Okay, I totally agree with you on Xander. I pissed my sister (a huge fan of the show and the three main characters) off with how much I complained about him and his creepiness.

But the guy in shindig is supposed to be an asshole, and I don't think it's fair to say "Whedon doesn't respect Inara" because one of the characters he and the other writers made didn't respect her.

I also think expecting everyone in the verse to be respectful of companions is a bit unrealistic, like how in our world people are respectful of sex workers while others find them demeaning. Sure, most people in the inner worlds view companions highly, but then there's guys like Atherton Wing, who are just assholes no matter where they were born.

And yes, Mal is a jerk. He is a jerk in quite a few of the episodes. He insults some of his crew members, puts the job above morals, views the Alliance as one big evil entity, and belittles Inara and her profession because he doesn't get it. He is a character (and a dick, don't get me wrong), and he isn't there to be a champion for feminism and all the stuff we want him to be. Yeah, that seems like a big reason for Inara to not be in love with him, but c'mon, he's hot (kidding I swear). I have no particularly good, logical reason for them to be together in the end.

I'm sorry because I probably came off as some huge "Whedon Apologist" but really, I just wanted the chance to defend my favorite show (I never really cared much for Buffy/Angel/Dollhouse etc, so I can't really defend them as much, which is good, because you never asked for my opinion anyway)

Oh god, I've just rambled on. I am so sorry if none of this makes sense, what have I done