I wanna do this one more time: Was Mal wrong when he shot that surrendering guy in Serenity?
POSTED BY: chrisisall
UPDATED: Friday, June 6, 2014 05:29
VIEWED: 19444
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Frankly, judging by the state of the wreck the guy emerged from and the apparent climate of Haven and his chances of survival in general, he was already dead and didn't even know it. And that's even before he tried to peace time surrender (?) to a bunch of non-military personnel with a personal connection to the people he just massacred. That's just the cherry on top of the stupid.
The way people talk you'd think Mal was still in the Independent Army, and the war was still on. IHL doesn't apply because the events of the Serenity movie couldn't even qualify as a non-international armed conflict.
Only the Alliance pilot would've answered to a military tribunal, since he destroyed an entire town of civilians while theoretically in the service of the recognized government of that settlement. Most probably the operation would have been disavowed by the time he got to trial and he'd have been considered rogue. Seeing as how the Alliance isn't exactly gonna admit that it engages in state-sponsored terrorism.
There could be a criminal case for the shooting against Mal, but you couldn't really argue that what he did constitutes a war crime. He'd be tried in a civilian criminal court. And if it was up to the Alliance he would have been convicted of murder. But among us fans who know some of the context, there's probably an argument here for some pretty serious freakin' extenuating circumstances.
Quote:
Mal would never know it, but the guy he shot was the pilot of the ship that killed Book and the rest of Haven.
Oh he knew. Book said that the ship he shot down was the one that bombed them. It doesn't take a whole lot of figuring to realize that anyone emerging from that ship must have some responsibility for the attack.
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Quote:When there is time to take prisoners and the prisoner is valuable, the prisoner often gets killed, anyway. What feels right at the moment is all that counts in the movies. And sometimes in the real world. I got a real example: killing bin Laden.
Originally posted by OLDGUY:
there was no time for taking prisoners
there was no value in the leftover dumb soldier who likely was just following orders...
Legal and ethical aspects of Osama bin Laden's killing, such as his not being taken alive despite being unarmed and wounded and unconscious on the floor, were questioned by others, including Amnesty International. Also controversial was the decision to not release any photographic or DNA evidence of bin Laden's death to the public. As if the President did not want to be questioned. The Navy Seals would not keep quiet about how proud they were of themselves. I think Mal will not be writing about his proud day. He will have some doubts about what he did, but he's willing to burn in hell for what he has done. He is not wanting a book deal or a medal of valor or military pension.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Osama_bin_Laden
www.amazon.com/No-Easy-Day-First-hand-Account-ebook/dp/B008MG1E4A/
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly
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Chris, good to see you still around.
As for your question, I can say without a doubt I would have done the same as Mal. The guy was on an attack ship that strafed a village full of refugees, some of them women and children, and killed them. Some may argue they were "ordered" to do so, but having been a soldier I can tell you I would have disobeyed such an order. Perhaps they pilots of the gunship were lied to about who was on Haven, but honestly one pass and a sensor sweep would have showed there were no ships there, no real weapons to speak of, and that women and children were on the ground.
The fact that Mal ended the man with a single round from his sidearm is a tad more merciful than I would have been in the same situation.
_______________________________________________
Holding the line since December '02! 
C.O. 76th Independent Battalion
http://76thbattalion.proboards.com
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Quote:Sounds like experience talking, eh?
Originally posted by OLDGUY:
I don't know how much of this mindset Joss understands or has been exposed to, but I felt they captured it very well with his sudden and swift shooting decision.
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Quote:We are not at tavern, drinking ourselves into a coma, so I call bullshit on "I would have done . . ."
Originally posted by BrownCoat1:
As for your question, I can say without a doubt I would have done the same as Mal.
Who, of us fans, would take a ride on Serenity with Mal? This is not hypothetical. Be truthful with yourself. Riding with Mal is like riding a class EF5 tornado into heaven. All of us would get off that boat at the first stop when we find out who the Captain really is. And sure as hell none of can be Mal. We could never make the decisions that Mal makes because we would not be there with him in those awful situations.
Mal would have a really hard decision to make if anybody had survived in Haven. Does Mal abandon survivors? Take them with him? Leave Doctor Tam behind to take care of them?
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly
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In both the movie and Shepherd's Tale, Book is killed by the ship. What's interesting is that in the novelization, the Operative himself kills Book. Comes at him from behind, right after Book shoots the ship down, and does that paralyzing hand trick he pulls on Mal. So Book can only stand there while the Operative gives the order to shoot. Book is riddled by bullets and then falls to the ground. 
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Quote:
Who, of us fans, would take a ride on Serenity with Mal? This is not hypothetical. Be truthful with yourself.
Mal is pretty much a raging human mess who occasionally approaches normalcy, and Jayne would actually be intolerable at the best of times. There's shootouts every planetside and week long periods of travel punctuated by sheer terror every now and then. There's not much money and food and water is rationed.
Serenity and the connection between the crew has it's charms, which is why it appeals to us, but living there would require some very real hardship.
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Quote:Oh, Mal can be fun...
Originally posted by BYTEMITE:
Mal is pretty much a raging human mess who occasionally approaches normalcy
"How much did I have to drink last night?"
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Quote:
Oh, Mal can be fun...
"How much did I have to drink last night?"
Fun, but still a mess. And when he's a raging mess, either in the sense of emotionally raging or in the sense of the quantity of mess that is happening... *wince* That is when people are shot. Most often him.
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Thing is I see a soft side to Mal, why else would he let Simon get away with that sucker punch when they got back from the Reaver chase? Way I see it, a hard man'd slap a beatdown on a fella for less.
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