# 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:** 14\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2008, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-that-annoyed-me-about-firefly-serenity/466026/61 "2008-10-03T13:55:48Z")
> [@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. Seriously! Guys, [this is what you get](http://www.lisasee.com/Bio.htm) when you’re just three generations away from China. And if they can cast Chinese women in _Memoirs of a Geisha_, I don’t see why Tamara Taylor or the Feldmans can’t be cast as “of Chinese descent” in a futuristic movie. They do \*look \*Asian inspired (like the frozen vegetable mixes at Target!), no matter where the actors’ DNA came from most recently. You know, Yul Brynner wasn’t from Siam, either. ---
**Author:** ![Bumbershoot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bumbershoot/32/3428_2.png) [@Bumbershoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bumbershoot)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2008, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-that-annoyed-me-about-firefly-serenity/466026/62 "2008-10-03T14:15:12Z")
Kaylee-Inara-River-Zoe. It has a nice ring to it. “Hi, I’m Kaylee-Inara River-Zoe, the warrior-whore who can get your engine running and kill you with my brain!” ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2008, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-that-annoyed-me-about-firefly-serenity/466026/63 "2008-10-03T15:17:35Z")
> [@Petrobey\_Mavromihalis](#): > > Yes they did. But if I recall the commentaries correctly the actors were all pretty rubbish at it, and she all but gave up on them (all in a very light-hearted way). How much do you expect the actors to learn in a half-hour a week, which is probably all the time they had available for coaching, along with learning all their other lines, blocking, costume changes, learning fight choreography… the actors all said they spent as much time as they could manage listening to the tapes. ---
**Author:** ![Petrobey\_Mavromihalis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bcef8e/32.png) [@Petrobey\_Mavromihalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Petrobey_Mavromihalis)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2008, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-that-annoyed-me-about-firefly-serenity/466026/64 "2008-10-03T15:25:17Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > How much do you expect the actors to learn in a half-hour a week, which is probably all the time they had available for coaching, along with learning all their other lines, blocking, costume changes, learning fight choreography… the actors all said they spent as much time as they could manage listening to the tapes. Agreed, I wasn’t making a judgement. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2008, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-that-annoyed-me-about-firefly-serenity/466026/65 "2008-10-03T16:00:51Z")
> [@Bridget\_Burke](#): > > I can’t \*believe \*you left out the scene with YoSafBrig! That was in the deleted scenes and only available on the DVD, which I did not buy because my entertainment budget had been eaten up by buying the Angel season 6 box set (you know, when Alyson Hannigan had the 12-episode guest shot as Willow, working to resurrect Wes, and in the meantime Angel & Spike had no less than four tasteful shower scenes together). ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2008, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-that-annoyed-me-about-firefly-serenity/466026/66 "2008-10-03T16:23:07Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > …and in the meantime Angel & Spike had no less than four tasteful shower scenes together). [leering] I’d like to taste their shower scenes together! Wait…what? ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2008, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-that-annoyed-me-about-firefly-serenity/466026/67 "2008-10-03T16:53:40Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > [leering] I’d like to taste their shower scenes together! > Wait…what? No what. That post was my gift to you, darling. ---
**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 3, 2008, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-that-annoyed-me-about-firefly-serenity/466026/68 "2008-10-03T16:56:08Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > The country is going to collapse under the weight of its ridiculously unsustainable industry and pollute itself to death, quite likely within our lifetimes. That country is going to be a third world backwater in the future if it keeps doing what it’s doing now. You’re right. There is no way the US is going to be a dominant power in the future. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2008, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-that-annoyed-me-about-firefly-serenity/466026/69 "2008-10-03T16:58:39Z")
There’s a _slight_ difference between China and the United States… ---
**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 3, 2008, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-that-annoyed-me-about-firefly-serenity/466026/70 "2008-10-03T17:09:55Z")
They’re the ones with all the money? ---
**Author:** ![BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2008, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-that-annoyed-me-about-firefly-serenity/466026/71 "2008-10-03T19:50:10Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > How much do you expect the actors to learn in a half-hour a week, which is probably all the time they had available for coaching, along with learning all their other lines, blocking, costume changes, learning fight choreography… the actors all said they spent as much time as they could manage listening to the tapes. I dunno, they say a dozen syllables at most at a time. There are only 4 tones (as long as it’s Mandarin). I’m not saying it’s easy, but I don’t even speak Chinese and it sounds like crap to my ears. Maybe Whedon should have written shorter swears in if the actors couldn’t handle them. ---
**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 3, 2008, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-that-annoyed-me-about-firefly-serenity/466026/72 "2008-10-03T19:54:25Z")
I would suspect that the tonal qualities of Chinese would die out after centuries of being spoken by round-eyes. Have you ever heard Spanish cursing done by an Anglo? It just doesn’t have the music. I suspect the same is going to be true in the future, and even more so when incorporating tonal languages. ---
**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 3, 2008, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-that-annoyed-me-about-firefly-serenity/466026/73 "2008-10-03T20:06:28Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > There’s a _slight_ difference between China and the United States… Seven hundred million people? ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2008, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-that-annoyed-me-about-firefly-serenity/466026/74 "2008-10-03T20:52:42Z")
> [@MacTech](#): > > I’ll be in 'mah bunk… Well, keep your booger hook off…No, no I’m not going there. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-stupid-thing-that-annoyed-me-about-firefly-serenity/466026.md?page=3)