At long last Joss Whedon's "Serenity" -- the science-fiction-slash-western movie based on his canceled TV show "Firefly" -- is premiering nationwide this week.
It's about time. I'm exhausted.
You could say I'm a fan of this fictional, multicultural universe of shepherds, gunfights, spaceships and whores. I'm active in the online forums. There are "Serenity" stickers on my car, action figures on my desk, and "Serenity" wallpaper on my computer. I curse in Chinese. I've had the theme song stuck in my head for three years. And I can't seem to stop myself from turning every conversation, no matter what, into a "Firefly" roundtable and trivia contest in under ten words.
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DVD column extras! Maybe more than any column I've written, this one got rewritten a lot, mostly in a failed attempt to get it anywhere close to my usual length. Here's some of what got chopped out.
(After the "What makes a fan" graf) I’d say it’s when you start to identify with other fans. Other fans understand. Other fans Get It. Other fans will type back and forth with you for days over details that even the show’s creators never noticed. Like you, other fans have been so inspired by something that they’ve made it part of their own identity. And when they feel they've been wronged, they can move very, very quickly.
(Before the "and now our hard work" graf) We have done the impossible, and that makes us mighty, but we didn’t do it because we’re all part of some Whedonistic cult. We wouldn’t drink the Kool-Aid even if Joss told us to, although we would chat excitedly on the forums about how funny he was when he said it.
We did it because after years of wondering loudly why Hollywood keeps making crappy movies, we finally have one that makes us think and laugh and cry and we were determined not to blow this chance. If we failed, we doomed ourselves to an eternity of bland CGI fare and Rob Schneider.
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That is a another great column You should think about posting a review of the movie column or just review it here
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I was just about to ask if there were spoilers in the article. Now that I know there aren't... *goes off to read*
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Hey! I'm far enough along in the DVDs that I got something from the column! I know that scene where the Alliance wasn't going to help Shepherd book but then he took out his ident card . . .!!
OK, taking a chill pill. But I've converted my mom and brother, too. More converts to come, I'm sure!
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Well, I don't know about that [getting the forum back]. It'll probably take six more weeks of discussion for us all to analyze the movie *after* seeing it too...
And good column, Chris!
"...wake up, ma'am, this is a great scene."
Posts: 624 | Registered: Mar 2005
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My coach claims to be boycotting firefly cause its not buffy verse. Am begging him to watch just one episode, if I lend him DVDs. Eventually, he'll probably give in. 8 hour car rides are a looong time to hold out....
Posts: 3493 | Registered: Jul 2001
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Tell him Joss said in an interview that had the show lasted, they would have brought in Spike during their decadent 6th season. He suggested having Spike just sitting at a bar muttering, "Nothing ever changes, nothing ever changes..."
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Oddly enough Chris, I found your article through google earlier today while doing searches on the movie. Good stuff. =D
Posts: 722 | Registered: Jul 2004
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Universal has already said that a sequel will become likely when sales reach $80million. So if a sequel ain't forthcoming, it will all be because ChrisBridges failed to see it enough times. Wish I could find DVD sales figures for the series. If they're high enough, it could encourage direct-to-DVD and/or commercial video podcast of new episodes of shows with a strong fan base but have too small an audience share to survive television executives.
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According to a recent USA Today article, the DVD has sold over 500,000 copies. Which seems low to me, but then I have no idea what sales are like for DVDs.
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It's been in Amazon top ten best-selling DVDs recently (I don't know how long it's been there). That means it's right behind Star Wars and Batman and just ahead of Gilmore Girls, Desperate Housewives, and Robots.
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Weirdly enough, last night, after reading this thread, I left the library to catch the bus home... and leaning up against a telephone pole while I waited, I leant up against a flyer for Firefly!
It was a fan-type poster -- semi-amateur drawing of Mal with a gun and the headline "Outlaw Sci-Fi" and also "DVDs" and "movie opens 9/30" on the side.
So, Chris's gang has made it all the way up to Virginia...
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She's done lots of cool designs for Firefly and Serenity, and was hired to do some of the art for the RPG. Which I must buy, even if I don't play pen-and-paper RPGs.
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You should think about posting a review of the movie column or just review it here
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"...wake up, ma'am, this is a great scene."
