Re: Firefly

Alright, I’ve come back to a crapload of things on this blog, but I just wanted to clarify some points that I’ve seen people reblogging on my Firefly answer.

1) I realise that the Chinese was used to circumvent TV censors. As I literally ran out of my room to get to work and didn’t think of it until I was in my car, there was no way for me to change my answer in that respect.

2) To everyone who says that it’s in the future and thus the two cultures have mixed - let’s take a look at the populations now. The Unites States of America, as of 2012: 313,790,000. The People’s Republic of China, as of 2011: 1,347,350,000. China makes up nearly 20% of the world’s population at this moment, whilst America barely reaches 5. And this isn’t even counting the number of Indian people who are slightly above 17%. Firefly is set in 2517, nearly 500 years from now. Exponentially, the populations would grow. Therefore, I would expect at least 2 of the 9 main cast members to be of some Asian descent. This isn’t a ‘well, it’s in the future…’ kind of thing, it’s merely math. Instead, they try to pull off the Tams as being Asian, when neither of the actors were. Also, originally, Kaylee was supposed to be an Asian character, but Jewel Staite was cast instead. This is not ok.

3) If you’re going to incorporate an Asian culture into your show and then not cast any Asian people or have any Asian-based input, then that’s cultural appropriation.

- Sway

91 Notes/ Hide

  1. isanah reblogged this from solaceames and added:
    I mean, they had someone who spoke Mandarin somewhere (otherwise the dialogue would have been even worse), but that...
  2. solaceames reblogged this from isanah and added:
    Ugh. Yeah, hardcore Whedonites can get really snippy about this issue. I’ve heard some pretty ludicrous excuses for the...
  3. carneasadafried reblogged this from rubato
  4. kev-gnapoor reblogged this from girljanitor
  5. nolivingunderstarlight reblogged this from caught-inside-pages and added:
    Marvelous defense of Firefly. Bravo.
  6. rimmerslustmonster reblogged this from warpfactornope and added:
    I mean this is a really good point is the thing.
  7. misandrypls reblogged this from leahsfiction
  8. leahsfiction reblogged this from warpfactornope
  9. warpfactornope reblogged this from joanwatsonss
  10. d2fang reblogged this from bankuei
  11. searchingforknowledge reblogged this from thefemaletyrant and added:
    I only saw Serenity, and I had serious inquiry as to how the hell these mofos were supposedly speaking Chinese with not...
  12. entegegenwartigung reblogged this from bankuei
  13. crossedwires reblogged this from thefemaletyrant and added:
    I loved Firefly when I first watched, and I might still love parts of it now, but, yeah, it’s swimming in cultural...
  14. isitis reblogged this from blaquerose
  15. thefemaletyrant reblogged this from bankuei and added:
    I’m so glad to see this conversation because I noticed the same thing with Firefly… and this is the first time I’ve seen...
  16. bankuei reblogged this from everythingrhymeswithalcohol and added:
    I watched it, and I’m angry I did. Not only were Chinese sidelined to background characters, they were in the most...
  17. everythingrhymeswithalcohol reblogged this from blaquerose and added:
    I think it’s important...so that you can see and know for yourself.
  18. blaquerose reblogged this from biyuti
  19. winged reblogged this from ohwhatatragiccost and added:
    I’m sure there are going to be some rebuttals here like “but what if Jewel Staite was legitimately a better actress than...
  20. superhusbandslove reblogged this from stfu-moffat
  21. stopcallingmebitch reblogged this from joanwatsonss
  22. caught-inside-pages reblogged this from wrenpuff
  23. lingeringdust reblogged this from theheroheart
  24. theheroheart reblogged this from stfu-moffat and added:
    they simply cast whoever they thought...best for the role -
  25. girljanitor reblogged this from biyuti and added:
    I acknowledge the problems with the show. Still watch it. I watch a lot of problematic shit, tho. Often it turns into a...
  26. wrenpuff reblogged this from wingsandtails and added:
    Okay, I can kinda sorta see where you’re coming from here, but there’s also a certain implication in the show that the...
  27. folkvangrr reblogged this from stfu-moffat