Kaylee the Barbarian
POSTED BY: manwithpez
UPDATED: Monday, June 7, 2004 14:37
VIEWED: 5045
PAGE 2 of 3
Wren wrote, in response to Astriana:
Quote:
Originally posted by Astriana:
I see your point, and at the same time, I just can't imagine Kaylee ever being able to go back to being the cheery, innocent, unblemished soul of hope that she currently is for Serenity and her crew.
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After her experience with Jubal I wonder whether she is still a cheerful unblemished soul
I, too have pondered -- and speculatively written -- what affects Early's threatened rape of Kaylee would have on her psyche. I wrote that I could see her protecting herself in a similar situation in the future.
But, I've changed my mind. She knew what was at stake that first time, and submitted to it. When she was freed, she didn't go ballistic, she crept about fearfully (if nonetheless bravely) carrying out River's instructions. At the end of the episode, she is happily and innocently playing jacks with River, again. I don't think her ordeal with Early will have a lasting effect on her sunny disposition.
What the ordeal did do was to heal the psychic rift between Kaylee and River that had been growing since "War Stories". At the end of OiS, they're friends again. Kaylee seems to no longer view River as a potential menace, as she had suspected and told the crew at the beginning of the ep; but rather as a protector of Serenity and her crew. They appear to be friendly and comfortable together again. This is one of my favorite scenes from the series:
KAYLEE (O.S.)
And his folks come by to fetch him, and
it turns out he's, like, 14 years old.
PAN LEFT to REVEAL Kaylee and River sitting on the cargo bay floor. They're playing jacks.
KAYLEE
(laughs)
I mean, he must've been some kind of genetic
experiment, 'cause, I swear this guy was, uh...
(waggles eyebrows)
Oh, my daddy whipped me so hard.
Kaylee bounces the ball and picks up some jacks.
KAYLEE
Oh... I'm at fours. Let's see you match that.
River takes the ball, looks hard at the jacks on the floor.
RIVER
I can win this.
KAYLEE
Oh, I'm hearin' a lot of talk there, genius.
Come on -- show me what you got.
CLOSE IN on River's face as she stares at the little rubber ball.
(Emphases mine)
The last bit of that script, "CLOSE IN..." was fascinating. As she looks at the ball, I swear it looks like a planet, a simulacrum of Jupiter. "I can win this." (*shiver*)
The first time I saw that scene, I swear I felt an almost electric shock course through me. Then she drops the 'planet' and we follow its fall to the floor, where it rebounds, but our viewpoint continues through the decking to the darkness of space...
God, I love Firefly! (Have I said that too many times?) Come on movie!
Respectfully,
zoid
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"I knew a man once. History will never recall him, or what he gave to make us free. That's the way he wanted it. But as long as I live I'll remember, and he'll never truly die."
- River, from A Child Shall Lead Them: A History of the Second War of Independence Wilkins, Richard
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"I see your point, and at the same time, I just can't imagine Kaylee ever being able to go back to being the cheery, innocent, unblemished soul of hope that she currently is for Serenity and her crew."
Life happens, whether we want it to or not.
Mal's crew gets put in harm's way on a weekly basis. Kaylee stared death in the face, and fell to the floor weeping (then River picks up the gun and saves her). She has also stared into the face of something arguably worse than death (with Early).
In both cases, it was her. In both cases, she knew she had no chance to fight back.
If she was faced with the loss of someone else, would she sacrifice herself to save him or her? Joss might surprise us with that, some day -- my crystal ball doesn't say anything on the subject. My guess is that Kaylee would continue to collapse, but I don't have the talent for telling stories that Joss does.
Another possibility lies buried in the quote ManWithPez uses:
Kaylee: "What's so damn important about being proper? It don't mean nothing out here in the black."
Simon: "It means more out here. It's all I have..."
Mal doesn't fight because he thinks he's going to win; he fights because someone has to. Simon understands that, I think. In a similar way, he sacrificed everything to rescue River because someone had to.
Even as Simon learns about relationships from Kaylee, it might turn out that Kaylee learns from Simon why you have to take a stand (why some things are important, even if nobody else seems to think they are).
Or not. But Life has a way of turning Innocence into History, and Joss has a way of telling stories about Life.
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Quote:
Originally posted by zoid:
But, I've changed my mind. She knew what was at stake that first time, and submitted to it. When she was freed, she didn't go ballistic, she crept about fearfully (if nonetheless bravely) carrying out River's instructions. At the end of the episode, she is happily and innocently playing jacks with River, again. I don't think her ordeal with Early will have a lasting effect on her sunny disposition.
<< snippety-snip >>
The last bit of that script, "CLOSE IN..." was fascinating. As she looks at the ball, I swear it looks like a planet, a simulacrum of Jupiter. "I can win this." (*shiver*)
The first time I saw that scene, I swear I felt an almost electric shock course through me. Then she drops the 'planet' and we follow its fall to the floor, where it rebounds, but our viewpoint continues through the decking to the darkness of space...
I'm sure that it will affect her for a while, but she can overcome it. I just wonder how long she'll suffer from nightmares and being afraid when she's alone, whether she'll confide in anyone else about what Early did, and whether Simon will approach her about it - since he and River would be the only ones who knew what Early had done. These things can take a while to heal over.
About that rubber ball... If you take a close look at the planet shot at the very beginning of OiS, you'll notice that the ball River and Kaylee are playing jacks with at the end is exactly the same. To put it another way, the planet looks exactly like the rubber ball. (I'd almost swear I could see the molding lines in it if I looked close enough...
) That Joss - always puttin' in the layers an' makin' us think. *starry-eyed sigh*~A~
El Jefe Magnifico's Mistress... of Communications and Harems...
...I'm still free,
You can't take the sky from me.
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Quote:
Originally posted by zoid:
The last bit of that script, "CLOSE IN..." was fascinating. As she looks at the ball, I swear it looks like a planet, a simulacrum of Jupiter. "I can win this." (*shiver*)
The ball matches the planet they show at the very beginning of the episode. It's a really cool arc.
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"I'll be in my bunk."
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I agree with Browncoat1: It's not in her nature. There are, believe it or not, a small number of people who just do not, for whatever reason, have a "violence gene". I think Kaylee is one of these Mother Teresa-like individuals (now, will you guys ever think of her sexually again?). As (I think - maybe it was someone else) Zoid mentioned above, she showed her true nature in "War Stories". If she wasn't going to be violent then, when would she be...?
Apathy on the Rise. No One Cares.
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terribletink wrote (several times):
Quote:
The ball matches the planet they show at the very beginning of the episode. It's a really cool arc.
zoid keys up microphone and broadcasts, "terribletink, I say again, you are loud and clear. Over?" and unkeys the mic.
As to what you said, as opposed to how many times you said it (heh-heh), yeah, it's the basis for my 'future quote' series.
Redundantly,
zoid
Redundantly,
zoid
Redundantly,
zoid
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sorry for the multiple posts...don't know why that happens sometimes...third time now. 
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No biggie. Looks like the website gremlins ate the extra posts, though, so it should still be okay...
~A~
El Jefe Magnifico's Mistress... of Communications and Harems...
...I'm still free,
You can't take the sky from me.
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Quote:
Originally posted by manwithpez:
I think it would be so shiny if Kaylee got a badass moment in one of the upcoming films.
Perhaps after Simon puts a needle in a vein and says 'Time to wake up'?
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