Firefly Wednesday: Our Mrs. Reynolds

[osprey_archer]

My thoughts about “Our Mrs. Reynolds” are not coming together into a coherent essay, so here, have a numbered list instead.

1.One of the more astute criticisms that I have read about Whedon’s plotting is that sometimes the character’s actions don’t make sense unless you assume there’s an audience watching, and so it is with Saffron. Wouldn’t it be easier and safer for her to eschew this whole accidental marriage business and simply become a paying passenger? Way less chance of them turning right around and dumping her back on what they assume is her home planet. Way less chance of her getting in trouble when they realize it is not, in fact, her home planet.

If the leaders of that planet are, in fact, as conservative as Saffron makes them out to be, then what did they make of having Saffron-the-evil-companion in their midst? Do they have some kind of business arrangement with her? But if so, why would they let her go with Mal, who had just helped them so much and to whom they seem genuinely grateful?

2. I am probably overthinking this; certainly I’m giving more thought to this aspect of the show than Whedon did. This kind of plotting is why I’ve never been able to get into most of Whedon’s shows: it’s like Whedon never asks, “So what are these characters’ motivations?” but rather “So what would be most entertaining?” - and then he makes that happen, never mind if it makes sense.

3. This episode begins with Mal wearing a dress in order to foil some bad guys. Inara is like, “So why were you wearing the dress and not Zoe?” and Mal’s answer is basically “‘Cause reasons.” Oh, Mal. He is by far most interesting to me when he does these things that suggest he is not at all the manly avatar of manliness that he sometimes wishes to portray.

Possibly that’s why he’s sometimes such a jackass in his assertion of his masculinity? Not that I see Mal as at all self-tormenting about this - he seems completely comfortable with Inara’s teasing, and anyway, his unwillingness or inability to self-reflect is one of the keynotes of his character.

Actually, Mal is unusually likeable in “Our Mrs. Reynolds,” at least till the end when he seeks out Saffron-the-evil-Companion to punish her for nearly stealing his ship and getting his whole crew killed. Then he pins her to the bed and says “Looks like you will get your wedding night.” Ew, Mal. Stay classy. (Seriously, it wasn’t possible to play that scene with less sexual innuendo?)

4. It’s scenes like this that make it difficult for me to take Whedon’s feminist cred seriously. It’s not that I think he’s an anti-feminist pig or what have you, but rather that the things he gets right, he gets right in a sense by accident: he’s interested in kick-ass women and therefore writes them. Which is great! But there are other aspects of his work that are weirdly problematic, like, well, Saffron.

5. I’m actually kind of sorry the episode didn’t play Saffron-the-blushing-bride straight, because it would have been interesting to explore the ethical ins and outs of the situation and also to see Saffron adjusting to this perplexing new social milieu. Would she and Kaylee become friends? How would she react to River? Would she ever understand Zoe and Wash?

Also, man, Zoe and Wash have some marital problems. I’m starting to think they got married because they thought pledging monogamy would solve all their jealousy issues, only to find that no, wait, actually a wedding band does not by itself overhaul the relationship.

Comments

[surexit.livejournal.com]

I definitely agree that Whedon tends to just do what's entertaining, and also is not the World's Greatest Feminist - he tries, but yeah.

But my main takeaway from this episode has always been, forever and ever, that Christina Hendricks is insanely gorgeous. :D

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

Is she the one who plays Saffron? Because YES.

[surexit.livejournal.com]

Yessssss. :D

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

I've watched a few episodes of Firefly, one episode of Dr. Horrible, and heard the premise of Dollhouse, and based on this evidence, I concluded that Whedon likes women the way a man who likes women does--which is a lot better than disliking women, but is still essentially considering them from the point of view of his own pleasure, admiration, etc., rather than trying to get into their heads.

... Maybe this isn't always true. I haven't seen any of Buffy.

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

I think this is often true of Whedon's work (especially in Dr. Horrible, which I really did not like, despite the villains' singing club) but not always: with particular female characters, like Zoe and especially Kaylee, he often does get into their heads more, and when he makes the effort he does a pretty good job.

(But it may be worth noting that Kaylee and Zoe are less obviously sexualized than Inara and perhaps also River...although I'm not sure sexualized is the right word for River? But I do sometimes feel that the show is eroticizing her madness and seeming helplessness.

Actually, the seemingly helpless girl who turns out to be totally kickass is a theme Whedon returns to again and again - Buffy, River, Saffron. I wonder if this is a way of having his cake and eating it too.)

But he doesn't always make the effort; characters like Saffron really only make sense if you assume they're acting for the gratification of the audience.