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Serenity
BBC Learning English – Film News, ‘Serenity’
About this script
Please note that this is not a word for word transcript of the programme as broadcast. In the
recording and editing process changes may have been made which may not be reflected here.
Callum: Hello, I’m Callum Robertson, and this is Entertainment. In the programme today
we’ll be hearing lots of language from the world of film, and listening to an
interview with the director Joss Whedon about his latest movie called
‘Serenity’. ‘Serenity’ has been described by critics as ‘a blockbuster’ – a very
good film – because it’s full of action and emotion. And it’s certainly an unusual
movie – it’s billed, or advertised, as a ‘sci-fi western’. In other words, it mixes
two genres, or types, of film: science fiction and western. And I think we really
have to imagine space ships full of cowboys!
Here’s the first part of our interview with Joss Whedon. See if you can catch
what he especially loves about science fiction movies.
JOSS WHEDON
There’s something in science fiction that I love very much that I’ve missed of late which is a
sort of gritty-ness – the reality of what it must be like to be up in a small community, or a small
ship. So I had a perfectly disparate set of elements: I had people who were actual size and a
story that was larger than life, and when you put those two together, I think you get the most
exciting kind of film making.
Callum: Joss Whedon says he loves the ‘gritty-ness’ of science fiction movies – how
they look at the difficult and unpleasant side of situations. And he’s extremely
Film News – Serenity © BBC Learning English
October 20, 2005 Page 2 of 5
bbclearningenglish.com
 interested in imagining what it’s really like to be part of a small crew inside a
space ship! He says he has many ‘disparate’, or different, ‘elements’ for the
film - he had ‘actual size’ characters, and ‘a story’, or plot, that was larger than
life’ - it was very funny and exciting. Let’s listen again.
JOSS WHEDON
There’s something in science fiction that I love very much that I’ve missed of late which is a
sort of gritty-ness – the reality of what it must be like to be up in a small community, or a small
ship. So I had a perfectly disparate set of elements: I had people who were actual size and a
story that was larger than life, and when you put those two together, I think you get the most
exciting kind of film making.
Callum: The story of ‘Serenity’ is set 500 years in the future and it revolves around the
crew of a space ship with the same name - ‘Serenity’. After ending up on the
losing side of an inter-galactic war, the captain of Serenity, Mal, is prepared to
take on any job no matter how dishonest!
In the next part of our interview, director Joss Whedon explains why, even
though the idea of a ‘sci-fi western’ might seem silly or embarrassing, these two
types of film are actually about the same thing – ‘frontier life’. After all, in
American cowboy and Indian films, ‘the frontier’ is an area of land where
people have never lived before. And in the world of sci-fi, space is often
referred to as ‘the final frontier’.
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 As you listen, try to catch how Joss Whedon describes the ‘age’, or time of
history, we are living in now.
JOSS WHEDON
Well, you know, a lot of people hear the term ‘science fiction western’ and they cringe – they
think there’s going to be big hats and it’s going to be hokey and what exciting about frontier
life is the physicality of it and that’s something that we’re losing in the internet age. So to me,
the western and science fiction actually belong together, and to say ‘sci-fi western’ is, in some
ways, redundant.
Callum: So Joss Whedon says we’re living in ‘the internet age’. And we’re losing sight
of the ‘physicality’, the real objects that are part of life whether you’re a
cowboy or space traveller! He says that a lot of people ‘cringe’ – they feel
embarrassed - by the ‘term’, or description, ‘science fiction western’. He says
people think there’ll be ‘big hats’ (well, cowboys do wear large hats called
Stetsons) and it’ll be ‘hokey’ – it’ll be totally unbelievable. Let’s listen again.
JOSS WHEDON
Well, you know, a lot of people hear the term ‘science fiction western’ and they cringe – they
think there’s going to be big hats and it’s going to be hokey and what exciting about frontier
life is the physicality of it and that’s something that we’re losing in the internet age. So to me,
the western and science fiction actually belong together, and to say ‘sci-fi western’ is, in some
ways, redundant.
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Callum: And finally, to end our Entertainment programme today, here again is some of
the language used by director Joss Whedon.
‘a science fiction western’
‘gritty-ness’
‘disparate’
‘larger than life’
‘to make you cringe’
‘to be hokey’
‘frontier’
‘physicality’
and
‘the internet age’.
There’ll be more ‘Entertainment’ language and news next time!
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