I didn't mean it to be accusatory or rude

That's appreciated, Jack.

Well, by me, anyway.

Me, too. You can edit it out of your post, if you feel that's warranted.

Me, too. Thanks for the clarification, btw.

I didn't mean it to be accusatory or rude

Thanks for that. To clarify, I thought that posting a specific person's voting record was accusatory, or meant to show that these were all Tim's specific views. That's where my ish was. And I appreciate the clarification as well.

I'm going to do a rude thing and quote myself, regarding Companions. It stuck in my sieve since "Heart of Gold", and I went to those old posts and dug it up:

I'm not sure I fully understand the whole concept of Companions, and how exactly they are different than "regular" prostitutes. Companions are respected, educated, protected by laws and the power of the guild. And prostitutes don't have any of these things. Still, it seems like both are mainly providing sexual services.

So a Companion will be like a prize-winning famous actress, whom everybody looks up to, getting respect and admiration everywhere she goes to (I mean, the way people treated Inara in "The Train Job" is embarrassingly similar to the way famous American actors are welcome here. For example, some of them get to meet the prime minister and some of his ministers, and tell them about their ideas and what not, even when they have no idea as to what they're talking about and what is the actual situation here, and it's not like the government here doesn't have slightly more important things to do).

They can make or break huge projects, can even affect politics (by supporting their candidates publicly, by taking part in demonstrations and the like). They can raise huge noise against anybody they don't like, even if it's a newspaper that published a bad story on them, and even sue (and win lots of money, as if they lack in that). And everybody wants to be seen with them, next to them, at their parties, in their circle.

And still, at the same time, I can't help but feel that they're not admired for what they are, but more for the glamour and glory and beauty and riches that they represent. That nobody really cares about them as people, but as their title, as their place in, say, the society hierarchy - like, say, Atherton treated Inara in "Shindig", and all the guests, too - they were dazzled by her, happy to get a compliment from her, but at the bottom line, the only one who treated her as her, the person, was Mal (who, apparently, doesn't like going to the movies).

And at the other end of the scale are all those struggling actors and actresses, or more to the point, their image in the eyes of people who don't really know anything about that world (like, say, me), who can't get an agent, who have to fight for each line they get to say anywhere, who are willing to stoop to whatever exploitive people demand from them in order to get a chance to climb up. And mostly, everybody seem to be looking down on these people, mocking them for their low position, for their lack of status and the impossibility of their dreams.

And if I want to try and make my not-so-exact comparison a little better, maybe I can talk specifically about nude scenes. When the actor or actress is famous enough, plays in films with a large enough budget, and wins enough prizes and recognition, there's no problem in them, and in fact, there are very few movies who try to go without at least one. However, when an actor is still struggling and unfamiliar and in need to scrape whatever they can for a living, taking a part for taking a shirt off is considered a low point, a degrading experience (again, I'm speaking of the image I get, and in huge generalizations. I have zero idea as to how these things actually work! Please correct me if I'm off my mark, OK?). In fact, famous actors, who sometimes have no problem with such scenes in those "respected" movies, try to hide their past pictures/scenes in less respected movies/shows/magazines.

Of course, I'm not saying that it's a one-to-one (Hebrew expression) comparison. It's just a way to looking at things that makes it a bit easier for me to grasp the position of Companions, and the differences between them and women who "just" sell their bodies. For one thing, there's the deep difference in that mostly people who are in the movie business want to become movie stars, and not just stay in their position (though I can't imagine one of Nandi's girls actually becoming a Companion, lacking what seems to be a life-long training from childhood). Also, please notice that even though I'm using the word "actor", I usually mean "movie star" and "movie star wannabe". It has absolutely nothing to do with the person's talent and acting abilities! It's all about position and the way society looks at these things. I think. It's a bit confusing.

[Edited for finishing a paragraph in the former post. What's wrong with me, can't I post in singles in this thread? Anyway.]

text wins out over authorial intent

"Objects in Space" had a huge (um, much bigger than all the post, I'm afraid) meaning to me, in terms of Orthodox Jewish faith and way of life. I'm pretty sure none of the people involved has anything to do with that, and it's a completely personal way of reading the text, but there it was.

I absolutely *love* seeing long Nilly posts in Firefly again. *Love*

However. Hem. I thought I was over it, that I'd moved on, as had everyone else, until SciFi started the reruns and here we come with the old "horses in space" shite again. People. What show are you watching? There are no horses in space. See? Never were. That would be stupid--how you gonna build a P-suit to fit a horse? There's *no sound* in space. There're horses *on the ground*. Because as no less an expert than Chris Judge says, when asked why SG1 always walks everywhere, "This is *television*. We don't have the budget to conceive and build a new vehicle" every time we touch down on a different planet.

Got it? No horses in space. Horses on the *ground*. Thanks.

Yeah but Mal makes the distinction between the job and the person. He's openly said he considers companions and whores one in the same and has no real respect for all the frou frou surrounding companions--except where/when it can make him a profit. However, that doesn't mean he doesn't respect Inara the female person. The john in "Serenity", the father in "Jaynestown", the Boss Hog in "Heart of Gold", "Ath Wing", none of them respected the female person but they did have a grudging respect for the position b/c they felt it denoted some sort of status to be seen with, or fuck, a companion.

There are no horses in space.

But there are cows.