The Firefly Verse and American History by Anna

GENERAL DISCUSSIONS

The Firefly Verse and American History

POSTED BY: ANNA
UPDATED: Monday, April 3, 2006 12:08
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Monday, April 3, 2006 10:24 AM

Hello! I joined a while ago but haven't been in these here parts for a while.

I was wondering if anyone could kindly tell me what parallels there are between the Verse and American history (ie, The Battle of Serenity Valley etc)? I'm thinking of doing a history project on it, if I'm lucky, and even if I'm not, just for general interest's sake

(Before anyone tells me I should have paid attention in class or that I'm stoopid, I should probably point out that I'm not American, I'm Irish, so that's why I don't know a lot {or, um, anything} about it).

Also, we watched Serenity for two classes in school today, and pretty much everyone hated it and secretly hated me for subjecting them to it.

I shall have to move schools, to somewhere where Serenity's brilliance is appreciated. It is the only logical solution.

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Monday, April 3, 2006 10:47 AM

DAYVE

hi Anna,

that's too bad about your class....i guess your mates were all in a very bad mood that day not to like the BDM..... maybe they'll think more about it and come around.... how can anyone NOT like the movie or series...?

as far as american history goes, i know that Joss had read some books on the Civil War before going to work on Firefly. Browncoats equal Rebels in a fight for independence (states rights)...? maybe....

having lived in the states my whole life and studied some of the facts about our founding, i would have to say that (and i'll get heat for this) our forefathers, the people who came here for freedom or whatever reason, have always been the aggressors.... first we ran off (killed) the native americans - then we liberated (stole) land from Mexico.... fought a war amoung ourselves over slavery - plantation owners rights against civil rights....on and on until we have what we have now, which is an immoral and illegal war in Iraq that our government has started for no good reason.

it seems (at least to me), that as a nation, we are doomed to repeat the mistakes of our past history....

don't know if any of that makes any sense, but...for what it's worth....

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Monday, April 3, 2006 11:04 AM

FOLLOWMAL

Hi, Anna.

Joss read "The Killer Angels", a book about the Battle of Gettysburg, a pivotal battle during our Civil War. Having read that book- ( you should too, it's very interesting and wonderful) I believe he based much of Mal's character on the Rebel soldiers who were so disillusioned after the war and also the lives that our BDH's live is patterned after the folks who attempted to rebuild things after our Civil War.

Mind, Mal is NOT a supporter of slavery, and many if not most Rebel soldiers were, so the depiction isn't exactly spot on, but that is the general idea he was trying to get.

Folks, on the raggedy edge, facing much danger, trying to recover from a war that devastated much of the country ( read: 'verse).

If you wish to study up before your history project.. I suggest "The Killer Angels" and "The Civil War" , the PBS documentary. Hope your library has them or that you can find them. Any writings by Bruce Catton are also good, he wrote a series of books re: The Civil War, but they are looooong. ( My father was a Civil War buff (someone very interested in the Civil War)
so I read all manner of history books on the subject.

I, like, Dayve think that much of what we do now as aggressors are further mistakes of our past... we just can't seem to learn. I hope one day we can.

Yea, and sorry everyone didn't like "Serenity", I can't fathom that myself.

Maybe it'll sneak up on them.. and they'll find themselves thinking about it when they least expect it.

" You hold. Hold til I get back." Mal

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Monday, April 3, 2006 12:08 PM

NUCLEARDAY

I'd second FollowMal's suggestion for some of Bruce Catton's books. (Same here, my father was sort of an armchair general and a bit of it tended to rub off on me :) Though they tend towards the longish side... Killer Angels is a much faster read, though ;p

American Civil War was by and large about slavery, but it's the whole State's rights conflict that I think carries over to the Firefly 'verse. (This is always a point of contention about the Civil War, too. And out here it sometimes depends on which side of the Mason-Dixon line you're from. But that's all for another thread, I'd imagine :)

One thing I always wondered is if there's any parallels between the burning of Mal's homeworld and General Sherman's burning of Atlanta on his march to Savannah?

Far as the battle of Serenity Valley goes, there's a number of battles that could fit that description to some extent. My guess is that if it's based on any in particular: Gettysburg would be the easy one. Off the top of my head, though, maybe Antietam would be closer to the mark? Not really a whole ton of info about the Battle of Serenity, though, so it's a tad difficult to draw a firm conclusion.

________________________________________________
You can take my hope when you pry it from my cold, dead fingers.

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