Did anyone notice that in the 'Serenity' episode, when Simon...
POSTED BY: QuietSerenity
UPDATED: Wednesday, July 26, 2006 15:18
VIEWED: 6533
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In the book of the film, it's stated that Simon has a cryo chamber prepped in the little ship he has waiting, so that he can get his sister to safety quickly and without 'incident'.
As for what River was going to be used for - can I pimp my fic here? I had a little idea that I started to explore in 'Zen and the Art of Mercenary Manintenance.' Graceful, empathic, cultured...sound familiar? And as for the other little idea in there...that's being worked on, too, okay?
*blinks about, Sixth Sense style* I see...plot bunnies...
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Kayna:
Like Lissa37, I too like your explanation, at least to a certain extent. Fact is, though, Simon is never clueless, bumbling or awkward in the movie to the degree he was in every episode of the series. As for him bravely taking on Early in Ois: He got shot. He never laid a scratch on Early, who swatted him like a gnat every time he tried. Hello? Are we watching the same series, here? River won that fight, wouldn't you agree?
Nope. Simon's character got a pretty significant facelift in "Serenity". If you like the New Simon better than the Series Simon, then I'm happy for you. And if you want to try to revise the moments of the series to match, go right ahead, but I can't agree with doing so...
I liked Series Simon because he was clueless. Every guy (well, most) has gone through that stage where he just couldn't get out of his own way, especially with girls. But you know what? It wears off. And I would've rather had the movie open and close with only a little progress toward the Good Man I think he would've eventually become. It would have made Jayne passing him the bottle more significant. It would've made his love scene with Kaylee brilliant: Courageous-But-Inexperienced Young Man finds His Soulmate, rather than Mr. Suave bags the Farm Girl Mechanic.
Had the series continued, I think Simon would've eventually become a smart and capable crewman, probably because of a body-and-soul relationship with Kaylee. It may seem trite or antiquated, but there's more than a little truth to the old saw, "Behind every Good Man there is a Woman (telling him how badly he's getting it wrong, heh-heh)." As I said earlier, I don't think Joss felt he had the time. So, he skipped Simon's development.
But I really don't think it's a preferable treatment to go back through the series word-for-word and act-for-act, revising his entire character as being just a ploy. Can't y'all just love him for who he was? Does he really have to be a coverboy for a Harlequin novel before you're satisfied?
Respectfully,
zoid
P.S.
SpaceAnJL:
"Little Nikita", "Point of No Return"
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"I aim to misbehave." -Capt. Mal Reynolds, Serenity, a.k.a. 'the BDBOF'
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Wow. That was really well-said, Zoid.
You're right, his development probably was rushed a bit. He did seem to lose the less-competent side and become the braver side pretty quickly. But, maybe it isn't so much that it didn't happen as much as we didn't see it... if that makes any sense. Maybe the theory that could really please everyone -- those who love "old Simon" and those who love "new Simon" -- would be that some of his growing up and developing occurred between the series and the movie. I mean, I still believe that his changes also have to do with what situation he's in... so, perhaps that extra time (that we don't get to see) out in the border planets helped him to get used to his new life, helped him adapt and learn to live in his new environment. Maybe? I don't know.
At any rate, I like him either way... "old" or "new", "clueless" or "suave"/smart and brave, rushed or not. He's, overall, a good guy no matter what state he's in.
*****
"I'm a leaf on the wind..." - Wash
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Lissa37 wrote:
Quote:
You're right, his development probably was rushed a bit. He did seem to lose the less-competent side and become the braver side pretty quickly. But, maybe it isn't so much that it didn't happen as much as we didn't see it... if that makes any sense. Maybe the theory that could really please everyone -- those who love "old Simon" and those who love "new Simon" -- would be that some of his growing up and developing occurred between the series and the movie. I mean, I still believe that his changes also have to do with what situation he's in... so, perhaps that extra time (that we don't get to see) out in the border planets helped him to get used to his new life, helped him adapt and learn to live in his new environment. Maybe? I don't know.
At any rate, I like him either way... "old" or "new", "clueless" or "suave"/smart and brave, rushed or not. He's, overall, a good guy no matter what state he's in.
He not only becomes braver and more competent during the intervening 6 months, he becomes braver and more competent before the series ever began. That's kind of the fly in this particular ointment. But, I've really got no problem with that per se: Dramatic license and all that.
My heartfelt objection is strictly to this practice of revising his entire series character as a deception, so that it matches his movie character. To wit, 'the music stops and that's when his double-agent career aboard Serenity begins', because he was just playing possum throughout the series.
That's a game I can't play, and feel obliged to let a little air out of. If folks still want to do that, at least they'll be doing it with their eyes open, rather than just following the rush of enthusiasm within our community to reconcile the two Simons...
Please don't kill Series Simon.
Respectfully,
zoid
_________________________________________________
"I aim to misbehave." -Capt. Mal Reynolds, Serenity, a.k.a. 'the BDBOF'
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Zoid, I'm not saying that I don't like Simon on the show. I do. I think he has a bit more depth than movie Simon. And I'm not trying to rewrite his character into some kind of decption or double agent. I know it wasn't meant to be Simon who got out his sister. I just said that he never said he didn't help. I personally think (in an attempt to avoid dscrepancies for myself) he wouldn't have mentioned his part in the rescue because he didn't think it was that important. What was important was that River got out and it never would have happened without those resistance folks.
I know the characters will never completely match up and I'm not trying to make them. I just come up with these little explainations to keep myself from constantly babbling about how it doesn't fit. I'm a bit crazy about continuity and I'd start to sound like River soon.
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Op: You're fighting a war you've already lost.
Mal: Yeah, well I'm known for that.
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I agree that the characters were changed for the movie. I don't see Simon as the only example. Jayne and Kaylee were pretty different as well IMO.
The thing is they aren't so far off that they can't be reconciled in my mind. "Series Simon" could easily have pulled off the Serenity escape. The operative tells us why. It's love. It's just like a mother lifting a car off her child. When it comes to River, Simon can summon abilities he doesn't normally possess.
As for Serenity Simon being a sauve hero, I don't see it. He freaks out about the bank heist. He doesn't know what to do, so he chooses to leave Serenity. Even Kaylee tells him how much he's going to stick out dressing the way he does. Later he gets his butt kicked by River. He has a nice awkward speech with Kaylee. Then he forgets his medical bag. Then he gets himself all shot because he has no combat skills whatsoever. All in all he's far from suave in the movie.
Back to the original post, I like the observation. The "money" line does come across differently then most of the rest of Simon's little speech. Could be that's where he started lying about the escape story. I'm not saying he was lying 24/7 from then on out. The rest he was more or less truthful about.
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