Blog #9 Prospectus

I'm looking at using the Firefly "Shindig" episode for my Analytical Research Project.  This episode illustrates some off the irrational and sometimes crazy things that men do when they are "in love" with a woman.  Joss Wheden illustrates this in the "Shindig" episode by showing two men (Atherton and Mal) challenging each other to a sword fight over the girl (Inara).   We see this dual as being a bit over the top, but for the two men, there is nothing more important at the moment than Inara.

From a rational standpoint, we reason that there are plenty of fish in the sea, and that the love of one person isn't worth dying for.  At a boiling point in "Shindig" we see two men who obviously have strong feelings for the same woman.  Whedon illustrates that rationality means little when the emotions of love and affection come into play.  There comes a time when either man is willing to die in order to win the girl.  It makes very little sense that Mal would fight so hard to "defend the honor" of a woman he sometimes would call a "whore".   This proves somewhat ironic, but also shows us a serious development in the relationship between Mal and Inara. 

Atherton has less to lose, he is a skilled swordsman.  He is the one who actually proposes the duel.  He does this in part because he knows he would stand little chance if he had to fight Mal without a weapon. 

There are many episodes and examples throughout history of men doing things that are borderline crazy to win over the women they are in love with.  I'm not exactly sure what I will look for in terms of research, but probably some real world historical references, along with more recent examples.  "How far will men go for love ?", or something to that effect may end up being the potential research question.  I don't believe the episode makes a strong argument, but more of a statement about how a man will do anything for a woman he truly loves.  As stated, there have been many examples of this throughout history, and I intend to find some of the classic ones for my paper.   I'm also planning to question and examine why other instances of this irrational sort of behavior occur, and why people (men especially) , would be willing to risk not only their safety, but pretty much everything they have in order to win over a woman.