Serenity: Further Thoughts

[butterfly]

Joss doesn't cheat. This is... something that I'm also enjoying about Battlestar Galactica, to be honest. They don't cheat. Every victory has a price, every plan has a draw-back, and no good deed goes unpunished.

Heroes are the guys that get other people killed (double ouch for Zoe being the one to say that line). Someone was going to die, because the intensity of the last part of the movie demanded it -- we needed to be in suspense. People can die, in Jossverse, and it isn't always telegraphed.

And they don't always get to say good-bye.

Book got to say good-bye, got to tell Mal one last thing. Wash didn't have that chance with Zoe.

This movie -- about five minutes into it, I grabbed onto jic's hand and I didn't let go for the rest of the movie. I've always found the River storyline intriguing, but I loved what they did with the Reavers.

We have met the enemy, and they are us. That the Alliance created the Reavers is very in tune with that idea, as is the change in the new BSG to have the Cylons created by humans.

At its best, science-fiction is about exploring humanity, about exploring what it means to be human. It's not about gadgets, not about aliens. It's about people, in all their glorious ranges of fucked-up-ness.

And then there's the humor. See, the wonderful thing about Joss is that he knows that in the midst of horror and pain, people can still be beautiful and brave and funny. Life is pain and life is joy, because life is life.

This is something that I have long felt to be true -- the pain that I have felt can emphasis what true happiness can be found.

It brings everything into focus (note: I am not speaking of depression when I speak of pain. Depression even drowns out the pain, which is why I was a cutter, the pain reminded me that I was alive, made me exist again). Wash dies, and we know that anyone can die.

In the end, of course, everyone dies, each and every one of us.

As Mal said in The Message, everyone has a bullet meant for them, and the trick is to die of old age before it finds you. We're all working on a deadline, we all have a limited time frame.

We all die, in the end.

This is only as bleak as we see it to be, I believe.

I just... I love this movie so much, and I most definitely recommend it. I'm very much looking forward to seeing it again tomorrow.