Serenity now!

It should come as no surprise that Joss Whedon, the brains—and we do mean brains—behind such well-written, witty and philosophical TV shows as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel and Firefly, is committed to strong, safe, successful women. We’d expect nothing less from the man who gave us Buffy, Willow, Fred (yes, she’s a woman), Zoe and so many other bright, confident, weapon-wielding women.

In honor of Whedon’s June 23 birthday, and while they await next year’s release of the Wonder Woman movie he wrote and produced, his diehard fans are drumming up money for his favorite charity: Equality Now. Proceeds from special fund-raising screenings of Serenity, the 2005 movie Whedon produced and directed based on the Firefly series, will be donated to aid the nonprofit in its mission of ending violence and discrimination against women and girls around the world.

The Sacramento chapter of Browncoats, as Serenity/Firefly fans call themselves, are sponsoring a screening at the Century Stadium 14 theaters in Sacramento at midnight on June 23. Tickets, available in advance through PayPal and at the door, cost $10, and the festivities will include a raffle. Details about the screening, as well as directions for purchasing advance tix, are available at www.sacbrowncoats.com/SerenityNow.htm.

Even if you don’t know about Capt. Malcolm “Mal” Reynolds and his complement of resourceful adventurers aboard the good ship Serenity, you can be sure it’s an action-packed and thoughtful combination of space saga and Western, in the finest tradition of both genres. For the more politically inclined, it also raises some intriguing questions about whether security is worth the liberty that must be surrendered in order to achieve it.

And there are explosions. What’s not to like?