Firefly (TV series)/Analysis: Difference between revisions
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Everything in [[Firefly]] is set up in an anti-authoritarian manner. In the Civil War analogy we side with the Independents and the Confederacy counterpart against Unity. Inside the ship, Mal is the captain but he doesn't rule the roost by a strict structure or enforcement of the maritime (or.. spacetime?) code of conduct. Instead the crew is held together by a strong sense of [[True Companions]] and Mal beating people with [[The Chains of Commanding]]. Sometimes its the heavy burden associated with the metaphorical chains of commanding, other times its real metal chains. |
Everything in [[Firefly]] is set up in an anti-authoritarian manner. In the Civil War analogy we side with the Independents and the Confederacy counterpart against Unity. Inside the ship, Mal is the captain but he doesn't rule the roost by a strict structure or enforcement of the maritime (or.. spacetime?) code of conduct. Instead the crew is held together by a strong sense of [[True Companions]] and Mal beating people with [[The Chains of Commanding]]. Sometimes its the heavy burden associated with the metaphorical chains of commanding, other times its real metal chains. |
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Just look at Mal himself, an [[Anti-Hero]] with the tagline "I aim to misbehave", forget helping the hopeless. |
Just look at Mal himself, an [[Anti-Hero]] with the tagline "I aim to misbehave", forget helping the hopeless. |
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== Sin is Essential to Humanity == |
== Sin is Essential to Humanity == |
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Both of these characters are strong physically, but they paid for it in terms of a loss of innocence; in Mal's case, the brutal destruction of his faith and ideals, and in River's case, the death of her childhood and mental stability. |
Both of these characters are strong physically, but they paid for it in terms of a loss of innocence; in Mal's case, the brutal destruction of his faith and ideals, and in River's case, the death of her childhood and mental stability. |
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* To add onto the above: A character's physical prowess can be correlated to how far gone their innocence is. On one far end of the spectrum, we have Wash, Simon, and Kaylee, who are just this side of being [[Wide-Eyed Idealist|Wide Eyed Idealists]] at times (well, Kaylee is far on the other side of that most times...), and they are all generally weaker in confrontations. On the other end, we have Inara, Zoe, and Jayne, who are considerably less innocent, and far stronger as a result. Similarly, one can plot these characters on the [[Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism]], and see that the more cynical a character is, the better suited they are in a confrontation. |
* To add onto the above: A character's physical prowess can be correlated to how far gone their innocence is. On one far end of the spectrum, we have Wash, Simon, and Kaylee, who are just this side of being [[Wide-Eyed Idealist|Wide Eyed Idealists]] at times (well, Kaylee is far on the other side of that most times...), and they are all generally weaker in confrontations. On the other end, we have Inara, Zoe, and Jayne, who are considerably less innocent, and far stronger as a result. Similarly, one can plot these characters on the [[Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism]], and see that the more cynical a character is, the better suited they are in a confrontation. |
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:: Simon [[Took a Level |
:: Simon [[Took a Level in Badass]], and the first thing he does is steal medicine from a ''hospital'', in a sort of parallel to Mal's theft of medicine on a much smaller scale towards the beginning of the series, showing that he has slid towards the Cynical end of the scale. |
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:: Book ''appears'' to be on the Idealistic end of the spectrum, but we gradually realize (and later have confirmed) that he is in fact far on the Cynical end, having taken his vows possibly as a means of atonement, enforcing a more Idealistic outlook on himself, thus leaving him far more formidable in a confrontation than one would expect. River, having suffered badly from [[Break the Cutie]], constantly dances back and forth on this scale, due to her mental instability, and is thus both very formidable and very vulnerable. [[Setting as a Character|Serenity herself]] has been through many rough times, being a very old ship (but not as old as some that Book has traveled on in his day), and in fact had hit rock bottom when she joined Mal's crew, and proves to be one of the most formidable characters despite being completely unarmed. |
:: Book ''appears'' to be on the Idealistic end of the spectrum, but we gradually realize (and later have confirmed) that he is in fact far on the Cynical end, having taken his vows possibly as a means of atonement, enforcing a more Idealistic outlook on himself, thus leaving him far more formidable in a confrontation than one would expect. River, having suffered badly from [[Break the Cutie]], constantly dances back and forth on this scale, due to her mental instability, and is thus both very formidable and very vulnerable. [[Setting as a Character|Serenity herself]] has been through many rough times, being a very old ship (but not as old as some that Book has traveled on in his day), and in fact had hit rock bottom when she joined Mal's crew, and proves to be one of the most formidable characters despite being completely unarmed. |
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[[Category:Analysis]] |
[[Category:Analysis]] |
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