Kaylee's Reaction in 'The Message'...

POSTED BY: Shrouded
UPDATED: Monday, August 21, 2006 23:41
VIEWED: 4850
PAGE 2 of 2

PREV PAGE 1 2

SERYN

Monday, August 21, 2006 9:51 AM

Quote:

Simon was trying to make a joke. Not a successful one, of course, but this was really an occasion of Kaylee's insecurity acting up just as much as Simon's lack of humorous judgment.

Kaylee's an odd creature in that she can be verty perceptive about people (say, Book in the pilot) and then she can be fairly dense. Simon is easily flustered, but she never tries to understand that. She expects him to say the right thing, and when he so obviously messes up she just gets mad without trying to place it in context.
Having Mal staring at you like he'll shoot you after waking up with Kaylee in "Jaynestown", yes, that can send a person stumbling over his words. Especially funny since it was obviously just a joke to Mal. Kaylee never even bothers to notice.

Then in the cow scene, she's pushing for compliments. He tries to make a joke and off she goes. She could have seen the humor if she wasn't so insecure, if she didn't hold Simon responsible for convincing her she has a chance with him. She's the one with the crush but she acts as passively as if he's supposed to woo her and gets angry when he fails to. It's weird.

That sort of insecurity makes her vulnerable to Tracey who's quite obviously playing to her admiration because it's another opportunity for him to use, just like Mal and Zoe are.

Kaylee is young, and she's romantisizing Simon - he's her prince charming - she probably sees him as perfect - handsom, (once) rich, clever, sucessfull, clean! (i know, in the movie, she chides him for it, but when he's so different to everything else she's been used to, its hard not to find the uniquness attractive) so she's putting him on a pedestal, and expecting him to be so much better than other men, so his constant footinmouth moments are, to her mind, unforgivable, cause he shouldn't have them - in her head he's so much suaver than that. Plus she likes him, so theres extra importance invested in everything he says. And as for her being passive, i think part of this romantic image she has of Simon is that this time ( as her prince charming)he'll be the one to woo her. I get the impression she's made it obvious that she's interested, now he has to respond and let here know that he wants the same thing. She can sense that he does, but she now need the declaration, and something tells me she's never been made to wait before, which must be frustrating!

Also, its easy to be perceptive when you have no emotional investment in the object, as a dispassionate observer, as with Book, as with exchanges between Mal and Inara that she see's, she's on the outside looking in and can objectively judge the situation.
With Simon, there no ability to stand back and be objective - she's in the middle of whats happening, and other emotions are crowding in giving her less of a chance to be reasonable.

I think its less insecurity (we all know haow Mal met her, she's not a shy lass when it comes to relationships) and more emotional immaturity - she's yet to learn to be objective - beleive it or not, the one thing that helps a girl learn that is talking things over with friends (girly gossip!) and who exactly, can she do that with?

SHROUDED

Monday, August 21, 2006 12:36 PM

I don't think Kaylee and Tracey had any chemistry at all. I think, like at the beginning of the series when Kaylee met Simon, that she got a mite lusty. Also, from what Kaylee saw, he was in his own way a bit like Simon - cute, sweet, cared about his family... But, at the same time, he was different - more like her (more rural, not much money). Also, he was a tad bit better at telling girls what they like to hear than Simon was, because I doubt Simon has had much experience with any girls besides his sister. I mean, it's pretty clear, combining when he tells zoe in the same episode, "I'm not really good at talking to girls" from the episode Safe when his parents (I foget whether the father or mother) says that some girl has always showed an interest in him. he just brushes it off (of course, it may be because River was in danger and he knew it, but...).

What I'm trying to say..... Kaylee and Simon all the way!

---------------------------------------

When you can't run, you crawl, and when you can't do that you sit still and watch episodes of Firefly.

AGENTROUKA

Monday, August 21, 2006 2:40 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by seryn:

I think its less insecurity (we all know haow Mal met her, she's not a shy lass when it comes to relationships) and more emotional immaturity - she's yet to learn to be objective - beleive it or not, the one thing that helps a girl learn that is talking things over with friends (girly gossip!) and who exactly, can she do that with?

I guess it's a little of both. Her insecurity stems from her tendency to idealize, which is an aspect of her emotional immaturity.

(Interestingly, it's of course nothing but the negative side of the faith she has in people. Kaylee projects her good expectations and most of the time, people want to live up to them. Mal, for one. But it just doesn't work that way in romance, which works against Kaylee.)

I did specifically emphasize insecurity, because Kaylee has low self-esteem. Bester is an idiot and even she can tell. There is nothing to be shy about, not to mention, it's sex. Kaylee's fine with sex. What cuts her down easily is physical appearance and class. She slinks away meekly hurt when Mal implies she doesn't belong in a pretty dress in "Shindig", conversations with Inara in "The Train Job" and "Safe" touch on Simon being "rich" or "much too (insert anything, as it implies superiority either way)" and sh specifically pushes for compliments about her looks in "The Message". Again in "Safe", Simon's disdain of her "class" cuts her very deeply.

She doesn't have much of a backbone in the series, which is not to say she can't be brave, but it generally takes coaxing, and her spirit is easily cut down in certain ways.

I especially like "The Message" because it ends with Kaylee having learned something about that idealized picture. While tracey says all the right things, he's a fake coward who played her like a fiddle. Simon is awkward and takes guts and determination to conquer, but he's honest and real, and she ends up approaching him and offering her unconditional support, just in that gesture of taking his hand. That was a lovely arch of character growth in the episode.

TRAVELER

Monday, August 21, 2006 11:41 PM

Not much to add here. I'm in agreement with Desktophippie, Seryn, and Agentrouka. Kaylee is young and so still has some immaturity in her.
And when someone becomes important to you, like Simon is to Kaylee, you put them on a pedestal.
And Simon is immature when it comes to women. And his feelings for Kaylee probably make it worse.
http://flashgordon.ws/images/217.JPG
Ah the trials of true love

Traveler

PREV PAGE 1 2