"Firefly" and an Emphasis on Character

I just finished watching Joss Whedon’s cult TV show Firefly for the first time.  I only really heard about the show in the relatively recent past, and after the insistent urging of many friends, I gave it a try.

After watching the pilot episode, I’d like to say I was hooked, but in fact I was only mildly intrigued, and for a few months forgot about watching any further. The same happened after I eventually got around to watching the second episode. I began to suspect that the beyond-considerable hype surrounding the “best sci-fi show ever” was undeserved for what appeared to be a mediocre attempt, a show that was good but not great.

But then I got to the third episode. And, quickly, the fourth, fifth, and so on, until I finished the rest of the series in under a week. At my peak, I watched five episodes in a day, without intending a marathon or anything. Having now finished the show, I can say that despite the slow start, the show soon begins to open and flower, finding a groove that continues for most of the show’s solitary season.

Looking at the show as a whole, it makes sense that the start was slow, since the characters are initially foreign to the viewer, and the show is entirely about character.  Let’s talk about basic literary theory for a minute. Way back in Classical Greece, Aristotle identified the two major components in Greek tragedy: Plot and Character.  For Aristotle, Plot was the most important literary element in tragedy, which makes sense. Look at a Greek tragedy like Oedipus Rex, the story of a guy who kills his dad, marries his mom, and then blinds himself. It doesn’t matter who this happens to, really; Character is nearly nonexistent here, and the focus is almost entirely on Plot. Oedipus doesn’t really have a distinct character outside of what happens to him, and maybe some general cultural qualities that are thrust upon him. Basically, the Plot plays with the Characters, using them to advance itself.

Firefly is pretty much the exact opposite. You could sum up the plot of any episode in a sentence or two, because not much happens.  

Pretty much sums it up

Without much Plot, Character is allowed to run free across the episode’s canvas, creating a show that comes about as close as is possible to maximizing Character and minimizing Plot while still being a Sci-Fi / Western adventure series.  The plot of each episode serves primarily to allow each character to react to the plot. Through these reactions, we develop an understanding of what drives each character, what moral and ethical codes they adhere to, and how they feel about the rest of the cast of characters.  A lesser show would ruin this system by being inconsistent, with characters that change whenever other elements of the show, like the plot, need them to play a certain role in order to move things along.  

Like this show

Luckily, Joss Whedon’s primary talent seems to be creating clearly defined characters that are consistent; for him, the Plot exists to tell us more about the Characters, not the other way around.  

Seeing Whedon’s penchant for Character in full force in Firefly, I think there’s an easy parallel to draw to his Avengers film (which is actually his only other work that I’ve seen).  The Avengers had plenty of problems; like Firefly, it lacks a much in the way of a compelling plot.

It literally resorts to Alien Invasion to provide the entire plot

But interestingly enough, Avengers is best when a cast of clearly defined characters all hang out on a ship and interact in ways that are consistent with their characters.  Stark and Banner become friends because they both like smart-people stuff.  Captain America investigates secret weapons because he’s an honest do-gooder from the 1940s, when secret weapons were a big no-no. And when tensions reach a boiling point, one of the naturally powerful superheroes has the bright idea to question whether Iron Man is Tony Stark or his suit, the first time this character-defining question is asked (until it becomes the centerpiece of Iron Man 3). Just like in Firefly, the ensemble cast of characters is always dictating what happens, being completely honest to the way they've been defined. So many great, fan pleasing moments come of this consistently personable expression of character (notice how all of these funny moments are character driven). Marvel has Whedon to thank for the fact that out of the Hero Film Renaissance (can we coin that term?), only a couple of films match The Avengers when it comes to character writing.

These certainly don't

One more thing I want to say about Firefly is that it totally feels like the type of show that could be a video game, a Sci-Fi RPG along the lines of Mass Effect.  The Mass Effect Trilogy, especially the second game, are extremely driven by character: in Mass Effect 2, the plot is basically "fight some dudes who threaten humanity". The plot wasn't really interesting at all.  Yet Mass Effect 2 is a really great game, because it followed the formula of a heist movie and had you collect a team of really interesting, personable characters, who you slowly learn about and eventually have to fight to save.  The game could still take tips from Firefly, though; very rarely do characters interact among themselves, as they often fall into the video game trap of only existing for the player character to talk to, completely lacking any other interpersonal relationship.  Conversely, in Firefly, every character interacts with one another all the time, making for a much more complex web of relationships that the video game RPG industry could probably learn from.

So, yeah, Firefly is really great. Its only problems would probably be an under emphasis on anything but character, and the occasional string of episodes where a certain character won't do anything of note, disturbing the show's character-symphony a bit. If you haven't watched it and it sounds interesting to you from what I've described, then maybe give it a shot (it's not even that long). If you need more prodding, I'll reiterate the genre: Sci-Fi Western. Pretty cool. Meanwhile, I'll be watching Serenity, the film that attempts to atone for the fact that the show was canceled before any plot lines were tied up. And then hopefully, if I have time, on to Battlestar Galactica, another legendary Sci-fi show.

Last Supper? BG seems like my kind of show