BuffyNvrForgets
Slayerette
- Joined
- Aug 10, 2021
- Messages
- 169
I recently forced my sister to watch all of Firefly. She had some odd notions about the Whedonverse I just had to correct (including the opinion that Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. was the only good thing Whendon had ever been affilitated with, having never seen any Whedonverse property aside from that, Avengers, 3 episodes of Dollhouse and only "Hush" from Buffy). She, of course, fell in love with it. But it kindled a fire within me as well...
I should give some background. I watched Buffy first. And when I got to season 4, I started Angel alongside, so as to see them in order and compliment, mention, and crossover to eachother.
I really hadn't planned to watch all of Whedon's shows. But when I watched Angel's "Waiting in the Wings" (which remains one of my favorite episodes, purely for the setting, tragic/beautiful "story" of the episode, and not to mention the way the actual story of the ballet "Giselle" reflect, ever so slightly, not only Fred, Wesley, and Gunn, but also Cordelia, Angel and Groo), I was intrigued by the Amazon/IMDb trivia stating that the "Russian" ballerina that so intrigued me and moved me with her monologue had actually been cast in Whedon's other show Firefly because of it. I made a mental note to check it out, but by the time I'd finished the two series, I had decided to watch all the shows, and thus start with Dollhouse. I heard it wasn't quite as good as the others, and wanted to end on a strong note, so I watched Dollhouse first, and save Firefly for last.
But lo and behold! Here she is again. This time playing the scorned genius, Bennet Halverson. I know she was evil, but I was, much to my confusion (I had not formed any serious attachment to the character), very upset at her sudden death.
Well, anyways, I finished Dollhouse and began Firefly. I'm not sure if it's just because she was so familiar already, or the mere fact that for some reason the slightly (or incredibly) unstable characters are always my favorite, but River was my immediate favorite. I loved every second of her crazy dialogue, raged at Jayne for turning Simon and her over, and cried tears of concerned confusion during "Objects in Space" (which is now one of my favorite Firefly episodes) when I thought they had straight up made her fuse her consciousness with the ship (Because nothing is really impossible with these shows).
And now back to present day, the reason for this post. (I hope I haven't bored you too much with my personal story.)
Many things in my recent life have contributed to the admiration I now hold. Things including that one day "Pas de Deux" from The Nutcracker "danced" into my head (I've always loved classical music, and enjoyed seeing ballets, so it's not far off), peaking my interest in ballet. Or rewatching "Waiting in the Wings" once again. Heck, even just picking out my favorite River captions to go on my "nerd" wall.
But after watching Firefly again, I researched her more deeply (I had already known a thing or two about her just by floating around the world of all things Buffy, Angel and Firefly).
I found she has an amazing story.
She began dancing at around age 5. Dancing was her life. And then, as often happens, eventually she had suffered an injury that basically sealed the deal. She could no longer dance professionally (fortunately it seems she is still able to dance, at least casually). This was at about age 18 (this is not exact, just an approximation). Imagine having something you know you want to do your whole life, then, right as you get to the age you can truly make that gift you've cultivated into your career, you suddenly can't do it. As an artist (and violinist), imagining I lost the use of my hands (or something of the like)? I can't even imagine what I'd do.
But, she says, after having grieved her situation a bit, she began to pursue acting. She often says when she was young, she had the strangest voice in the back of her mind telling her she'd be an actress.
I find the story of how she got the part in Angel rather humorous. She "snuck in" to the callback audition for the Prima Ballerina (who I realize now has no name...) after having missed the dance audition. Long story short, they cast her, even without seeing her dance. Apparently Joss said something along the lines of "Well I hope she doesn't have cement feet, because she's got the part". Must have been surprising to them when she showed up and was in fact, able to dance.
This was her first role. Ever.
She knew so little about the acting world and life on set, she did her own hair and makeup before arriving for her first day of shooting.
It was her monologue in that episode (I call it the "Echo Monologue") that eventually got her the part in Firefly.
Clearly she's learned quite a bit about her craft, and really left her mark, especially on the nerdy fandom world, often being praised for bringing a gracefullness (from her dance experience) to all her roles.
But it's not just her amazing acting (and dancing!) abilites that have earned her a spot of such fondness and admiration in my heart.
She's just incredible. The courage she must have had, not letting her dancing set back keep her down for long. She knows who she is. She's incredibly humble, and shows intense gratitude to everyone who has ever helped her along, including us fans. She has such a sweet nature. She's such an amazing example of true and beautiful femininity. And by that, I don't mean she likes pink. I have no idea what color she likes. I mean she exemplified the true spirit of femininity (not the one created by society). She is warm, loving and strong. Certainly not submissive, nor pushy and rude. I could go on about that, but that's a different discussion.
I also notice that she has been seen rather rarely as of late. And I cannot express enough admiration for why. She recently (in the past 5-7ish years, I'm not exactly sure, and it's really none of my business, so I like to respect that) became a mother, and has thus decided to step back and take time for her family. She seems so incredibly joyful when discussing her family, and if that isn't truly beautiful, I'm not sure what is. Not everyone is called to being a wife. Not everyone is called to being a mother, or a stay at home one (Same goes for guys). But if you are, to pour your heart into your work (of family life), I can only imagine will be eternally rewarding. (I have not yet been blessed with this fullfillment.)
So, after that long winded (but hopefully interesting) story, now I open it up. Do you enjoy seeing Summer Glau in your favorite nerdy show or movie? When did you first encounter her? Did you know about her story? Is River your favorite? Are you just here because you are bored and have no idea what I'm talking about?
I should give some background. I watched Buffy first. And when I got to season 4, I started Angel alongside, so as to see them in order and compliment, mention, and crossover to eachother.
I really hadn't planned to watch all of Whedon's shows. But when I watched Angel's "Waiting in the Wings" (which remains one of my favorite episodes, purely for the setting, tragic/beautiful "story" of the episode, and not to mention the way the actual story of the ballet "Giselle" reflect, ever so slightly, not only Fred, Wesley, and Gunn, but also Cordelia, Angel and Groo), I was intrigued by the Amazon/IMDb trivia stating that the "Russian" ballerina that so intrigued me and moved me with her monologue had actually been cast in Whedon's other show Firefly because of it. I made a mental note to check it out, but by the time I'd finished the two series, I had decided to watch all the shows, and thus start with Dollhouse. I heard it wasn't quite as good as the others, and wanted to end on a strong note, so I watched Dollhouse first, and save Firefly for last.
But lo and behold! Here she is again. This time playing the scorned genius, Bennet Halverson. I know she was evil, but I was, much to my confusion (I had not formed any serious attachment to the character), very upset at her sudden death.
Well, anyways, I finished Dollhouse and began Firefly. I'm not sure if it's just because she was so familiar already, or the mere fact that for some reason the slightly (or incredibly) unstable characters are always my favorite, but River was my immediate favorite. I loved every second of her crazy dialogue, raged at Jayne for turning Simon and her over, and cried tears of concerned confusion during "Objects in Space" (which is now one of my favorite Firefly episodes) when I thought they had straight up made her fuse her consciousness with the ship (Because nothing is really impossible with these shows).
And now back to present day, the reason for this post. (I hope I haven't bored you too much with my personal story.)
Many things in my recent life have contributed to the admiration I now hold. Things including that one day "Pas de Deux" from The Nutcracker "danced" into my head (I've always loved classical music, and enjoyed seeing ballets, so it's not far off), peaking my interest in ballet. Or rewatching "Waiting in the Wings" once again. Heck, even just picking out my favorite River captions to go on my "nerd" wall.
But after watching Firefly again, I researched her more deeply (I had already known a thing or two about her just by floating around the world of all things Buffy, Angel and Firefly).
I found she has an amazing story.
She began dancing at around age 5. Dancing was her life. And then, as often happens, eventually she had suffered an injury that basically sealed the deal. She could no longer dance professionally (fortunately it seems she is still able to dance, at least casually). This was at about age 18 (this is not exact, just an approximation). Imagine having something you know you want to do your whole life, then, right as you get to the age you can truly make that gift you've cultivated into your career, you suddenly can't do it. As an artist (and violinist), imagining I lost the use of my hands (or something of the like)? I can't even imagine what I'd do.
But, she says, after having grieved her situation a bit, she began to pursue acting. She often says when she was young, she had the strangest voice in the back of her mind telling her she'd be an actress.
I find the story of how she got the part in Angel rather humorous. She "snuck in" to the callback audition for the Prima Ballerina (who I realize now has no name...) after having missed the dance audition. Long story short, they cast her, even without seeing her dance. Apparently Joss said something along the lines of "Well I hope she doesn't have cement feet, because she's got the part". Must have been surprising to them when she showed up and was in fact, able to dance.
This was her first role. Ever.
She knew so little about the acting world and life on set, she did her own hair and makeup before arriving for her first day of shooting.
It was her monologue in that episode (I call it the "Echo Monologue") that eventually got her the part in Firefly.
Clearly she's learned quite a bit about her craft, and really left her mark, especially on the nerdy fandom world, often being praised for bringing a gracefullness (from her dance experience) to all her roles.
But it's not just her amazing acting (and dancing!) abilites that have earned her a spot of such fondness and admiration in my heart.
She's just incredible. The courage she must have had, not letting her dancing set back keep her down for long. She knows who she is. She's incredibly humble, and shows intense gratitude to everyone who has ever helped her along, including us fans. She has such a sweet nature. She's such an amazing example of true and beautiful femininity. And by that, I don't mean she likes pink. I have no idea what color she likes. I mean she exemplified the true spirit of femininity (not the one created by society). She is warm, loving and strong. Certainly not submissive, nor pushy and rude. I could go on about that, but that's a different discussion.
I also notice that she has been seen rather rarely as of late. And I cannot express enough admiration for why. She recently (in the past 5-7ish years, I'm not exactly sure, and it's really none of my business, so I like to respect that) became a mother, and has thus decided to step back and take time for her family. She seems so incredibly joyful when discussing her family, and if that isn't truly beautiful, I'm not sure what is. Not everyone is called to being a wife. Not everyone is called to being a mother, or a stay at home one (Same goes for guys). But if you are, to pour your heart into your work (of family life), I can only imagine will be eternally rewarding. (I have not yet been blessed with this fullfillment.)
So, after that long winded (but hopefully interesting) story, now I open it up. Do you enjoy seeing Summer Glau in your favorite nerdy show or movie? When did you first encounter her? Did you know about her story? Is River your favorite? Are you just here because you are bored and have no idea what I'm talking about?
