Objects in Space - River's wanderings

POSTED BY: Rabit
UPDATED: Tuesday, June 29, 2004 03:45
VIEWED: 12846
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ZAFTIGZOE

Monday, June 28, 2004 5:01 PM

Luckily for me I have the DVD so I could look at the scene in question more intently. Here is my take on the matter. Forgive me for getting semiotic here. We have been discussing the presence versus non-presence of River from scene to scene. A couple of things occurred to me.

First, as someone here has mentioned, the first scene is from River's reality. We have a girl with a parced brain -- hence the stop-and-start cutting of the frames as opposed to pan shots or continuity.

Second, in practically every scene -Kaylee/Simon, Zoe/Wash, Jayne/Book - River enters via a doorway. What if she physically doesn't walk through said doorway? What if it is her mind that is entering rooms and hearing conversations and not the body entering rooms?

I think that River is sleep walking (remember Simon has been trying to find the right drug cocktail to make her sleep through the night). So in fact she is walking through the ship but people don't see her because she physically is out of their line of sight. Being a teen, River takes the thoughts of the crew personally, at times. But more freaky to her is the fact that she can hear them at all.

But I think that this business with River is more than mind reading. I think that she is empathic as well. Take a look at the scene with River and Zoe/Wash. There is more than just hearing there -- there is feeling as well. River gets caught up in the emotions and the physical act (note her caressing her own arm in the scene).

Now the twig bit... here things get interesting. River knows damned well what a gun is and what it is for: we saw this in War Stories. If I was able to calculate where the enemy is and then kill without having to look then I would do it that way too. Who wants to look at blood and gore and guts? (don't answer that)

Now throughout this series River's role has been that of the mythological Cassandra: ie. she has the gift of "prophecy" but nobody believes her. I think that the loaded gun is a warning of Early's approach. Perhaps Joss is teasing us with her line "it's just an object". Does he mean "it's not guns that kill, it's people who kill with guns" or is it a Freudian "sometimes a cigar is just a cigar"?

I do not think that Jayne left the gun out for her. What I do think is that River empathy may be showing again -- she is not preparing for Early. She is in Early's head as well - the twig and the leaves on the ground represents Early's home, as seen the picture of his (grand?)mother and his dog. River is enacting what Early plans to do to anyone who gets in his way. Remember, he's crazier than River is.

ZaftigZoe

THEREALME

Monday, June 28, 2004 7:42 PM

Oooo! River is getting into Early's head! I never considered that! That's good, too! Now I can't decide!

The empathy along with thought reading sounds right. And yes, I never thought that River was really present during any of those readings.

The Real Me

DIXIEFLATLINE

Monday, June 28, 2004 9:00 PM

Hmmm. A couple of thoughts:
I'm still not sure whether to think River was "really there" or not in the initial walkthrough. I agree it does seem a bit like she was an astral projection, but on the other hand River has become, in some ways, the "ship's cat". By which I mean that her wandering through the room is like having a cat wander through the room -- you know it's there, but you also know that there's no hope of having a meaningful conversation with it, so you ignore it and go on with what you were doing. It's just part of the background scenery.

Also, as far as "killing people with her brain", I think there's a middle ground in interpreting this. I would say that what River did in "War Stories" was kill three heavily-armed enemies with her terrifying brain. Her brain did it by pointing a gun, but there's nobody else around who could have done what she did with that gun.

And if her brain ever seriously decides to point that gun at Jayne, fast and tough as he is, I'd say he's got a whelk's chance in a supernova of surviving the experience.

MISGUIDED BY VOICES

Monday, June 28, 2004 9:38 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by ZaftigZoe:
Now throughout this series River's role has been that of the mythological Cassandra: ie. she has the gift of "prophecy" but nobody believes her. I think that the loaded gun is a warning of Early's approach. Perhaps Joss is teasing us with her line "it's just an object". Does he mean "it's not guns that kill, it's people who kill with guns" or is it a Freudian "sometimes a cigar is just a cigar"?

Also works as a clever play on Chekhov's gun - if you show a gun in the first act, you damn well better fire it before the end of the final act - 'cept the real "gun" is River as Mal points out.

"I threw up on your bed"

LOFWYRR

Monday, June 28, 2004 10:23 PM

After rewatching the episode, another thing stuck out a lot. Kaylee is the only one on the ship who isn't focused on by River and her 'vision'. Is it because Kaylee is exactly what she seems to be?
Although, during her vision on Simon, both Simon and Kaylee are looking directly at River.

Do not meddle in the affairs of wizards, for you are flammable and conduct electricity

ZAFTIGZOE

Monday, June 28, 2004 11:43 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Misguided By Voices:
Quote:
Originally posted by ZaftigZoe:
Now throughout this series River's role has been that of the mythological Cassandra: ie. she has the gift of "prophecy" but nobody believes her. I think that the loaded gun is a warning of Early's approach. Perhaps Joss is teasing us with her line "it's just an object". Does he mean "it's not guns that kill, it's people who kill with guns" or is it a Freudian "sometimes a cigar is just a cigar"?

Also works as a clever play on Chekhov's gun - if you show a gun in the first act, you damn well better fire it before the end of the final act - 'cept the real "gun" is River as Mal points out.

"I threw up on your bed"

Correct. And it goes further than that. When River picks up the gun (which she sees as a twig) she says that "it's just an object". Later, Early is hunting down River he waxes prosaic to Simon on the design of his gun. The thing is, to River, a gun is "just an object". It is as if her statement is in fact a reply.

Now THAT's spooky.

still seeking Wash
ZaftigZoe

THEREALME

Tuesday, June 29, 2004 3:45 AM

Regarding Kaylee looking at River but not being read...

I think Kaylee WAS read. I think that River was absorbing the regrets of the other characters, or the hidden things in their backgrounds.

Wash and Zoe were exceptions, because they were too occupied to have regrets at that moment.

Kaylee, being the most open and with nothing to hide, did not broadcast such a message to River ASIDE FROM the expression she gave.

What was that expression? It's been a while. I'll have to crank up the old DVD player...

The Real Me

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