Harry Potter anxiety // Firefly
Jul. 16th, 2005 06:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
thalia_seawoodOkay, so I got the sixth Harry Potter book. And I'm too scared to read it. I'm totally spoiler-free this time and it seems I can't take the suspense. I just don't want to be disappointed.
I don't want to see Cardboard!Draco for example, because, hey, I think he has potential. (I enjoy his snark and his drama queen moments. I even appreciate that he's not courageous.) Also don't want to see the "All Slytherin are evil!" routine once more.
Hmmm, maybe I wait one more day and then check out some spoilers first.
Totally different topic: My new favorite show, "Firefly".
I don't get how such a great show could be cancelled. I just don't get it.
Some thoughts on strong female characters in the show:
When I was a teenager, interesting female characters were extremely rare on TV. In fact, the only one I can think of is Princess Leia.
There was Ohura from "Raumschiff Enterprise", but she got rarely anything do.
Later on there came "Star Trek - Next Generation". But here the most interesting female character was Lwaxana and while she was fun to watch she wasn't exactly a role model. :-) In the later seasons of the show, Deanna Troi finally got a bit more to do than simply be sympathetic; she even got to wear a uniform!
"Star Trek - Deep Space Nine" nearly got it right. There were actually two female characters who had lots of potential: Kira and Jadzia. I really enjoyed Kira's story line a lot for several seasons, but when TPTB gave her a makeover and all of a sudden she was wearing high heeled boots, they somehow lost me. Jadzia could have been brilliant, but her character was sadly underused.
With Star Trek, I always had the impression that the writers weren't quite sure how to handle female characters...
When I started watching ALIAS and Firefly I realized that a lot has changed on TV over the years. It has become possible to have interesting female characters.
Sydney is strong and yet vulnerable, her mother is so complex it's hard to know if her emotions are real or an act or a bit of both.
And the women on Firefly are wonderful:
Zoe, the soldier, who doesn't talk much. She's tough on the one hand, yet happily cooks a soup for "her man". She and Wash are a great couple.
Inara, the geisha, who appears to be so soft-spoken. Behind the elegance there's a core of steel though. Noone will get her to do anything she doesn't want.
Kaylee, the engineer, who looks at life with a smile. She could easily come across as too sugary, but she's just so cool. For her even a dangerous adventure can be fun! She loves machinery, but enjoys dresses with ruffles just as much. :-)
And River, who's brilliant, yet broken. She can be deadly one moment and like a little child the next.
It's also interesting to see that in this show homosexuality exists, but is no big thing. When Inara has a female client, Kaylee and Jayne are surprised, but not shocked. In fact, Kaylee is delighted because Inara and her client are just so glamerous together and Jayne is simply turned on. ("I'll be in my bunk.") :-)))
Thoughts on ships:
I love the crew as whole, but also enjoy the shippy subtext between some couples tremendously.
Zoe and Wash are, of course, canon. IMO they have lots of chemistry with one another, but no sexual chemistry with anyone else. Zoe's "Captain, take me now." is just plain hilarious, because, no, her and the captain just do not have that sort of relationship, whatever Wash might have been thinking.
Apart from that I can see Mal/Inara. They are obviously interested in one another, but Mal isn't very good with understanding his own feelings. :-)
I could see Simon/Kaylee initially, but after having watched up to "Trash" I'm not so sure any longer. Kaylee seemed to be interested in the beginning, but Simon, well, not so much. As a matter of fact, I now find that Simon has way more subtext with Jayne than with Kaylee. Slashy or non-slashy, the relationship between Simon and Jayne is just fascinating to me. E.g. I love Simon's "I trust you" speech. I don't think anyone every told Jayne they trusted him. :-)
So my plans for this evening: Watch one or two more episodes of Firefly (I'm getting close to the end of the show anyway) and then take up Harry Potter. Time to find out who's the Halfblood Prince. (My guess on that: Pretty sure it's a Slytherin. Not Malfoy - he's alway been shown as a Pureblood. Maybe Theodore Nott or Blaise Zabini or Snape.)
I don't want to see Cardboard!Draco for example, because, hey, I think he has potential. (I enjoy his snark and his drama queen moments. I even appreciate that he's not courageous.) Also don't want to see the "All Slytherin are evil!" routine once more.
Hmmm, maybe I wait one more day and then check out some spoilers first.
Totally different topic: My new favorite show, "Firefly".
I don't get how such a great show could be cancelled. I just don't get it.
Some thoughts on strong female characters in the show:
When I was a teenager, interesting female characters were extremely rare on TV. In fact, the only one I can think of is Princess Leia.
There was Ohura from "Raumschiff Enterprise", but she got rarely anything do.
Later on there came "Star Trek - Next Generation". But here the most interesting female character was Lwaxana and while she was fun to watch she wasn't exactly a role model. :-) In the later seasons of the show, Deanna Troi finally got a bit more to do than simply be sympathetic; she even got to wear a uniform!
"Star Trek - Deep Space Nine" nearly got it right. There were actually two female characters who had lots of potential: Kira and Jadzia. I really enjoyed Kira's story line a lot for several seasons, but when TPTB gave her a makeover and all of a sudden she was wearing high heeled boots, they somehow lost me. Jadzia could have been brilliant, but her character was sadly underused.
With Star Trek, I always had the impression that the writers weren't quite sure how to handle female characters...
When I started watching ALIAS and Firefly I realized that a lot has changed on TV over the years. It has become possible to have interesting female characters.
Sydney is strong and yet vulnerable, her mother is so complex it's hard to know if her emotions are real or an act or a bit of both.
And the women on Firefly are wonderful:
Zoe, the soldier, who doesn't talk much. She's tough on the one hand, yet happily cooks a soup for "her man". She and Wash are a great couple.
Inara, the geisha, who appears to be so soft-spoken. Behind the elegance there's a core of steel though. Noone will get her to do anything she doesn't want.
Kaylee, the engineer, who looks at life with a smile. She could easily come across as too sugary, but she's just so cool. For her even a dangerous adventure can be fun! She loves machinery, but enjoys dresses with ruffles just as much. :-)
And River, who's brilliant, yet broken. She can be deadly one moment and like a little child the next.
It's also interesting to see that in this show homosexuality exists, but is no big thing. When Inara has a female client, Kaylee and Jayne are surprised, but not shocked. In fact, Kaylee is delighted because Inara and her client are just so glamerous together and Jayne is simply turned on. ("I'll be in my bunk.") :-)))
Thoughts on ships:
I love the crew as whole, but also enjoy the shippy subtext between some couples tremendously.
Zoe and Wash are, of course, canon. IMO they have lots of chemistry with one another, but no sexual chemistry with anyone else. Zoe's "Captain, take me now." is just plain hilarious, because, no, her and the captain just do not have that sort of relationship, whatever Wash might have been thinking.
Apart from that I can see Mal/Inara. They are obviously interested in one another, but Mal isn't very good with understanding his own feelings. :-)
I could see Simon/Kaylee initially, but after having watched up to "Trash" I'm not so sure any longer. Kaylee seemed to be interested in the beginning, but Simon, well, not so much. As a matter of fact, I now find that Simon has way more subtext with Jayne than with Kaylee. Slashy or non-slashy, the relationship between Simon and Jayne is just fascinating to me. E.g. I love Simon's "I trust you" speech. I don't think anyone every told Jayne they trusted him. :-)
So my plans for this evening: Watch one or two more episodes of Firefly (I'm getting close to the end of the show anyway) and then take up Harry Potter. Time to find out who's the Halfblood Prince. (My guess on that: Pretty sure it's a Slytherin. Not Malfoy - he's alway been shown as a Pureblood. Maybe Theodore Nott or Blaise Zabini or Snape.)
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Date: 2005-07-16 05:57 pm (UTC)Interesting women on modern tv: amen. Joss with Buffy did a lot, and before that, there was Xena and Scully on the X-Files. Now, on Battlestar Galactica, you have four different and fascinating female regulars and very interesting recurring guest stars to boot.
It's also interesting to see that in this show homosexuality exists, but is no big thing.
That's also the case on the other two Joss shows. Refreshingly so.
IMO they have lots of chemistry with one another, but no sexual chemistry with anyone else. Zoe's "Captain, take me now." is just plain hilarious, because, no, her and the captain just do not have that sort of relationship, whatever Wash might have been thinking.
Yes. The gag worked because there is no sexual chemistry there.*g* And it's not that Wash is sexually jealous, either; it's the emotional closeness between Mal and Zoe he finds difficult to cope with at times.
no subject
Date: 2005-07-16 09:43 pm (UTC)Read up to chapter 2 so far and am delighted that we finally meet Narcissa.(Many fanfic writers had Bella calling Narcissa "Cissy" so it was fun to see that Rowlings uses that nickname as well. :-))
And we get to see Snape in his private home! Yay!
Plus it seems as if Draco will have a bigger part to play! I was hopeful since Rowlings gave him a birthday (05th June). Like it very much that he's a Gemini like me. I occasionally share his drama queen tendencies. :-)
no subject
Date: 2005-07-19 07:06 pm (UTC)