What does each Firefly character represent?

POSTED BY: THEREALME
UPDATED: Tuesday, May 10, 2022 08:06
VIEWED: 14128
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THEREALME

Saturday, June 19, 2004 3:23 PM

Hi,

In the recent Zoe thread, I commented that I thought Kaylee represented the Soul of Serenity, while Zoe represented its Strength. I thought that this idea might be deserving of its own thread.

So, what aspects of the human condition match which characters? Of course, you cannot really sumarize such well written characters in one or two words, but... well, try anyway.

My ideas (quickly, because I'm late and have to get ready for today):

Kaylee: Soul and Innocence

Zoe: Strength and Determination

Book: Conscience and Patience

Simon: Loyalty and Compassion

Wash: Sense of Humor

Inara: Sexuality and Insight

Jayne: Aggression

River: Maddness

Mal: Protective of Loved Ones, Seeking a Purpose

The Real Me

Got Mudder's Milk?

HEB

Saturday, June 19, 2004 3:45 PM

This fits in well with Nathan Fillion saying that he liked to think of the other crew members as representing aspects of Mal that he lost in Serenity valley. Especially the following:

Quote:

Kaylee: Soul and Innocence

Book: Conscience and Patience

Simon: Loyalty and Compassion

Wash: Sense of Humor

.

Although I think, as Joss was forced to make the show lighter and Mal less dark, that this was less true than it might have been (although we got glimpses of the darker Mal in the pilot).

Well, my sister's a ship... we had a
complicated childhood

PURPLEBELLY

Saturday, June 19, 2004 4:19 PM

I've said this elsewhere, but I just love Whedon's subversion of archetypes. So we have:
vigin - Kaylee, who isn't exactly chaste;
mother - Zoe, who hasn't born a child;
whore - Inara, who is respectable;
hag - River, who is cute.

I'll stop there, because I'm not really interested in male archetypes; they all look like the Clown to me. Simon is cute, though

DARKSKY

Saturday, June 19, 2004 4:42 PM

While on the whole, I agree with TheRealMe, I think this is a bit too simple. For example, Wash also shows a lot of devotion, especially when it comes to Zoe, and determination when it comes to flying. Jayne shows caring in the scene in 'Serenity' when Kaylee is shot. Also, Inara is quite a strong character in her own way.
I think the complexity of the characters is what makes this show so interesting to watch.

THEREALME

Saturday, June 19, 2004 5:26 PM

Yes, as I said, the characters are terribly complex. I was just looking for ideas you could paint in large, wide brush strokes.

Oh, does River have lots of Trickster aspects?

The Real Me

Got Mudder's Milk?

TALVIN

Saturday, June 19, 2004 7:47 PM

Mal Dark?

I would say not. Rather...he is *ruthless*. He is a man who, once he sees a goal, a purpose, a need, a mission--he *focuses* on it, and he does what he has to do to accomplish that.

But this is tempered by a compassion and spirituality that he takes pains to repress in himself, because he got hurt that way too many times.

That, and a quirky sense of humor that is very much in keeping with a former military man. You may have noticed that Hollywood tends to push the stereotype of the Special Ops man as a tall, humorless, cold-blooded sort. Well, thanks to fate, relatives, and an interest in all things military, I have known more than my share. They are with one exception shorter than me (and I am 5'10"), they tend toward a lively and *low* sense of humor, and they are a bunch of smartasses. I would trust them with my life, but I look behind me before I bend over and check under the cushion before I sit down.... That's just the ones I have known in my day.

Static? Spider? Care to back me up on this? I suspect you have known more of them than I have!

Malcolm Reynolds has seen the Darkness, but he is not himself Dark. There's a difference.

"I give up. I admit it. I'm a Browncoat."

HEB

Saturday, June 19, 2004 8:12 PM

I don't think that was the way they eventually played him but I think it was the way the character was originally intended to be.

There's a deleted scene from the pilot on the DVD that says something like he left trust, compassion, hope back in Serenity valley. That obviously turned out to not be true but I think we saw glimpses of what they'd like to have done with the character had Fox allowed them. For example in the scene when Book asks to say grace, when he kicks the man into the engine, and when he stresses at Zoe in Serenity about their luck and at Inara for telling him what to do.

I agree with you as he was played he has only seen the darkness but I think Mal was originally intended to follow his own psychological theory:

"The darkness. Kinda darkness you can't even
imagine. Blacker than the space it moves in.

A man comes up
against that kind of will, only way to deal with
it, I suspect... is to become it."

Well, my sister's a ship... we had a
complicated childhood

PURPLEBELLY

Saturday, June 19, 2004 8:54 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by DarkSky:
Jayne shows caring in the scene in 'Serenity' when Kaylee is shot.

I like the way Jayne ducks back into the hatch when Kaylee has been shot, and makes his move when Dobson is disarmed and unconscious.

ANKHAGOGO

Saturday, June 19, 2004 9:13 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Talvin:
Mal Dark?
I would say not. Rather...he is *ruthless*. He is a man who, once he sees a goal, a purpose, a need, a mission--he *focuses* on it, and he does what he has to do to accomplish that.
But this is tempered by a compassion and spirituality that he takes pains to repress in himself, because he got hurt that way too many times.

I wouldn't call Mal "ruthless", because that word, to me, has a connotation of cruelty to it that I don't see in Mal. "Focused", yes. "Unwavering" or "determined" might be better.
I do think that he's dark, and frankly, I like it, but it's not like Angel broody-angsty-dark.
It's more as if his hope has been darkened, because of the things he's been through. Mal doesn't seem to allow himself to hope any more, not after Serenity Valley, and that is a very dark way to go through life. He does have a sense of humour, which I also love for its dryness & wryness, but I think his view of the future is very dark. Apparently nothing's happened in the past six years in order to make Mal think that he has any reason to expect anything beyond living day-to-day, trying to keep just beyond the arm of the Alliance, and that's gotta only reinforce the idea that there's no reason to hope things will change.
Or it could be that he's just a hard-headed, bloody-minded realist, which can come across as a very dark attitude.

"Well personally, I kinda want to slay the dragon."

TALVIN

Saturday, June 19, 2004 9:21 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Ankhagogo:

Or it could be that he's just a hard-headed, bloody-minded realist, which can come across as a very dark attitude.

Mal as an Existentialist Hero?

Sounds like a whole new thread.

"I give up. I admit it. I'm a Browncoat."

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