Mal getting dumber?
POSTED BY: jewelstaitefan
UPDATED: Friday, March 6, 2009 09:09
VIEWED: 7910
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Quote:Which is the other reason why I don't watch much TV. The first being I just don't have time, so when I waste it on TV, it better be for a good reason.
AgentRouka wrote
Yeah, but it wasn't really a question of quality but of whether they exist - and they do. If you want to talk about quality, then we can likely agree - much of what is out there is rubbish.
Quote:This is true - and the Network determined that starting lighter was better than starting in the dark right off the bat. It's primarily what made it seem so lumpy at first in terms of the tone. I knew something was off with Train Job from the get go, but couldn't put my finger on it. Then when the Pilot aired AFTER everything else, I could see it and say "Oh, so they did a Star Trek."
AgentRouka wroteTrue enough, but Mal's anger being present is a given - him showing it is really the subject and is what tends to set the tone of the show - darker or lighter.
Gene Rodenberry had a whole different concept in mind for Classick Star Trek than what actually aired. Unfortunately, the network didn't care for that either, and he had to castrate his idea to get it on the air, then work toward his idea. I believe Joss was trying the same thing. Unfortunately, basketball took precedence over science fiction.
Quote:There are times I think Mal liked being frustrated. It gave him something else to feel besides the emptiness inside.
AgentRouka wroteI think she also diverted him from his anger, as making him think about life apart from that anger he so loves to cling to - which brought its own kind of frustration.
Quote:Agreed. Book is a smart man. And he knows how other men think. He was bringing God to Mal on a more indirect route - around the corner of No and Where - fully aware that Mal wouldn't accept God if forced upon him. It would have to be Mal's idea to let him in - which is the correct way to approach Faith anyway.
AgentRouka wroteI think Mal moves beyond seeing Book as a ventile for his god-anger during the series, and fairly early at that.
"I don't care what you believe in... just believe." That's the first step.
Quote:Most definitely. *sigh*
AgentRouka wroteBut as you describe it, you would place second season as generally leading up to the events of the movie, right? Makes sense. :)
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Quote:
Originally posted by chrisisall:Quote:Them fightin' words....
Originally posted by NewOldBrownCoat:
That's what's wrong with the BDM, too, IMO. Joss and all had been away for years, and they didn't quite get it right when they came back.
" The duel will be met tomorrow at Kaytree Pond,", at dawn, if I can get up that early.
and,
" If you need one, any gentleman here can give you the use of a sword."
If I'm not there on time, start without me.
:<)
NOBC's rule: Any time posts on a message board get longer than one screen, it's time to quit reading that thread.
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Isn't Mal's anger essentially due to Serenity Valley?
Mal and Zoe were never thieves or criminals of any sort prior to Serenity Valley, right?
Everything they had left and were left died on Hera. They are now shells of what they were. That is his anger, isn't it?
Mal does not think the Miranda broadwave will end that battle, the Alliance will return to strength.
What do you think must happen, how much must the Alliance suffer, before Mal will have won the Battle of Serenity Valley? Must the Alliance collapse?
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I never really thought of him as being any dumber really. His character has always seemed fairly consistent as far as I can tell.
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Mal does push buttons, as somebody way back in the log said. and I think their hypothesis was right--he gives himself time and space to think/maneuver that way.
Dumber? While Mal seems much more mellow than in the pilot, I think it's more which side of his character is currently winning out.
Each of the characters is complicated--Mal is no exception--and while he might act like (and want to act like) an easy-going teddy bear most of the time while still doing captainy things, his "other" nature--the one intertwined with his extensive anger, and despair, and bitterness, and a whole lot of unanswered questions--surfaces in flashes, quite a lot. The shooting-people-and-things scenes seem to come up when a crisis situation suddenly turns into an apocalypse situation, where Mal feels like he's been forcefed more than he can chew.
When I saw SERENITY the second time, after the series, and came to the scene at Haven where he shoots the Alliance survivor, it was like seeing the photo-negative of the Captain's usual MO.
I thought "Oh no, he'd doing it again. I get it. Mal's magnitude of good'n'fair'n'kindess turns into the same magnitude, only ruthlessly utilized."
He also seems to see this dualness in himself and be disgusted and a little shocked by it, while unable to deny its usefulness. Makes him human, and a 3D character.
Going for a Ride.
Another Sky
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