Characterising Kaylee
POSTED BY: nbz
UPDATED: Saturday, October 27, 2007 00:51
VIEWED: 25909
PAGE 2 of 9
Quote:
Originally posted by Leiasky:
Can't agree with anything you said, NBZ, but that she is insecure. She's a rim world girl who, just like so many, wants to be prettier, wants to be accepted, wants to be able to fit in.
Anything fancy (words, clothing, locations) she is like a fish out of water. She tries to fit in, but because of how she was raised, she's just a little different and can't hide that fact.
So, she's insecure and embarrassed in those situations.
i actually think kaylee fits all the descriptions here - especially as she is still a developing character and a growing woman.
i agree that she is a fish out of water in the world of the fancy - but - she was also clearly under-appreciated at home, no-one took her mechanic skills seriously.
she was very quick to seize her chance, ditch her boy friend (or wotever) and folks and fly with serenity. on board serenity she had her first tastes of a life beyond her, inara - shindig - being respected for her skills... but also danger and darkness - and it's clear that by BDM she has toughened up.
i also believe that she is essentially a 'nice' person - but relates more easily to machinery, perhaps, than complex people.
of course different writers on the show put the emphasis on different sides to her.
i go back to my view that Early's attack was a pivotal moment for change.
stay shiny
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Something interesting I've noticed about Kaylee is that she is actually more sexually liberated than Inara. If Kaylee wants someone and he wants her - BAM!! She does not have to worry about guild rules or her potential lover's financial or social situation. It is funny that Kaylee thinks Inara lives such a romantic life when Kaylee is really the one who can act on her desires.
May have been on the losing side, still not convinced it was the wrong one.
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I actually think I've known a few people like Kaylee. Young people who were too smart, too talented, too hopeful, too gorram shiny for the small town (or bad neighborhood) they were born in. People whose ambition is to get away and do something new, something where they get a chance to shine. They're proud of themselves and their families, but want to shake the dust of their home town off their boots. For many, the dark side of what's driving them is the fear that they'll end up back in the same place they started.
I see Kaylee a lot like that, and her development between the series and the BDM as her learning to value herself instead of seeing herself as only valued through her association with others (Simon, Mal).
I do see her encounter with Early as having an effect on her. It was the first time in the series we saw Kaylee actually be brave and facing her demons. Later, she learns to face down her very own Cap'n.
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I think of Serenity as being Kaylee's true love--I completely disagree that she thinks of being the mechanic as a dead-end job. (And if she *did* she could easily go home--we have no reason to think her parents disowned her--or get a job on another ship or downplanet; people in a struggling settlement always have things that need fixing and they can't afford to replace.)
I do wish we'd seen her parents, but it seems pretty straightforward to me: Kaylee had a chance to advance herself working on a ship, and it was a better job than was available at home. Mal probably put on his dress coat and did his best to make the Fryes think that he was a nice man who'd look after their daughter.
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Fun stuff nbz! What you're suggesting is certainly far off from the popular take on Kaylee, but I can almost see it. I don't see her as actively ambitious, using Inara and Simon as stepping stone, but it's clear that she's drawn to people who are wordly (versely?).
I don't like how she's such a creampuff in most fic, all scared and teary and in need of protection. And yet, fics also have her remain a fuzzy ball of love, no matter what she goes through. I think she's tougher than that, and at the same time more likely to change over time.
In some ways, this girl is a blank canvas. She hasn't lived in the big world yet, and she's got all kinds of potential to become a very different person, depending on what she experiences. What she has to start with is hella talent and smarts and a courageous kind of naivete (leaving home like she did - brave and also stupid! As I fic'ed once, if Mal had been a different kind of captain, she might have had a horrible, horrible experience on Serenity.)
But she's also got a huge bunch of insecurity, a dangerous tendency to put people on pedestals based on how shiny they seem on the outside. She leaves herself open to be taken advantage of. It could leave her jaded, if one of these people let her down. And if she loses her innocence, what she might be left with is ambition.
Much food for thought...
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hmm-burble-blah, blah-blah-blah, take a left
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Concatenating a few posts/replies:
Quote:
Originally posted by Leiasky:
Can't agree with anything you said, NBZ, but that she is insecure.
Guess I will have to live with that. :) if my idea was popular, it would be more prevalent in fic out there.
Quote:
Anything fancy (words, clothing, locations) she is like a fish out of water.
Oh, absolutely, but at the same time does she NOT want to be there? I think on balance she would rather be there. Next time there is a potential to be less out of water.
Quote:
Originally posted by WYTCHCROFT:
she was also clearly under-appreciated at home, no-one took her mechanic skills seriously.
That is an assumption stated as fact. :)
She did say her daddy thought she was a natural or something. And that she helped out when they had work.
Quote:
Originally posted by SHINYSEVEN2:
I completely disagree that she thinks of being the mechanic as a dead-end job.
I don't think she sees it as a dead end job. More, a stepping stone to greatness.
Exactly as you put it:
Quote:
Kaylee had a chance to advance herself working on a ship, and it was a better job than was available at home
Just replace "Home" "Home as in Serenity" and "a ship" with "another ship". It is the same ambition that would drive the same change.
Quote:
Originally posted by MAL4PREZ:
Fun stuff nbz! What you're suggesting is certainly far off from the popular take on Kaylee, but I can almost see it. I don't see her as actively ambitious, using Inara and Simon as stepping stone, but it's clear that she's drawn to people who are wordly (versely?).
I would go for "worldsly" :P
I don't think it is a conscious decision. More of gravitating towards what she wants. She likes to hear the intricacies of their (past in the case of Simon) lives.
She does have a strength, but even that IMO has a backbone in ambition. How she ripped that commander in Bushwacked was hilarious.
I don't see her getting too dark. Wash never did. (ofcourse he is a different character, but I am saying that it is not essential for her to go all dark. Her inner character will IMO remain unchanged).
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Quote:
Originally posted by mal4prez:
Fun stuff nbz! What you're suggesting is certainly far off from the popular take on Kaylee, but I can almost see it. I don't see her as actively ambitious, using Inara and Simon as stepping stone, but it's clear that she's drawn to people who are wordly (versely?).
Agreed. Another slant on that, though, is that she just wants to see shiny new things.
Quote:
I don't like how she's such a creampuff in most fic, all scared and teary and in need of protection. And yet, fics also have her remain a fuzzy ball of love, no matter what she goes through. I think she's tougher than that, and at the same time more likely to change over time.
Absolutely agreeing!
Quote:
In some ways, this girl is a blank canvas. She hasn't lived in the big world yet, and she's got all kinds of potential to become a very different person, depending on what she experiences. What she has to start with is hella talent and smarts and a courageous kind of naivete (leaving home like she did - brave and also stupid! As I fic'ed once, if Mal had been a different kind of captain, she might have had a horrible, horrible experience on Serenity.)
Yes, but keep in mind that she is an adult. She's already grown up, shaped herself to a certain set of beliefs and customs. While she has room to change, she isn't going to have any radical changes.
Quote:
But she's also got a huge bunch of insecurity, a dangerous tendency to put people on pedestals based on how shiny they seem on the outside. She leaves herself open to be taken advantage of. It could leave her jaded, if one of these people let her down. And if she loses her innocence, what she might be left with is ambition.
I think that's absolutely accurate. She does have a sweet and cheerful nature, but that's not all she is.
Quote:
Much food for thought...
-----------------------------------------------
hmm-burble-blah, blah-blah-blah, take a left
"The human body can be drained of blood in 8.6 seconds, given adequate vaccuuming systems." -River
"It's just an object. It doesn't mean what you think -River
Bwaa!
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listening to the commentary on war stories again last night - interesting to hear Fillion and Tudyk's take on kaylee...
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Quote:
Originally posted by wytchcroft:
listening to the commentary on war stories again last night - interesting to hear Fillion and Tudyk's take on kaylee...
What is their take?
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i'll come again with real quotes -
but on the whole - very much the "she's an innocent girl in a den of thieves -
aaargh I can't stand it when she has a gun -
she couldn't kill anyone -"
etc -
they get very caught up in the drama - watching her emotions which is:
a) a little patronising
b) genuinely CARING - very parental/older brothery.
(it's all in the tone of their voices and the fact that they lose track of jewel and talk about kaylee as if she's real. and get upset for her).
they also point out how she reacts to EVERYTHING all the time, people talking, holding objects - she reacts to what is in front of her straight away.
side bar: they also point out something about Jayne which i had noticed and haven't been able to put in fic form - he is always smelling, touching , tasting thngs.
there is also a lovely moment when Alan (i think) says "ooh nice cgi ship shot."
and Fillion - after a beat - just says, very quietly, "Damn, i love my ship."
priceless firefly stuff.
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