Time for my old Firefly rant. Buckle up, we’re about to talk about how pervasive anti-Indigeneity is in geek spaces which are supposedly more open and tolerant (they’re not) and how it just flies right under colonizer’s noses because it’s second nature to hate Indigenous people.
It’s well-established and agreed upon by both the writers and the fan community that Firefly is nothing more than a spaghetti western in space. That’s great for our breakdown because those follow a format. There’s the white hat hero and the black hat villain, friendly Chinatown
It’s pretty straightforward and this isn’t a knock on tropes. Tropes are popular because we like them. But there’s one specific trope in Firefly we gotta pay attention to. Spaghetti Westerns have “dangerous Injun country” and roving bands of merciless savages.
That’s the representation we get. Mexican and Italian actors holding up their palm and saying “how” before ruthlessly assaulting the hero or the hero’s love interest before the hero murders us and goodness prevails.
But let’s look back at Firefly. They’ve got all these spaghetti western elements too. And we’re still in it. Who are the “environmental hazard” brutally savage senseless hoards outside of “civilization” in Firefly?
I’ll give you a hint — Wikipedia describes them as “flesh-eating mongrels who live on the fringes of the universe.” That’s right. In this fun and geeky sci-fi story Natives are the Reavers.
And maybe it seems innocent to flip the story so it’s not targeted and just make them non-ethnic specific cannibals. But you already associate Firefly with a spaghetti western—we already noted that we all do.
So subconsciously you’re still putting me and the Reavers from Firefly in the same category in your media representation. That’s it! That’s the rant!
@vaspider here it is. ❤️🏹🏹🏹
