Would you say River is the soul of the ship?

POSTED BY: PhyreLight
UPDATED: Tuesday, January 8, 2008 14:54
VIEWED: 10095
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AGENTROUKA

Friday, January 4, 2008 9:06 PM

Can we make Jayne a more gender-neutral thing, since Serenity is obviously a "she"? ;)

My personal theory is that Mal IS the ship, not a part of it, and that everyone else on it is just as aspect of Mal, similar to the above list, but not quite.

In my mind, Rive is Mal/Serenity's spirit. Whether spirit and soul are the same is up to anyone to decide but I think that spirit can be used in a less religious sense while soul has a very transcendent ring to it.

Mal = Serenity
Zoe = all things survival
Wash = balance, normality, trust
Kaylee = hope
Inara = love, sensuality
Jayne = base insticts
Book = external value system (religion)
Simon = internal value system (nobility)
River = spirit (internal force)

River is basically Mal's forward drive, the connector of all those other things that makes us a whole person.
She's broken and confused, like Mal is after the war, but she's brought to a place where she can heal (Serenity) and follows her impulses (like Mal does when he takes her in) and ends up being a catalyst that makes Mal do something active (not just passively getting by) and stand up for his ideals.

It also says a lot about Mal's character to look at River: fragile, peace-loving, attracted to beauty and nature, but also fiercely determined and supernaturally strong when she has to be. A creature of love and strength. Who depends very very much on the love of those around her.

BOBECC

Friday, January 4, 2008 9:11 PM

Ok, I like Jayne being the basic instincts. That makes it a little more clear.

HIXIE129

Friday, January 4, 2008 11:11 PM

The ship has its own soul.

RIVERFLAN

Friday, January 4, 2008 11:18 PM

AR there's a thread about that theory:
http://www.fireflyfans.net/thread.asp?b=2&t=31039#549873

I semi-agree with that theory, but not by much. Mal is a many-sided person, but so's the rest of the crew. They might not be as obvious about it, but they aren't just "I'm Mal's __". The caracters reflect bits of him, but they aren't actually bits of him. You could do the same thing for Inara, Book, Wash being the star "actual and whole" person, with Mal being their "confused side"

Back to the topic, I agree with someone above me that Mal is the head/brain of Serenity. As for River... I don't think she's quite the soul/spirit of the ship, but more like sub-concious part of the brain, the part that tries to make random scraps of memory it gleans into a story, or a dream. She makes as much sense as a dream, too, cause when you're in the dream it makes perfect sense but when you wake up, it flies in the face of reason. Her memories of Miranda, the Hands of Blue, and other scary stuff like that are the nightmares.

Swirligigs!
#~%~~*~~~&~~~*~~%~#

\~~~*~~^~~*~~~/
98% of teens have smoked pot, if you are one of the 2% that haven't, copy this into your signature.

PHYRELIGHT

Friday, January 4, 2008 11:29 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by bobecc:
Jayne: Jayne's kind of like the penis of the ship. I know this sounds vulgar at first, but it makes since if you think about it.

Thank you! I've been saying for a long time that Jayne is a walking penis!

It's also my argument on why Jayne does have a crush on Inara... No, make that a crush on all of the women in the 'verse.

"I swear, having you guys in my corner is like being friends with Zorro."
-Joss on us fans and our persistent reputation
Thanks, Joss!

PHYRELIGHT

Friday, January 4, 2008 11:33 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by RiverFlan:
AR there's a thread about that theory:
http://www.fireflyfans.net/thread.asp?b=2&t=31039#549873

I semi-agree with that theory, but not by much. Mal is a many-sided person, but so's the rest of the crew. They might not be as obvious about it, but they aren't just "I'm Mal's __". The caracters reflect bits of him, but they aren't actually bits of him. You could do the same thing for Inara, Book, Wash being the star "actual and whole" person, with Mal being their "confused side"

Back to the topic, I agree with someone above me that Mal is the head/brain of Serenity. As for River... I don't think she's quite the soul/spirit of the ship, but more like sub-concious part of the brain, the part that tries to make random scraps of memory it gleans into a story, or a dream. She makes as much sense as a dream, too, cause when you're in the dream it makes perfect sense but when you wake up, it flies in the face of reason. Her memories of Miranda, the Hands of Blue, and other scary stuff like that are the nightmares.

Swirligigs!
#~%~~*~~~&~~~*~~%~#

\~~~*~~^~~*~~~/
98% of teens have smoked pot, if you are one of the 2% that haven't, copy this into your signature.

I'm starting to agree with you. Mal is more like the conscious of ship, where River is the subconscious.

"I swear, having you guys in my corner is like being friends with Zorro."
-Joss on us fans and our persistent reputation
Thanks, Joss!

TRAVELER

Saturday, January 5, 2008 12:28 AM

My impression is that Serenity has a soul of its own. It brought Mal to it when he needed a new home. After that others followed. Wash and Zoe needed each other and Serenity brought them together. Jayne was going down a bad road and suddenly he decides to cross his partners and trust Mal. Kaylee is trapped on a planet where she would have become the girl that would have been every young mans toy. Suddenly she finds herself on Serenity and escapes being the local tramp. Inara is lost. For some reason she feels the need to leave her safe comfortable world where she may have become the head of the household. Where does she end up; on Serenity. Now the story begins for us with Shepard Book and two refugees from the Aliance. This ship pulls these people together because they need something. Serenity has a way of bringing the lost to her. As you watch the episodes and see each person having an opportunity for growth.

Jayne may be the most obvious, because he is so crude and his past is pure self indulgence. Say whore and his eyes light up with carnal desire. He fights being good because he thinks he must be tough to survive. Then what happens, Jaynestown and then Ariel. Jayne has a thick scull and years of fighting for everything he has gained. Now he starts to question this and with the help of Mal and a large wrench to his head, Jayne is given another chance to learn. The series ended to soon to see how much Jayne would have changed, but the opportunities were there. Only on Serenity did he have these opportunityies. The ship knew and pulled into her hull and made him part of the crew.

You can see how Simon and River could never have survived without being a part of this crew. Of all the ships docked in that port Simon picked Serenity. Mal was going to throw Simon and River off at Whitefall. But at the end of the episode Mal tells Simom he can stay. Mal did not have to take this risk. Serenity decided Simon and River needed what was on that ship and the ship needed them.

All these people are more than just a crew and passengers to each other. Each has contributed to the whole and each has made mistakes that are so human of them. These people are a family that Serenity put together. A disfunctional family I grant you, but a family. This ship is alive and it brings the needy to its protective and nurturing soul. For Serenity needs them. Serenity has a purpose and it needs them as much as they need her.

http://www.imdb.com/mymovies/list?l=28764731
Traveler

JONGSSTRAW

Saturday, January 5, 2008 12:41 AM

Some folks have posted here that they think Inara represents "love". I would ask...what love? She gets paid, well paid for her business arrangements. She makes tea & has sex with rich people. She's really a futuristic geisha who can charm a man's pants off...but love doesn't enter into the picture, ever. She loves Serenity & the crew true enough, but once again I'd have to say that no one represents the "love" of what Serenity is more than Capt. Mal.

MAL4PREZ

Saturday, January 5, 2008 1:23 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Jongsstraw:
Some folks have posted here that they think Inara represents "love". I would ask...what love?

This is the thing I find so interesting about Inara - yes, her time with her clients is clearly something acted, not matter how she argues that it's a real thing, a choice and all. But if you watch her around the crew, she is very motherly. She is always there to comfort Book, to offer her cloak to naked River, to brush Kaylee's hair, to empathasize with Simon on his disastrous birthday. She is love - when she's not doing her Companion act. Which makes me wonder why she's chosen to be a Companion...

So - you admit yourself, she's loving to the crew. Well, that's the thing. These people all find their own true selves when they're on this ship. What they are outside it is an act, a survival mode. Except for maybe Kaylee... she's pretty real no matter what.

Quote:
once again I'd have to say that no one represents the "love" of what Serenity is more than Capt. Mal.

This I agree with! That is what is so wonderful, that he thinks he's such a bad guy and acts all gruff, but he's the one who had the vision to buy the ship and put it together as a home for them all. He's the one who chose each new member of the crew. He brought in Zoe, recruited Wash, asked Kaylee to stay, rented the shuttle to Inara, thought to talk Jayne into changing sides, asked Simon to stay with River. And I guess he didn't throw Book off LOL!

Mal gathered this group. If there's a binding force that creates this entity and holds it together, it's Mal. And I don't think he did it out of thought or planning. I think he had a feel for these people; he intuitively saw them as the folks he wanted with him. That's why I think he's the soul.

And if you're saying he's the brain... could be you're not recallin' some of the captain's plans...

As for River, I rally do mean the wounded paw thing. She came to them hurt, hurt in a way that everyone saw and felt. They helped heal her, and she became both a tool for sensing the world outside them, (drawing Mal back into the fight) and a weapon. Girl's got claws. Mostly, I just feel like she's a connection to the outside world. She draws them out, away from the ship's business and into the larger problems of the world.

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hmm-burble-blah, blah-blah-blah, take a left

SHINYSEVEN2

Saturday, January 5, 2008 1:39 AM

It would be interesting to map the various crew members' rooms and workplaces against a feng shui chart for Serenity (there's a Marriage area, a Prosperity area...eight in all, I can't remember all of them though).

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