a thought on Inara

[rivendellrose]

Hey, here's a funny question for the Firefly fans on my f-list... has anybody ever noticed something kind of... strange, in Inara's shuttle? Specifically in "Heart of Gold," but... given that I only just noticed it while digging through screencaps, I suppose it might've been in there in other eps, too, and I just didn't notice.

How I went a year watching this show without realizing that Inara has a hookah in her room is a total mystery to me.

See it? The blue and gold tube-y thing, with the red metallic nozzle-y thing at the end, there on the table in the foreground. Now, I know that Joss referred in the Serenity Visual Companion book to marijuana being legal in the Alliance, and yes, hookahs and such are kind of classically associated with the courtesan milieu that Inara stems from, but... is it just me, or does this combine rather oddly? Particularly with theories about the nature of that Mysterious Syringe in the pilot?

I'm going to be digging through other shots of Inara's shuttle, now, wondering if it was hiding there all along... or was maybe present in this ep as a sly nod to Inara's increasing emotional upset and stress over her and Mal.

Oh, and if I'm wrong about the hookah, please do let me know. I've only seen them occasionally, but... boy does that ever look like one.

Comments

[scearley.livejournal.com]

oh yeah. that's a hookah. I've built many.

That one has an odd shape (off-center top tube, ugly orange bulb), but it's a hookah.

There's a hookah bar in seattle that sells various (legal) tobacco for your own on-site enjoyment.

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

I thought so. And yeah, the shape does seem a little... odd. To say the least.

*nods* I've walked past one of the private bars, which is truly seedy and nasty-looking, but I've also seen them at various shops in Pike's and such.

[razycrandomgirl.livejournal.com]

"Pike's not a name, it's a fish." Sorry I couldn't help myself. -snicker-

[reve-lucide.livejournal.com]

Tis most definitely a hookah, and I've always wondered if Inara was smoking more than tobacco in that shuttle ...

Opium is traditionally smoked through a hookah as well, which fits in with the Firefly 'verse's Asian influence.

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

That's kind of what I was thinking, too. Another layer to the mystery of Inara...

[narsilion.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's a hookah. I don't think I ever specifically noticed it when I've een watching, but it certainly doesn't seem out of place for her character, IMO.
Crap, I just realized, I have no Inara icons....will have to fix that soon.

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

It doesn't seem out of place, no, it just kind of... surprised me, since I'd never noticed it, nor seen anybody use the idea in fic or anything. Funny thought.

[razycrandomgirl.livejournal.com]

I've actually read something where the whole crew (except for Zoe) was testing some merch. the kind you smoke ... though they didn't use that hooka(?) thing-y.

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

Lol. Of course except for Zoe... Somebody has to be the 'responsible adult' on the ship!

[razycrandomgirl.livejournal.com]

that and she was kinda preggers in it too. though I don't think she'd have done it even if she hadn't been with child. I love Zoe and I love your Icon. thats the Mal-yell-at-Zoe Icon! -snickering- it's really late here. +_O

[iamlovely.livejournal.com]

Yep. You can see it in Shindig pretty well too.

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

So it's always been there, then. Okay, that makes me feel kind of spacey, for not noticing it earlier!

[razycrandomgirl.livejournal.com]

LMAO omg! -falls over- I never would've noticed that! lol thanks for pointing it out.

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't have, either, if I hadn't been looking for pictures from that scene! I'm glad I wasn't the only one to whom it was a total surprise!

[coralia13.livejournal.com]

I actually noticed it very recently when I was re-watching episodes to get some fic help. However, I don't really picture Inara as the stoner type, so my theories about it are:
1) it is there for client use (maybe some clients like a little opium before/after sex, and I see no reason why Inara would be unwilling to oblige them)
2) I could definitely see Inara smoking flavored tabacco, which is also smoked through a hookah. I've never tried it, myself, but a friend of mine (wow, that sounds like such a line, but it's true) tried some stawberry flavored tobacco and said it was amazing. I could see Inara using that for herself in private, or (more likely) as a social thing with clients - either post-tea ceremony or post -coital.

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

No, she doesn't seem the stoner type to me, either. With all her issues about self-control? Although she's certainly high-stress enough....

Both of your other theories seem to fit her personality much better, I agree. Especially the client use (hey, companions are trained to make the client comfortable in every way...), but yeah, the flavored tobacco thing, too. I'm very much tobacco-free, and usually avoid hanging out with smokers while they're doing their thing or after 'cause of the smell, but... cloves. Cloves smell nice. As does pipe tobacco, but that's kind of a different story.

[coralia13.livejournal.com]

Ugh, I loathe the smell of cigarette smoke. It's disgusting and it sticks to everything - if I'm even in the vicinity of someone while they're smoking, my hair and clothes take on the smell so strongly that I have to shower immediately after. Cloves aren't as bad, and they even smell nice if there's enough air flow to lower the intensity a bit.
I think that Inara wouldn't be the type to damage her body in any way (I have a feeling Companions are very much of the "body is a temple" mentality, so I tend towards thinking that any smoking would be a social thing with a client, or simply the client alone, rather than a habit that Inara indulges in by her own inclination.

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

Exactly. Our city recently passed a smoking ban in all public bars and restaurants, and I have to say, I've never been so happy. I can go to a club or bar without coming home steeped in cigarette smoke!

*Nods* That's always been my impression as well. Although that's probably largely based on my own attitudes. I can forgive some moderate indulgence in alcohol very easily, but otherwise... ;)

[coralia13.livejournal.com]

I agree completely! I always feel a little less comfortable around someone who smokes or does drugs regularly. It's kind of the same way I am when I find out someone's a Repulican - just a little prejudice I have that always startles me when I'm confronted with it. (Kind of the same thought goes through my head in both cases: "But... I thought you were smart...") I'm getting better about it as my circle of friends expands to include a wider variety of people, and as old friends pick up new habits. I myself, however, am alarmingly sub-free for a college junior, and that's the way I like it.

[tonsai.livejournal.com]

okay, i'm a total n00b when it comes to firefly (haven't seen serenity yet, but just finished the DVDs), but yes, i noticed the hookah, and also, in the pilot, if you watch the commentary, joss whedon talks about that scene with the reavers (reevers? can't be arsed to look it up) where they show everyone preparing for doom, including inara. inara is shown pulling out a little box with some type of thing in it, which i took to mean (and in the commentary, he said it worked in the narrative to mean) that she would rather commit suicide than let the reavers touch her, but that he actually meant for it to be a plotline -- he wouldn't explain what! -- to be picked up later in the series. so that made me think she's more than a little substance-friendly.

i can't debate or contribute any more than that, but good luck in your quest for understanding.

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

It's really too bad that you're two states away, because I'm doing the silliest little happy-dance at the fact that you've seen Firefly. ;)

You make a really good point about Inara being substance-friendly. There's been a lot of confusion over that damned little box, though - I'd gotten the same impression as you, initially, but my memory of the commentary was that it'd said the opposite. That it wasn't a suicide kit. Which really threw me, but maybe I misunderstood him or something. That'd sure make a lot more sense.

Thanks! I'm not likely to get too far in understanding at the moment (a friend has my DVDs on loan), but someday. *g*

[tonsai.livejournal.com]

haha, i knew you would be! ;)

no, you're right. i think i wrote it wrong or something. he said it *wasn't* a suicide kit, but that the audience thinking it was worked for the narrative of that episode without necessarily interfering with whatever he had planned.

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

Yes, that was it! That damned box has been the cause of a lot of totally useless thought on my part. I really do wonder what he'd had in mind....

[narsilion.livejournal.com]

I was also thinking of the medicinal properties of the opiates (?)
Which would play into not only the client base, but the situation we talked about a while ago about the possibility of her having some sort of slow debilitaing illness (and the whole issue with that damned little box). I definitely agree that Inara would not be the stoner type, but I also don't see her being
prudish in any way when it would come to keeping herself free of pain/able to continue to be herself/do her job/be at her best at all times. Does that make sense?

[cassildra.livejournal.com]

I never noticed it either. Don't feel bad.

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

Thank you!