Badger Posted February 15, 2005 Report Share Posted February 15, 2005 I finally got around to getting the Firefly DVD last Wed. And I have watched the first 2 of the 4 DVDs. The one thing about the universe I keep going back to in my mind are the Reavers. Due to the fact, there is so little info in the series about them (practically all heresay). So I was wondering if anyone has specualated on their "culture". For example: I myself wonder, are they really insane, or are they just uber-sadistic pirates. I do have to admit they could fit into many starfaring universes. So thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sociotard Posted February 15, 2005 Report Share Posted February 15, 2005 Re: Firefly: The Reavers They're the british punk rockers of the future. Look just like 'em. Okay, kidding aside. We've only seen one reaver first hand, and he was just a recent convert. Mal said that the first thing the man would do upon converting would be to try to look like the reavers, so I'd guess the real deals look something like what we saw. That means desecrating their own flesh with brands, scarification, tatoos and piercings with foreign matter. So we have what they look like, now why do they rape us to death, eat our meat, and make clothing from our skin (hopefully in that order)? Once again, we only have one first hand look at a "scene of the crime". It looks odd to me, because the reavers left things we'd expect them to take. Most of the cadavers still had their skins, where I would've thought they'd all be taken to the ships tannery. Most of them still had meat, where I'd have thought it would all be skillfully butchered and preserved, so they could go longer between kills. Perhaps there were simply too many people on board and the reavers store's were quickly filled to capacity. Perhaps (and this is my pet theory), the man left was left there to become a reaver, and he needed to be left with partial cadavers to help drive him mad. Gotta replenish the ranks somehow. They propably were going to come back and get 'im after he'd basted in his buddies jucies, but they saw the alliance ship. Now, I personally think the most driving force in reaver society is their hatred for their own flesh. It's as if, on the edge of nothing, they realised their bodies were worthless in the great scheme of things. not only do they practice self mutilation, but they opperate their ships without shielding. You don't expose yourself to that many Rad's if you care about living. I think their cannibalism may be a missionary effort, if you will, to the rest of the galaxy. "This is all meat is good for: eating. This is all skin is good for: clothing. All your humanity, all your civilization, means nothing. Everything exists in the nothing, and eventually the nothing will claim everything you thought you built." As such, the galaxy at large no longer sees them as human. They are animals, or demons made flesh. An unstoppable force. It's helpful to remember that they serve an artistic statement. The alliance represents civilization (their 'ships' look like blocks of skyscrapers, for petes sake) with all its constriction, bureaucracy, and unfairness. They stay in the Core. The reavers represent the complete abandonment of civilization, and all the savagry, hate, and cruelty that entails. They stay on the fringe. Mal and his crew have to dance a fine line between the two. Oh, and I wouldn't try fighting reavers. Mal took down one, but he was a noob, and even he killed a half dozen trained marines before he died. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curufea Posted February 15, 2005 Report Share Posted February 15, 2005 Re: Firefly: The Reavers Possibly the Ghosts of Mars might be worth having a look at for this. Anyhow, as to the bodies in the ship - my thinking is budget and ratings. Otherwise they would have been far more grotesque. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gewing Posted February 18, 2005 Report Share Posted February 18, 2005 Re: Firefly: The Reavers I finally got around to getting the Firefly DVD last Wed. And I have watched the first 2 of the 4 DVDs. The one thing about the universe I keep going back to in my mind are the Reavers. Due to the fact, there is so little info in the series about them (practically all heresay). So I was wondering if anyone has specualated on their "culture". For example: I myself wonder, are they really insane, or are they just uber-sadistic pirates. I do have to admit they could fit into many starfaring universes. So thoughts? Use the Western theme. They are the Commanche, the Apache, and all the other "Injuns" rolled together and made insane cannibals. There are several instances in Louis L'Amour books at least where somene found himself riding into a party of Indians. IIRC in one case one pulled out his bible and read loudly from it, making them think he had "medicine" and the other just rode on as calmly as he could. The logic being that they respect courage, and fleeing would make you a target. edit: and everything Sociotard said is probably right too. joss Whedon is saying an awful lot with this series. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vanguard00 Posted February 18, 2005 Report Share Posted February 18, 2005 Re: Firefly: The Reavers Possibly the Ghosts of Mars might be worth having a look at for this. I was thinking elements of Sam Neill's character in "Event Horizon" wouldn't be too far off, either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curufea Posted February 19, 2005 Report Share Posted February 19, 2005 Re: Firefly: The Reavers Definitely. Any character into self mutilation. Tetsuo: Man of Iron, for example. Hellraiser (but without the eloquence). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Publius Posted February 20, 2005 Report Share Posted February 20, 2005 Re: Firefly: The Reavers They are the Commanche' date=' the Apache, and all the other "Injuns" rolled together and made insane cannibals.[/quote']Or at least the hideously distorted image of the American Indians from Westerns of the 1950s. There is a good deal of The Searcher in the Reavers episode in some ways. Taken way to an extreme of course. I too like Sociotard's version of the Reavers. I wonder if they will make it into the movie. Yeah, all those sources mentioned here are good too: Hellraiser, Ghosts of Mars, Event Horizon, oh howabout the Surgeon General of LA from Escape from LA (played wonderfully over the top by Bruce Campbell. Lead with the chin big guy). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sociotard Posted February 20, 2005 Report Share Posted February 20, 2005 Re: Firefly: The Reavers Y'know, everytime I watch that ep of the firefly I wonder, how is it that after a few days or maybe weeks of just hanging in that net, all those cadavers didn't make a bad enough stink to let the serenity crew know EXACTLY where all those people went to? Dead human stinks baaaaaaaad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badger Posted February 20, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2005 Re: Firefly: The Reavers Yeah that is a good point with the cadavers but...real science doesnt always make it in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curufea Posted February 20, 2005 Report Share Posted February 20, 2005 Re: Firefly: The Reavers I can't remember - was there oxygen and heat on the ship before the Serenity docked with it? If there wasn't - the bodies would be better preserved. Plus, the Reavers might have been there mere hours before..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sociotard Posted February 20, 2005 Report Share Posted February 20, 2005 Re: Firefly: The Reavers If there hadn't been oxygen and heat the lone survivor wouldn't have been nearly so well preserved. The "hours before" theory isn't too bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sinanju Posted February 20, 2005 Report Share Posted February 20, 2005 Re: Firefly: The Reavers My personal take on the reavers is that they're not nearly as insane as they're made out to be. Yes, they probably are big on tattoos and piercings and other scary-looking body modifications. But most of it is simply an act they do for the occasional surviving victim to enhance their reputations. Operating a spaceship isn't a task for morons, the drug-addled or the insane. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nyrath Posted February 20, 2005 Report Share Posted February 20, 2005 Re: Firefly: The Reavers My personal take on the reavers is that they're not nearly as insane as they're made out to be. Well, I personally believe that they need some measure of insanity. Remember that they are flying a ship with inadequate radiation shielding, knowingly exposing themselves to deadly radiation from the reactor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curufea Posted February 20, 2005 Report Share Posted February 20, 2005 Re: Firefly: The Reavers You could also just think of them as the science fiction equivalent of smokers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gewing Posted February 20, 2005 Report Share Posted February 20, 2005 Re: Firefly: The Reavers Or at least the hideously distorted image of the American Indians from Westerns of the 1950s. There is a good deal of The Searcher in the Reavers episode in some ways. Taken way to an extreme of course. I too like Sociotard's version of the Reavers. I wonder if they will make it into the movie. Yeah, all those sources mentioned here are good too: Hellraiser, Ghosts of Mars, Event Horizon, oh howabout the Surgeon General of LA from Escape from LA (played wonderfully over the top by Bruce Campbell. Lead with the chin big guy). Yeah, that is why i used "injuns" in quotes. All those bad old movies that had little if any understanding of reality. Firefly even had people looking to their "saved one bullet" situation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curufea Posted February 20, 2005 Report Share Posted February 20, 2005 Re: Firefly: The Reavers Firefly even had people looking to their "saved one bullet" situation. Although, from the commentary on "Bushwacked" this is not what Inara was doing with the syringe kit. My guess - based on "Our Mrs Reynolds" is that Companions have martial training, and it may be some form of combat booster. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gewing Posted February 21, 2005 Report Share Posted February 21, 2005 Re: Firefly: The Reavers Although' date=' from the commentary on "Bushwacked" this is not what Inara was doing with the syringe kit. My guess - based on "Our Mrs Reynolds" is that Companions have martial training, and it may be some form of combat booster.[/quote'] I haven't listened to all the commentary yet. Darn, the "they won't take me alive" response worked better imo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curufea Posted February 21, 2005 Report Share Posted February 21, 2005 Re: Firefly: The Reavers They said they were fine with this interpretation (Minear and Whedon), but they had something different in mind if the series had gone longer. They didn't hint at what it might have been though... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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