Chinese characters in Firefly

[marydell]

Something that comes up from time to time in discussions of Firefly( & Serenity) is the strange lack of any major Chinese characters in a future where everyone speaks Chinese. Yeah, yeah, there are potential explanations, they're not near the inner worlds, blah blah blah. I don't buy it.

My take? There are major Chinese characters in Firefly...Simon, River, maybe Inara, maybe Mr. Universe and others.

They just aren't portrayed by Chinese actors.

:)

Comments

Firefly -- cultures versus ethnicity

[robert-franson.livejournal.com]

An interesting take, definitely, and leads to some fun speculations.

I ran into this criticism reading Jane Espenson's fine anthology of essays, Finding Serenity. In my review at Troynovant I suggest that Whedon "did not envision Serenity's crew to be about ethnic balance: Oh look, he and she look Caucasian, and her and him look Chinese! Ooh, Affirmative Action in space as they fight and make up! No, what he wants viewers to see and appreciate is the culture, the American-Chinese semi-fusion."

Re: Firefly -- cultures versus ethnicity

[marydell.livejournal.com]

Culture and ethnicity are not completely separate--look at standards of feminine beauty, for example. I'm not complaining about a lack of ethnic balance; my problem is the appropriation of culture without any acknowledgement of ethnicity. It's not just colonialist and uncool, it's also narratively confusing. Apparently the cultures have melded to the point that people cuss in Chinese and wear Cheongsam dresses to teach school (IIRC), but there are almost no Asian people in the human population. Was there a cataclysm? A genetically-targeted plague? The Tam family seems to operate on Chinese-style principles of filial duty, but they're caucasian...it just doesn't make sense to me that Asians wouldn't be a majority ethnic group, or at least a large, significant minority, in a 'verse full of their clothes and language.