# We're finally watching Firefly! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 3, 2015, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-finally-watching-firefly/724145 "2015-07-03T17:16:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2015, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-finally-watching-firefly/724145/41 "2015-07-08T08:57:41Z")
Predicting far-future fashion trends is a complete crap-shoot anyway, so why not have them wear something cool? There’s just as much a chance they’ll wear cowboy gear as they will anything else. ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2015, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-finally-watching-firefly/724145/42 "2015-07-08T09:43:26Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > There’s just as much a chance they’ll wear cowboy gear as they will anything else. [A: There are no cows in space. B: Didn’t you wear that 5 years ago?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0g42UxfB6MI) (YouTube Link) ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2015, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-finally-watching-firefly/724145/43 "2015-07-08T15:34:28Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > I hadn’t heard of Firefly until I went to visit Doc. Surprised by my ignorance and delighted by the opportunity to share one of his favorite shows, out came the box and on the TV. By the second or third episode I said “ok, you said it was science fiction, but it isn’t really; it’s a western with spaceships. The Reavers are the indians” and proceeded to make some predictions for things that actually did happen at the end of the series. Not surprising that when you consider that the work that started the wheels spinning in Whedon’s head that led to the series was _Killer Angels_, a novel about the Battle of Gettysburg and afterward.\* If you squint at the Browncoats you can see Cofederates without all the slavery baggage. \*The other movie spawned by the book was (wait for it) _Gettysburg_; the Irish Sergeant/advisor of Col. Chamberlain was an invention of the novel. ---
**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:** [July 8, 2015, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-finally-watching-firefly/724145/44 "2015-07-08T15:51:28Z")
I read that the film Stagecoach was also an influence. ---
**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:** [July 8, 2015, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-finally-watching-firefly/724145/45 "2015-07-08T16:50:09Z")
> [@Shawn1767](#): > > Fine, I can accept the lower level of technology. But the FASHIONS? Seriously, why do people have to wear things that were fashionable during the old west? Do you think they should dress like 21st century urbanites? If so, why, given that they’re not living in the 21st century nor in a city. An argument might be made that Kaylee should dress like a 21st century naturist but I am too mature to make it. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2015, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-finally-watching-firefly/724145/46 "2015-07-08T17:18:32Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > An argument might be made that Kaylee should dress like a 21st century naturist but I am too mature to make it. Much as I appreciate the image, that seems hazardous around heavy machinery. ---
**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:** [July 8, 2015, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-finally-watching-firefly/724145/47 "2015-07-08T17:20:41Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Much as I appreciate the image, that seems hazardous around heavy machinery. Jumpsuit in the engine room. Besides, Kaylee’s engines love her too much to harm her. It’s not like she’s Geordie LaForge. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2015, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-finally-watching-firefly/724145/48 "2015-07-08T17:52:26Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Do you think they should dress like 21st century urbanites? If so, why, given that they’re not living in the 21st century nor in a city. > > An argument might be made that Kaylee should dress like a 21st century naturist but I am too mature to make it. Daisy Dukes and a sweaty wet tube top would-be my choice. ---
**Author:** ![johnspartan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a183cd/32.png) [@johnspartan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnspartan)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2015, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-finally-watching-firefly/724145/49 "2015-07-08T18:13:47Z")
With a bit of a hat tip to the old [“Plot Holes in Reality”](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=715988) thread, couldn’t you look at modern times and say _C’mon… are people really going to dress in 6th century Arabic fashions or like 1700s protestant farmers in 2015 when there’s cheap, convenient and ready access to the clothing everyone else is wearing?_ Well actually… ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2015, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-finally-watching-firefly/724145/50 "2015-07-08T21:35:33Z")
Why would Kaylee dress like a 21st-century naturist? Couldn’t she just dress like a naturist from her own time? Oh, and with a smear of grease on her face, too. ---
**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:** [July 8, 2015, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-finally-watching-firefly/724145/51 "2015-07-08T21:59:23Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Why would Kaylee dress like a 21st-century naturist? Couldn’t she just dress like a naturist from her own time? > > Oh, and with a smear of grease on her face, too. Don’t make me do the thing with the gizmo.l ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2015, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-finally-watching-firefly/724145/52 "2015-07-08T22:01:10Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Don’t make me do the thing with the gizmo.l Shiny! ---
**Author:** ![BobArrgh](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobarrgh/32/2881_2.png) [@BobArrgh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobArrgh)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2015, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-finally-watching-firefly/724145/53 "2015-07-08T23:32:55Z")
Regarding the arguments about “old tech” _vs._ “new tech”, there is a TED Talk that discusses the problems with incubators in Africa. Well-meaning groups in the “First World” raise $40,000 for an incubator for clinics in Africa. The devices work great for about 3 months and then die and nobody knows how to fix them. However, some engineers got together and asked, “What is the one technology that even the smallest African village has access to?” They came up with, “Cars”. From this, they have built incubators using automotive technology, capitalizing on both the mechanical knowledge needed as well as cheap, common parts. The terraformed planets on _Firefly_ exhibit the same type of “make do with what we got” attitude. ---
**Author:** ![Satchmo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/satchmo/32/4223_2.png) [@Satchmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satchmo)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2015, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-finally-watching-firefly/724145/54 "2015-07-09T00:12:25Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Why would Kaylee dress like a 21st-century naturist? Couldn’t she just dress like a naturist from her own time? > > Oh, and with a smear of grease on her face, too. I’ll be in my bunk… ---
**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:** [July 9, 2015, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-finally-watching-firefly/724145/55 "2015-07-09T00:17:58Z")
What does the government get from these colonized worlds? They ain’t mining rare materials or making money. Perhaps that is why things are so bad, colonization failed to produce a return, so screw 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:** [July 9, 2015, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-finally-watching-firefly/724145/56 "2015-07-09T00:58:11Z")
The Alliance gets to control and exploit them. Never underestimate the need of some groups to control others. ---
**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:** [July 9, 2015, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-finally-watching-firefly/724145/57 "2015-07-09T01:06:49Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > What does the government get from these colonized worlds? They ain’t mining rare materials or making money. What makes you say that? We see a lot of industry in the series. The very first episode ever aired was set mostly in a mining town where everyone was dying from a degenerative disease caused by dust kicked up by the mines. The “mudders” in “The Man they Call Jayne” were gathering material (mud) that was used in the core world for industrial ceramics, and were ruled over by someone who seemed to have gotten pretty wealthy off their labor. And there’s well-to-do cattle ranchers in “Shindig.” That’s three episodes of of… was it thirteen? that explicitly deal with the industry of the frontier worlds. ---
**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:** [July 9, 2015, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-finally-watching-firefly/724145/58 "2015-07-09T01:23:36Z")
Thanks, Miller. They don’t seem to be great income producers for the homeworld. Perhaps that is why they don’t have stuff sent to them. I will find my DVDs and watch it again. ---
**Author:** ![Apocalypso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Apocalypso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apocalypso)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2015, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-finally-watching-firefly/724145/59 "2015-07-09T02:06:08Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > Just don’t start wondering where all the Chinese people are. 😉 Erm… You know that’s like telling someone “don’t think about pink elephants”, don’t you? Ok, we have finished the series. We both liked it a lot. The characters were interesting, the stories compelling, and we’re just sad that it didn’t go beyond season 1. I don’t seem to be able to find Serenity on Netflix. Search isn’t finding anything. “More like this” isn’t coming up with anything. A friend says it should be there. Did they pull it for some reason? ---
**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:** [July 9, 2015, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-finally-watching-firefly/724145/60 "2015-07-09T02:42:39Z")
Some asshole, facing the cancellation of his or her favorite TV show, some asshole posted about one of the main characters being a prostitute. Apparently he or she thought that Firefly might be sacrificed rather than his\her beloved program. That may have something to do with it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-finally-watching-firefly/724145.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-finally-watching-firefly/724145.md?page=4)