Thursday, January 20, 2011

Good Story 002: Serenity

Serenity Joss WhedonIn Episode 2, Julie and Scott talk about Serenity, a movie written and directed by Joss Whedon.

And here's the podcast!
Download or listen via this link: |Episode #002|

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Extra Stuff mentioned in the podcast:
Diana Wynne Jones - Fire and Hemlock, The Lives of Christopher Chant, Howl's Moving Castle, The Homeward Bounders
Paperback Swap

    4 comments:

    1. I've read the "Serenity: The Shepherd's Tale" graphic novel! The short answer is that Julie is half right. If you don't want any spoilers, stop reading now.

      Here's the deal: Derrial Book was an officer in the Alliance who orchestrated what was supposed to be a definitive offensive wiping out the browncoats. It was a complete failure because a mole tipped off the browncoats. Who was that mole? The Alliance doesn't find out because Book is dumped out an escape pod and his failure is hushed up. The mole in fact is Book, who joined the browncoats years before and became a mole to gain Alliance intel from the inside. The pod lands him in a metaphorical gutter where he eventually has an epiphany and goes to the monastery, where he becomes a shepherd.

      So Julie, you were right that he worked for the Alliance, but he wasn't an operative. Pretty darn close to being an operative, though. It seems like he was never pegged as the mole, so his bad reputation stayed intact. The book doesn't explain why the browncoats don't recognize him as theirs. Maybe the only people to know were high up enough that his true nature never became common knowledge.

      I haven't really done the novel justice in how well it is written (by Joss and Zack Whedon). The story is told in "Memento" flashback style and is riveting reading. I recommend it!

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    2. Wow, that is fascinating ... I'm going to have to look for that novel. I love it when Joss and Zack Whedon work together. Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along-Blog was so good. It will be interesting to see how a graphic novel is done by them.

      Thanks, Joseph!

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    3. When Mal says, "When the wind is northerly, I go north", from context it seems to mean he blows with the wind. But north winds blow FROM the north. Drifters would head south in such a wind. This an absurd city-boy thing to say and coming from a seasoned man of action it sounds ridiculous. But the irony is of course Mal DOES tend to go into the teeth of the wind, despite his claim. He seems to like fighting the headwind.

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    4. A terrific observation, Chris! Love it... and yes, when he is shaken, he fights the wind for certain.

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