Wednesday
This story is more than a week old, but the case of how a line from the movie "Serenity", based on the moronically discontinued TV series Firefly, was used in a free speech crackdown is still worth a mention. Here is a video with Neil Gaiman, the SF writer, about the controversy. (H/T, Huffington Post).
More commentary from FIRE, the group supporting individual rights in the US education system.
Maybe I should wear my own Western-style "browncoat" coat in sympathy. I bought it in Ireland and it gives me a nice "Clint Eastwood" sort of appearance.
Yes J.P. - this is a major libertarian story (not the little thing it appears to be a first glance).
In this are all the basic issues of academic freedom, free speech generally, the right to bear arms.....
EVERYTHING is in this.
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Almost needless to say Fox ENTERTAINMENT (a very different thing from Fox News) cancelled Firefly (which became the film Serenity).
The astonishing thing was that this series was ever made and shown at all.
Posted by Paul Marks at January 4, 2012 03:41 PM
Call me nerdy, but wasn't quote in question taken from an episode of Firefly, as opposed to the spin off movie?
Posted by Antoine Clarke at January 4, 2012 08:50 PM
The quote is "If I ever kill you, you'll be awake. You'll be facing me. And you'll be armed," from the pilot episode, which ironically was aired last.
The University of Wisconsin is a state school, so the First Amendment is applicable and the professor was clearly within his free speech rights.
Posted by Bruce at January 4, 2012 09:29 PM
The pilot episode is titled "Serenity," as is the movie, so I can see where the confusion would come from.
Posted by JSC at January 4, 2012 10:55 PM
