> [@Aesiron](#): > > Maybe, maybe not. Sunnydale was pretty whitewashed despite being a West Coast city large enough to support a UC campus. Maybe all the vampires liked to eat Chinese? ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2008, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-that-annoyed-me-about-firefly-serenity/466026/25 "2008-10-01T23:59:13Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Maybe all the vampires liked to eat Chinese? And then got hungry again two hours later. It’s a vicious cycle. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2008, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-that-annoyed-me-about-firefly-serenity/466026/26 "2008-10-01T23:59:37Z")
> [@Aesiron](#): > > Maybe, maybe not. Sunnydale was pretty whitewashed despite being a West Coast city large enough to support a UC campus. [Eddie Murphy explains that one.](http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=zpPdgrr5diM&feature=related) ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2008, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-that-annoyed-me-about-firefly-serenity/466026/27 "2008-10-01T23:59:58Z")
Every single Asian person told Mal they’d hunt him down. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-that-annoyed-me-about-firefly-serenity/466026/28 "2008-10-02T00:22:22Z")
Um, why is it the assumption that the only way Chinese culture can be spread is via genetic Chinese? American culture has spread pretty well via media, etc. I don’t think it’s a stretch at all to imagine a future world where all the infrastructure is controlled by China, but that doesn’t necessarily suggest that every other person will be Chinese. To suggest that Chinese culture can only be spread by genetic Chinese is, well, kinda racist. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Bobotheoptimist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/919ad9/32.png) [@Bobotheoptimist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bobotheoptimist)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-that-annoyed-me-about-firefly-serenity/466026/29 "2008-10-02T02:32:32Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Every single Asian person told Mal they’d hunt him down. Lucky for Mal, Asians in a committed relationship aren’t hunting him. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-that-annoyed-me-about-firefly-serenity/466026/30 "2008-10-02T02:42:09Z")
> [@Euthanasiast](#): > > Weren’t the twins that the Serinity crew were dealing with in the bar (where River left everyone’s shit in ruins) Asian? I’m referring to the two that were shocked that Mal could tell apart. [Yan](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0271134/) and [Rafael Feldman](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0271096/) (playing Fanty and Mingo. Or rather, Mingo and Fanty). Not Chinese. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-that-annoyed-me-about-firefly-serenity/466026/31 "2008-10-02T02:43:15Z")
Conspiracy Theory: White people killed them and stole their culture. Another theory: Asians drive so slow that the ships carrying them are still on the way. A third theory: The Earth wasn’t all used up, it’s just the story this particular group’s ancestors told them to get them to leave, ala the B-Ark. Most of the actual Chinese are still on Earth, harvesting the vast wealth of the Solar System. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-that-annoyed-me-about-firefly-serenity/466026/32 "2008-10-02T04:17:22Z")
They were happily married so Joss killed half of them off. ---
**Author:** ![MacTech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MacTech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacTech)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-that-annoyed-me-about-firefly-serenity/466026/33 "2008-10-02T04:47:04Z")
Doctor Horrible finally got a semi-working version of his Orbital Freeze Ray, however it only affected the Asian subcontinent on Earth-that-Was Captain Hammer (who is an ancestor of Mal) was able to disable the OFR with his HammerShuttle, before a life support malfunction put him into a cryogenic state and catapulted his ship out into the inky depths of space ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-that-annoyed-me-about-firefly-serenity/466026/34 "2008-10-02T12:37:04Z")
> [@MEBuckner](#): > > [Yan](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0271134/) and [Rafael Feldman](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0271096/) (playing Fanty and Mingo. Or rather, Mingo and Fanty). Not Chinese. Mal could tell them apart because “Fanty’s prettier”. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-that-annoyed-me-about-firefly-serenity/466026/35 "2008-10-02T13:51:04Z")
Didn’t River hallucinate her Asian teacher in **Serenity?** ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-that-annoyed-me-about-firefly-serenity/466026/36 "2008-10-02T14:07:26Z")
> [@Krokodil](#): > > Didn’t River hallucinate her Asian teacher in **Serenity?** [Tamara Taylor](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamara_Taylor) (now of Bones) played her teacher. According to Wiki, her father is black while her mother is white. Although it could be argued that River, Fanty, Mingo and River’s teacher are proof of a more interbred future as all of them look like they could have Asian relatives. ---
**Author:** ![Sundrop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/da6949/32.png) [@Sundrop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sundrop)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-that-annoyed-me-about-firefly-serenity/466026/37 "2008-10-02T16:30:18Z")
> [@ShibbOleth](#): > > I think this is certainly, to some degree, possible (although it doesn’t totally account for the series omission). You could argue that River, Kaylee and Inara all have some facial features that might be construed as “Asian” (even though AFAIK none of these actresses has any direct Asian antecedents). My kids are first generation mixed, and it’s likely that their children or grandchildren may not be perceptibly “Asian” depending on whom they mate with. Whedon’s timeline puts them many generations into the future. > > That said, you’d expect to see fewer “European” looking folks and more that are a mix like Brazilians or Peruvians. My wife is of mixed Chinese and Scottish descent. I had been dating her well over a year before my family had any clue she wasn’t just garden variety Euromutt. A friend who is of Chinese descent commented that because she can pass as white, she’s really something of a stealth Asian. My latest pet name for her is ‘ninja’, because, you know, she’s a /stealth/ Asian. 🙂 So, yeah, it is entirely possible that a future would result in people like the Tams having Chinese ancestry mixed with a little Euro, and looking largely Euro to American viewers. ---
**Author:** ![MacTech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MacTech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacTech)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-that-annoyed-me-about-firefly-serenity/466026/38 "2008-10-02T16:52:05Z")
One thing that annoyed me in the episode “War Stories” was Wash’s poor firearm handling skills… When onboard Serenity, preparing for the rescue of Mal, he picks up a compact 1911, and racks the slide close to his face, and _with his finger inside the trigger guard, touching the trigger_ I guess since Wash never really had to deal with gunplay on a regular basis, he wasn’t versed in the four safety rules of firearm handling, and his inexperience should be expected, but you’d think that Zoe or Jayne would make some form of remark for him to keep his booger hook off the bang switch… ---
**Author:** ![MacTech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MacTech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacTech)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-that-annoyed-me-about-firefly-serenity/466026/39 "2008-10-02T17:01:51Z")
I forgot, moments earlier in that scene, Wash has just inserted a magazine, racked the slide, and chambered a round on a full-size 1911, Jayne walks up to the door of the kitchen area, behind Wash, and speaks to him, Wash then turns around to talk to Jayne, and in the process, he sweeps the muzzle of the 1911 in Jayne’s general direction, with his finger inside the trigger guard… when I saw that scene I winced, horrible firearms handling by Wash, he should stick to flying the ship and playing with his plastic dinosaur toys… ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-that-annoyed-me-about-firefly-serenity/466026/40 "2008-10-02T17:24:50Z")
> [@ShibbOleth](#): > > I think this is certainly, to some degree, possible (although it doesn’t totally account for the series omission). You could argue that River, Kaylee and Inara all have some facial features that might be construed as “Asian” (even though AFAIK none of these actresses has any direct Asian antecedents). My kids are first generation mixed, and it’s likely that their children or grandchildren may not be perceptibly “Asian” depending on whom they mate with. Whedon’s timeline puts them many generations into the future. Just chiming in - my friend’s son is a quarter Japanese, and if anything he looks less Asian than my kids (who are Irish/Scottish/Italian). Of course, the fact that there are distinctly black and white characters detracts a bit from the “everyone fucked until they’re the same color” theory. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-that-annoyed-me-about-firefly-serenity/466026.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-that-annoyed-me-about-firefly-serenity/466026.md?page=3)