I started watching Firefly with my Chinese-American/ABC friend whose family is fluent in Mandarin, and that was always one of her main comments: THEY'RE NOT SPEAKING CHINESE! Apparently, the only one close enough to having the right accent was Inara.
I also noticed the distinct lack of Asians in the cast, though for some reason, I think I always assumed the Tams were half Asian. The author of that article was making several really good points, but it always bothers me when I don't necessarily notice stuff like that for myself outright. I love Firefly so much that I wonder if sometimes I just let myself overlook details like that?
ETA: About the 'not-speaking Chinese' thing...it occurs to me that while it may have SOUNDED like gibberish, they did attempt to learn how, and speaking as a Westerner who has tried to learn Chinese, it really is exceedingly difficult. The accent has to be absolutely precise, and when they're trying to throw phrases into everyday conversation like that, I'd imagine it'd be pretty hard to get it perfect. It's not at all an excuse for the lack of East Asians in the cast, but it's something.
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I started watching Firefly with my Chinese-American/ABC friend whose family is fluent in Mandarin, and that was always one of her main comments: THEY'RE NOT SPEAKING CHINESE! Apparently, the only one close enough to having the right accent was Inara.
I also noticed the distinct lack of Asians in the cast, though for some reason, I think I always assumed the Tams were half Asian. The author of that article was making several really good points, but it always bothers me when I don't necessarily notice stuff like that for myself outright. I love Firefly so much that I wonder if sometimes I just let myself overlook details like that?
ETA: About the 'not-speaking Chinese' thing...it occurs to me that while it may have SOUNDED like gibberish, they did attempt to learn how, and speaking as a Westerner who has tried to learn Chinese, it really is exceedingly difficult. The accent has to be absolutely precise, and when they're trying to throw phrases into everyday conversation like that, I'd imagine it'd be pretty hard to get it perfect. It's not at all an excuse for the lack of East Asians in the cast, but it's something.