Serenity Day is coming this Friday. As such, we shall indulge in a bit of speculation about a hypothetical duel-to-the-death for a second.

What if George Lucas and Joss Whedon pitted their creative minds against each other in a winner-take-all death match? Or what if their creations were forced to fight each other in a Pokemon-style tournament? Would the Millennium Falcon blow Serenity to smithereens? Who would shoot first, Mal or Han? Are the antique weapons of Firefly a match for the power of the force? Or could we just play the fruity oaty bar commercial and have every Star Wars character lying on the ground bleeding within thirty seconds?

Who in all nine Corellian hells* cares?

Inspired by some comments by both hansgirl3 and Darth Vicomte, I would like to express a few sentiments regarding Star Wars and Firefly.

It seems the trend these days among some bloggers is to positively affirm their love for the Star Wars saga by asserting that it is without question, better than Firefly. But here's the kicker: some of them haven't even seen Firefly yet, and refuse to do so based on the premise that Star Wars is the greatest bunch of movies of all time, and Firefly wouldn't even come close.

I, for one, an absolutely baffled by this logic (or, more accurately, lack thereof). Star Wars is great, there is no disputing that around here. Does this mean that all Star Wars fans could not possibly ever watch any other movies or television shows and, god forbid, enjoy them? Could watching Firefly somehow compromise one's Star Wars fanboy status? Surely most Star Wars fans enjoy alternative forms of entertainment that may be completely unrelated to Star Wars. Heck, my name is Marvolo, which is definitely not inspired by a Star Wars character.

Even more rage-inducing is the uninformed assumption that Firefly is a rip-off of Star Wars. Wrong. Especially if one follows this statement with something along the lines of "and that's why I will never watch Firefly!" This is just a thought, but doesn't that somewhat affect the credibility of the first statement? I'll spell it out for you: how can you possibly know anything about Firefly or Serenity if you haven't bothered to watch either?

Assuming you have actually seen Firefly, you will surely concur that the similarities between Star Wars and Firefly are few and far between. Both shows involve people and spaceships, in space. That's about it. So by this logic, every single science fiction movie or television show made since 1977 is a rehash of the Star Wars films, and should go ignored.

There is no need to compare Star Wars and Serenity whatsoever. They are two distinct (and might I add excellent) movies.** It doesn't matter which one is better, has a larger fan following, or was more successful at the box office. For one thing, "better" is entirely a matter of opinion. Most importantly, both Star Wars and Serenity can be excellent movies. The fact that Serenity is a good movie has nothing to do with Star Wars.

Firefly is unique, original, and frankly, refreshing compared to most of the luh-suh on television these days that we have to put up with. It's a rare gem among the awful reality TV shows and half-assed dramas that have sprouted up like weeds and taken over every network's programming in the past few years. And best of all, when you watch it on DVD, you don't have to sit through sixteen and a half-minutes of mind-numbing commercials!

And yet herein lies the problem: Firefly is no longer on television. The series was cancelled after eleven episodes. This wonderful show is sitting on the video store shelf waiting to be bought, yet many are not even aware that this quality television series has ever existed. So us browncoats seek to spread the word about Firefly, largely through the use of a magical invention known as the internet. And yes, this means that inevitably, word of this show spreads to the blogs on the official Star Wars site.

Take a browncoat's advice, and give Firefly a go. Or, pick up Serenity this Friday, June 23rd.

I'm asking you to branch out by exploring another science fiction series. And trust me, I'm doing you a favour by recommending them.


* I've read Traitor, so I'm not just stealing Rive's expression. I can use it now and understand the reference!
** Well, technically one is a set of movies. Er...two sets, I guess. Sue me.