Taking the Sky - A New Appreciation of FIREFLY

I've written about Joss Whedon's Firefly before...in fact, I've received criticism for suggesting that it's a much better franchise than another, better known science fiction television franchise.

But I've been watching the original series on DVD (it was an Amazon Deal of the Day, and I needed something to meet its Free Super Saver Shipping....and yes, I was Christmas shopping for family online), and an interesting thought occurred to me. So please, dear reader, bear with me as I try to articulate my thinking.


Firefly's premise is that, as people went out into space, they were....well, they didn't exactly end up in the best of situations. Often, they were dropped onto worlds with minimal supplies and support, living under a regime that seemed regimented, authoritarian, and with a focus on law & order.

Our intrepid crew operates under the guise of "freedom" - not freedom in the traditional, my country-right-or-wrong sense, but in the sense of being independent, of working outside of other social contexts, of being willing to fight back...even if that "fighting back" isn't an organized rebellion, but a willingness to relate to human beings where they're at.

It's a kind of grassroots, person-centered approach that, right now, we're seeing in our country. At a time of great economic stress, where people are feeling (and in many situations, actually are) disenfranchised, many are standing up and relating to human beings as they are, and they're helping....

In short, Firefly came 10 years too early.

And if the above doesn't make sense, well....it made perfect sense in my head earlier this morning....