Serenity: Brief Notes

[butterfly]

Brief notes, hopefully to be expanded later:

The Operative is Mal in The Train Job. Doesn't want to know the truth of what his employers are hiring him for, because as a moral man, knowing the truth makes it impossible for him to do the job.

Belief and love, as previously mentioned, are big notes in the movie. Also heavily hit on is the importance of knowledge and how it informs choice. Knowledge changes perspective, makes sense out of what was previously just nuts. Knowing the truth about Miranda gave River a calmness.

Reavers. Oh, the Reavers. Ties back into the Jasmine arc on Angel -- you can't make a better world by taking away free will. Atheist that Joss is, he makes the best argument for why a true God would be hands-off in a disaster -- it's all about that pesky free will. Free will is a gift, and God doesn't take those back.

Book's death as conventional movie death, with long good-bye, makes Wash's death all the more nakedly sudden. No good-byes. Book's death puts blood on Mal's skin, Wash's death leaves its biggest mark on the inside of Zoe. Big damn heroes get people killed. All of Mal's friends, dead on viewscreens while a zealot tries to convince him that all this death can create a better world.

Twice in the movie, Mal rushes headlong into a trap, knowing full-well that it is a trap. Again, something taken from the tv show -- Mal knows that Patience is planning on killing him because she didn't haggle. In these cases, Inara didn't fight with him. And Mal already knew that the Operative was seeking out and killing everyone that'd helped him in the past, so he had reason to be mighty suspicious in that talk with Mr. Universe.

Adored River's relationship with Mal in this movie. So sweet, with the 'little one' and the 'darling' and the way he was taking great care in looking after her when she was in his charge. They have an understanding, those two. They get each other (I'm reminded, too, of Safe and how River's ramble about the cows only being cows when they're back on land makes sense to Mal, ranch-raised boy). Just... aw.

Comments

[theantimodel.livejournal.com]

The Operative is Mal in The Train Job. Doesn't want to know the truth of what his employers are hiring him for, because as a moral man, knowing the truth makes it impossible for him to do the job.

I disagree, the operative wasn't willfully ignoring anything. He absolutely beleived in the righteousness of his cause. And his belief was unshaken until he was forced with a broken back and half-crushed vocal chords, no less to see the bigger picture. I think Mal is different, Mal has always recognized the possibility that his jobs might have negative consequences, but thwn the money's that good, he'll at least make an effort to turn a blind eye to the consequences of his action. But the operative had no doubt that his actions had consequences, he planned them that way, he wanted all of those people to die, and he did it with eyes wide open. The only truth he didn't know was the fact that his cause was not a righteous one. I think his fanaticism makes him all the more dangerous. Him and Mal are both men of morals, albeit radically different ones, sure, but they're not the same.

What I want to know is: what made Shepard Book turn away from his (implied) status as an operative? What was his eye-opener? And will we ever find out now?

[fatale.livejournal.com]

I liked the relationship between Mal and River, but I just couldn't stomach River. She was distant and repetitive and didn't create any sort of sympathy--something I would definitely have needed to like her in spite of the fact that she had the habit of killing people indiscriminately. I hate to say it, but by the end of the movie when she was with the Reavers, I was relieved to finally see her stop being a whimpering little girl and use what she had for some good for once rather than knowingly putting her so called protectors in constant danger.

[guppiecat]

I just had this discussion with one of my friends.

Yes, Book is dead, but that doesn't mean that we won't find out. After all, he's been in the same room as River. :)

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

The part that I'm thinking of, the part that made me think of it, was him saying that secrets aren't his concern, that keeping them is. And, true enough, when he finds out one of those secrets, it's so antithetical to what he wants the Alliance to be doing that he can't support them anymore.

And in his unblinking eyes at the end, which made me think of Mal in the pilot episode, losing his faith as his side abandoned him, showed him that the thing he'd put faith in hadn't been worth it. So, more in moments than in the entire breadth of his character, but I still saw similarities. And they both have their own sense of honor that doesn't necessarily match anyone else's.

And I do really hope that we find out more about Book's past in another movie (because I really, really hope to have another movie... two more, and then a magical return to television, because I'm just that idealistic, damnit).

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

Ah, I adore River, in all her broken-ness. In her love with her brother, and her quiet kinship with Mal, and just... her Riverness, which I always felt half a heartbeat from understanding.

[fatale.livejournal.com]

She seems to be one of those characters that you either love or hate. I haven't met anyone that feels neutrally about her.

[bhadrasvapna.livejournal.com]

Sorry this is so late. I'm sure you can understand why.

I think the contrast between The Operative and Mal is that The Operative believes a better tomorrow can be created whereas Mal just wants to keep flying. This is why The Operative believes in something strong enough to be willing to do anything. i love the line "I am, however, wearing full body armor. I am not a moron." Mal on the other hand doesn't believe in anything until he is faced with something to believe in.

The Alliance is trying to make a better tomorrow by changing people. As Caron (the hologram on the WAV) says "We meant it for the best." The Operative would be on board with this, except for what it created, Reavers. "Target the Reavers. Target the Reavers! All of them. Someone fire." He says innocent men are dying, and Mal informs him that he doesn't know how right he is, meaning the Reavers are just as innocent as any citizen.

What the Operative sees is not a better world. It is a world of death and aggression. The Operative's belief in a better world, a world that cannot happen by force (mirroring the War for Indepenced/Unification) or trickery. Mal's belief that nothing matters, that all we can do is keep flying, allows him to aim to misbehave. He is able to fight for the right not to be just what we are, to not be improved on even with the best of intentions (again mirroring the War, as we see in the series how effective Alliance control is on the outer rim, they don't even provide security, but hire it out to private contractors.

Mal's belief comes from his disbelief. He is unable to believe in a God who would abandon him at Serenity, hence why God isn't welcome on his boat. (he isn't an atheist so much as someone angry at God. i would have loved how Joss, a confessed angry athiest existentialst) handled this if the series continued. IMO, this anger would have to be addressed leading either to an actual atheist or back to a true believer. You can't disbelive and be angry at the same time.

I don't remember where I was going with all this, so I'll just hit post.