Serenity/Fridge: Difference between revisions

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**** I'm pretty sure the above troper is talking about when she feels the echoes of the disaster after they land, not when it actually happened. ~[[Tropers/JET 73 L|JET 73 L]]

***** It may actually be both. Remember that in the series, Simon's exam establishes that River has no emotional filters. Essentially, her problem is the exact opposite of a sociopath's: she has *too much* empathy. If she were to unwittingly pluck the Miranda secret from a high ranking official's mind -- not just hear about it on the news, but be exposed to it, unwillingly, in its totality -- it's not hard to imagine that it could overwhelm her mentally and emotionally, especially when you consider the torturous situation she lived in at the time.

** On my third viewing of ''Serenity'', I realized that not only does the Alliance avert the typical SciFi [[Card Carrying Villain|Card Carrying Villainy]], but they're actually a much greater threat because of it. Anyone with half a brain can see that people like [[Star Wars|Emperor Palpatine or Grand Moff Tarkin]] are incredible assholes and should be resisted. And even if they do manage to cow the populace into staying in line, the populace will be exactly that, cowed into staying in line and not deviating from their predefined role when really, in order for a society to prosper, people need to be free to change and evolve. But with a set up like The Alliance, people won't really realize what's going on until after they are affected by it; who cares if some little girl gets her brain cut up as long as its for "The Greater Good" (provided, of course, that it's not their sister getting her brain cut up -- but by the time that happens, it'll be too late). -- [[Tropers/Taelor|Taelor]]

** On my third viewing of ''Serenity'', I realized that not only does the Alliance avert the typical SciFi [[Card-Carrying Villain|Card Carrying Villainy]], but they're actually a much greater threat because of it. Anyone with half a brain can see that people like [[Star Wars|Emperor Palpatine or Grand Moff Tarkin]] are incredible assholes and should be resisted. And even if they do manage to cow the populace into staying in line, the populace will be exactly that, cowed into staying in line and not deviating from their predefined role when really, in order for a society to prosper, people need to be free to change and evolve. But with a set up like The Alliance, people won't really realize what's going on until after they are affected by it; who cares if some little girl gets her brain cut up as long as its for "The Greater Good" (provided, of course, that it's not their sister getting her brain cut up -- but by the time that happens, it'll be too late). -- [[Tropers/Taelor|Taelor]]

*** This! For the whole series, the incentive is to say "Yes, the Alliance was mean to River, and their officers are a little humorless, but their goal is for everyone to live in a shiny democratic utopia free from want, and the Mal's goal is effectively for everyone to live on mudballs ruled by petty dictators and thugs. Then the Big Damn Movie happens, and Miranda strikes everyone as completely in character for the Alliance, and puts things in perspective.

*** In the end, it's not so much about Good vs Evil as it Law vs Chaos.

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* You would think that after all a self-confessed [[Complete Monster]] like The Operative has done to Mal and his crew, he would have earned himself the mother of all gruesome deaths, like being fed feet-first to the Reavers or something. At first, I had merely thought of Mal sparing The Operative's life as just another of Whedon's many subverted tropes, namely in this how case the good guy always has to kill the bad guy. Okay, Mal showed him the truth about the Alliance, but was that really worse than killing him, really? And then it hit me: a complete loss of faith really was the ''worst'' thing Mal could think to inflict on someone. Because he would know, ''he suffered the exact same thing at Serenity Valley!'' Bravo, Mister Whedon. Bravo.

** There's a deleted scene that makes this more explicit, where the Operative asks Mal how he was able to keep going after Serenity.

* When the Operative asks Mal what his sin is, Mal replies "Hell, I'm a fan of all seven. But right now, I'm gonna have to go with ''wrath''." This seems like a snarky [[Pre Ass Kicking One Liner]] -Which is probably what Mal intended it to be- but if you think about it, wrath really is Mal's sin. Most of his actions in the movie were motivated by anger, first at Book's death and then at the knowledge that the Alliance had wiped out an entire planet and created the Reavers attempting to make people "better". Even in the series, while Mal has mostly resigned himself to the Browncoat's defeat, he still hates the Alliance (and depending on your [[Alternate Character Interpretation|interpretation]] of his faith, God) for the war. Had Mal not cut him off, "wrath" is what the Operative would have told him. -- [[Tropers/Lord Sothe|Lord Sothe]]

* When the Operative asks Mal what his sin is, Mal replies "Hell, I'm a fan of all seven. But right now, I'm gonna have to go with ''wrath''." This seems like a snarky [[Pre-Ass-Kicking One-Liner]] -Which is probably what Mal intended it to be- but if you think about it, wrath really is Mal's sin. Most of his actions in the movie were motivated by anger, first at Book's death and then at the knowledge that the Alliance had wiped out an entire planet and created the Reavers attempting to make people "better". Even in the series, while Mal has mostly resigned himself to the Browncoat's defeat, he still hates the Alliance (and depending on your [[Alternate Character Interpretation|interpretation]] of his faith, God) for the war. Had Mal not cut him off, "wrath" is what the Operative would have told him. -- [[Tropers/Lord Sothe|Lord Sothe]]

* [[Fridge Horror]]

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* Some subtle references: not for nothing is the name Miranda used. Some of the bulkheads on the Alliance ship are more explicit: [[Forbidden Planet|C-57D]]. And what are the reavers, but monsters from the id? O brave new world, that hath such people in it... - cjlr

* The operator goes on about the fact that Mal is “not the plucky hero, the Alliance is not an evil empire, etc.” He promptly gets royally pwned because he forgot that Inara is not the damsel in distress. -Leahweird

** [[Pre Ass Kicking One Liner|"And that's not incense."]] That move with the flash-bang probably greatly ''[[Incredibly Lame Pun|incensed]]'' the Operative. - [[Neo Retro 10 K]]

** [[Pre-Ass-Kicking One-Liner|"And that's not incense."]] That move with the flash-bang probably greatly ''[[Incredibly Lame Pun|incensed]]'' the Operative. - [[Neo Retro 10 K]]

* Here's some possible [[Fridge Horror]]: Along with Haven, the Operative also ordered everywhere that had sheltered Serenity or had a connection to the ship destroyed. Depending on how extensive that order was (and, let's face it, The Operative was going all out with his mission so it was probably far-reaching), it may have included killing off all or most of the crew's allies from back in the series. Friendly old Warwick Harrow? That loveable [[Space Jew]] from "The Message"? The whorehouse with the baby from "Heart of Gold", bearing in mind that The Operative freely admits he sometimes murders children? No reason to think they may not all be somewhere on the video feed...

** The Operative says he's leaving them "no ground to go to" and Zoe tells Wash to alert anyone who's sheltered them after a heist. It's much more likely the Operative simply wiped out the people who're known to have given Serenity shelter until the heat's off; none of the three you mentioned did that. Plus, bit of a difference between him attacking known hives of scum and villainy and attacking ranking, high class members of the aristocracy and a public institution like the post office.