Before I discuss the film itself, I wanted to offer some perspective, especially in terms of what “Serenity” means to me. I was already a Joss Whedon devotee by the time “Firefly” was announced. I read about the concept and how it was playing out, and I was struck by the passion that he had for the topic and the universe he was creating. I was equally struck by the lack of solid support by FOX and those who asked for the series in the first place.
When “The Train Job” premiered, I was worried. Not because of the vision or the premise, but by the fact that the true beginning of the series had been withheld by the network. Even without seeing the pilot “Serenity”, I understood enough of what happened to appreciate “The Train Job” and place it in perspective. I reviewed that episode and, when the series wasn’t pre-empted in my area, I threw my support and passion behind Joss and his vision, right up until the pilot was finally aired.
Throughout that fall season, short as it was, I saw a community form. I had been reviewing television for a couple of years at that point, and those reviews were relatively well-received; my reviews for “Firefly”, however, were widely popular. What struck me was the common ground shared by so many of my fellow original Browncoats: the unity of purpose and the appreciation of divergent points of view. Few online communities are so cohesive.
More to the point, it wasn’t just the fans that were a family. Joss, the writing staff, the cast and crew, all of them were a part of the community. Adam Baldwin was a regular on the message boards, stirring up controversy in some of the more memorable moments. I remember kind words from Tim, Nathan, and Jewel, among others. The sense was that this was more than a television show; it had a will and life of its own.
Fast-forward to a year later. Videotapes of the original episodes were run to the breaking point, and the Browncoats were eagerly anticipating the release of the DVDs. Scripts for unaired episodes had been passed around, and Joss was talking about a film. My son was born the night before the DVDs were released. I recall still going to my local Best Buy on a trip from the hospital, just before bringing him home. Needless to say, my newborn son was with me through every episode, every extra, every commentary.
On the day the film “Serenity” was announced, I couldn’t believe it. This was a series that had been labeled a complete failure. It was a concept nearly impossible to communicate to new viewers. And yet, the DVD sales were through the roof, and stories emerged of viewing parties and Browncoat recruiting drives. I must have given out my DVDs to friends and co-workers on a weekly basis. And when the principal photography started, I committed myself to reviewing each and every episode on the DVD in the order originally intended, because I was certain that “Serenity” would be the capstone to this improbable journey.
As the film neared completion, I was amazed at how closely Joss remained in contact with the fans. Indeed, three years later, the community is still as close and unified as ever. The numbers have swelled, of course, as the advance screening experiences have proven. More to the point, what was a small kernel of support for the independence of “Firefly” has grown into a movement for the success of “Serenity”.
Personally, I walked into this film with two goals in mind. First and foremost, I wanted to look at it as closely as I had looked at the episodes themselves. I wanted to see if Joss had succeeded in communicating this tale of faith and loss. How much of it would be speaking to Browncoats only, and would a fresh audience embrace it as we have? My own feelings aside, there’s a certain level of objectivity that I wanted to bring to the experience, as unlikely as it might sound.
Equally important, however, was my desire to enjoy this film as the culmination of three years of dedication. I wanted this film to appeal to the mass audience, yes, but more so, I wanted this to inspire a sense of accomplishment. Not just for Joss and the cast, who deserve the praise for making this happen and seeing it through, but for the Browncoats as well. As Joss has said countless times, this is something we all made possible. In short, and in keeping with the film’s central theme, I wanted “Serenity” to affirm my faith.
And without a doubt, it did.
*****
Update: 03 Oct 2005
So now the film has gotten through the first weekend, and it’s made a little over $10M. Already, vultures are circling, as though a fall film without an obvious blockbuster hook is going to make a ton of money and a killing in market share. I find it even more interesting that very adamant fans are already despairing, as if the film is dead and buried and nothing more will come of it.
Some odd notions are being tossed around on the various boards and in several articles. Some of them claim that the franchise is dead, because the film will obviously tank in the second weekend, and the DVD sales aren’t going to be a strong enough reason to make a sequel. I find this hi-larious because Joss has long since communicated the fact that this is exactly what Universal is looking for: making back much or all of the budget in the theatres, and making up the rest and the promotional costs through DVD sales. That’s from the horse’s mouth. Why doubt it?
There’s also a vocal contingent still running amok, telling anyone how “Serenity” betrays all things “Firefly”. Let’s all be clear on one thing. FOX killed “Firefly” a couple years ago. It’s dead. It’s but a memory. Joss took up that memory and envisioned a resurrection as something else: “Serenity”. It’s all the same parts as “Firefly”, but being a somewhat different medium with different demands, it cannot and should not be the same. Again, Joss mentioned his personal pain over that fact, but his passion for the concept kept him on task.
(My in-depth review covers all of my reasons for saying that “Serenity” is, in fact, the heir apparent to all things “Firefly”, not just in name.)
What bothers me most is the allegation in some parts that the fandom itself killed the forward momentum of the film’s success. In short, the idea is that Browncoats were obnoxious and a little creepy, so normal folk wanted nothing to do with the film. I don’t buy it, at least not completely, because there’s a ton of normal folk who never saw a Browncoat until they walked into the theatre and saw them sitting in the seats. And as I said before, the biggest problem with “Serenity” was filling those seats.
So what was the problem? Accepting for a moment the premise that “Serenity” should have been a blockbuster opening (and I still say it did just fine), what’s the post-mortem reveal?
First, I was concerned early on about the title of the movie and the fact that there’s nothing commercially viable about the concept and the plot. For fans, it was going to be too self-contained and in ways divergent from their two-year-long expectations. For everyone else, the trailers didn’t say a thing about it. I don’t envy the marketing department for Universal, because relying on the fans to find ways to promote the film was probably the only way to do it.
Second, that marketing campaign seems to have backfired. Here’s how it is: if you want to watch a fandom degenerate into civil war, take expectations and make them so high that a large percentage of fans will reject it, even if they wouldn’t have batted an eye if it had progressed to that point naturally. I’m saying what should be obvious: no matter what Joss did, some people were going to hate it. And the effect of that should be equally obvious: people who were once leading the charge are now vocally bashing the film, and that will inevitably lead to some fans backing off in fear of hating it themselves.
Third, the marketplace is shifting dramatically, and it has been doing so for a long time. Fewer people go out to see films in the theatre. A lot more people want to see the film in the relative safety of their own homes, where they can turn down the volume, pause at will, and otherwise make it a more casual experience. That’s why the first weekend estimates (and the overall take) are not the sole determining factor of success, and why the DVD sales are going to be a huge factor.
Take the third point and consider it in relation to the first and second points. You have a mass audience that won’t go to the theatre unless they have a solid reason for the expense and hassle. Give them a film that can’t be easily explained, along with a rabid fanbase now eating each other alive, some vocally hating the film they were killing themselves to promote, and is it any wonder that people will wait until the DVD comes out?
I, for one, am far more interested in the second weekend’s estimates. There should be a lot of repeat business, and I know some people who were between paychecks. Word of mouth has always been at the heart of it, and it definitely remains the case. What I want to see is less internal bickering with those who didn’t care for “Serenity” and more focus on suggesting the film to others. Let people who didn’t like “Serenity” be; they have the right not to like it. But descending into a debate over it will only steal energy away from the next battle, which for those who liked “Serenity”, is getting a sequel in a few years.
One last point, and this is a spoiler for “Farscape” fans who didn’t see the mini-series “The Peacekeeper Wars”. How many Browncoats were also Scapers? The Scaper fandom was the other “do the impossible” fandom over the past few years. Just like the Browncoats, “Farscape” fans fought long and hard to get an ending to the story. And like Joss, the creators of “Farscape” had to take a long-term story arc and compress it into a much shorter period of time.
Plot elements were tossed together. There was loss, and some character threads ending in ways that weren’t entirely satisfying. It was very similar to the differences between “Firefly” and “Serenity”, especially in terms of body count. Yet there was one big difference in terms of fandom reaction. I didn’t see nearly this degree of backbiting and vitriol among Scapers when the mini-series aired. Some didn’t enjoy it, but they didn’t go after the producers like they were suddenly dogfood. There was simply a massive appreciation of the fact that together, the fans and creators managed to ensure that the story was told.
What bothers me most about the post-mortem on “Serenity” and its first three days in the theatres is how quickly the sense of community fell apart. It’s possible that this is just the initial reaction, and that tempers and feuds will settle down and that sense of common spirit will return. But for now, I’m a bit saddened and disappointed at how everything I took for granted a week ago has fallen apart.
But like the crew of Serenity, I plan on mourning those lost, remembering them for who they were, and carrying on with the fellow Browncoats who choose to keep flying.
