Firefly

Joss answers more of YOUR questions

Posted by: on Jul 26, 2005 06:07pm EDT

Q. You are obviously a comic book fan. Who is your favorite comic book superhero and villain?

A. My favorite comic book hero, that’s gotta be Kitty Pryde of the X-Men and my favorite villain has always been Thanos, the death obsessed universe-ruling badass who killed Adam Warlock.

Q. Buffy, Angel and Firefly (and thus I’m assuming Serenity also) all seem to contain protagonists who operate using their own senses of morality. At times, these morals clash with the laws and law enforcement agencies of the societies in which they operate. Is the occasional dichotomy of the legal and the ethical something you attempt to intentionally address in your work?

A. All of my shows deal with politics and morality and if that means doing what the authorities say then we’re in a world of trouble. I like the idea of comic book type heroes who operate by their own set of rules and standards and values and ethics. At the same time, I know we live in a world where that’s not the case and that conflict is fascinating. There’s never been a time in my lifetime where we need to question authority more than we do now, so I feel it’s always going to be relevant in my work.

Q. Hi Joss! What books are you reading right now (despite your busy schedule) and who are your favorite current authors?

A. Right now because of my busy schedule I am not in fact reading any books. However I have already reserved my advance copy of the next Harry Potter and if you ask me who my favorite current author was, I would probably have to say J.K.

Q. There is clearly a lot of American Civil War imagery in Firefly’s back story. Do you think a detailed understanding of that period and its aftermath adds a deeper understanding of the Serenity ’verse and the crew’s troubles? Do any of the subplots draw inspiration from historic events?

A. It certainly doesn’t hurt to have some grounding in basic American history when you’re watching this show but the fact of the matter is that wars and revolutions and the way people deal with them and the way people are oppressed afterwards and the way people work around the system or try to keep fighting or whatever it is, these are common to all nations and all eras which makes writing the show extremely easy because nothing in history isn’t relevant.

Q. Does Serenity the movie have the same ship set as Firefly?

A. The ship is designed after the one from Firefly. We did have to tear those sets down and also when we built Serenity for the movie we had to make her thicker and more durable because the movie screen will show a lot more than a TV will so we couldn’t take as many short cuts. But it is the same design as much as I humanly possibly could make it the same because I love that ship so much.

Q. What’s your scariest moment during the filming of either the series or the movie?

A. My scariest moment during filming is always the day when I walk in and realize I have no idea how to shoot a scene. This is not something that I tell anybody around me, I just walk around until I figure it out, but it’s scary.

Q. In developing Firefly, did you create the future you want, or the one you fear?

A. All good fantasy contains all of your darkest fears and your wildest desires. Inevitably I created a future that contains both my fears and my hopes; there’s unity among many of the planets that represents an accordance and harmony between countries that right now don’t get along very well, that’s kind of beautiful. And let’s face it, prostitution is legal. But there’s also a lot of war and contention and many of the things we still cling to, and ships that every now and then just run out of gas.