What is River "guilty" of?
POSTED BY: everyworldspinnin
UPDATED: Saturday, July 17, 2004 02:22
VIEWED: 6744
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In OiS, when reading Book's mind, he says, "I don't give half a hump if you're innocent or not. So where does that put you?" What was River guilty of? She looked a bit shocked at this statement as well.
"I need that in Captain Dummy talk..."
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I think he was talking about Jayne.. Or thinking...
Because it came right after "Money was too good".
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I think Book was talking to some poor, unknown (to us) victim from his past.
In OIS, River seems to be reading the most basic, important ideas from the crew's psyches. Simon longs for his old life, Jayne is preoccupied with his betrayal on Ariel, Inara may be speaking of her wish that Mal just tell her how he feels, and Mal reveals his hollow, hopeless core, brought on by the lost war. Book's thought just gives us a peek at the mystery of his past.
As to River, she's simply guilty of escaping. The government/blue sun turned her into something important; what that is we don't know yet.
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...The beauty of things was born before eyes and sufficient to itself; the heart-breaking beauty
Will remain when there is no heart to break for it.
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Rawdeal has said it all, but this thread is just wrong-headed. From the shooting script (my bold):
She turns, looks at Book, who is in her face, fiercely angry.
BOOK
I don't give half a hump if you're
innocent or not! So where does that
put you?
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Book's mission is get River onto a witness programme to testify against Blue Sun. This will put her in danger, but that is a risk worth taking for the political benefit it brings.
Book does have moral qualms about this, which is why River can pick up his suppression of the emotion.
Only Purplebelly believes any of this 
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And here I was I just took it as a basic statement. The preacher in truth cares not of someones innocence in a matter. He at his core is a cold calculating man trying to become someone better than he was.
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I think Book's comment is a favourite phrase from days spent as an Alliance authority (hence the whole life-saving ID card deal). An interrogator perhaps?
Maybe he spent his time going after something in particular, which would explain his ruthlessness, his disregard for people's innocence. Maybe he framed people who could help him acheive a goal...
I think the latter theory is reaching a bit though. The former seems the more likely to me, though the latter is an interesting line of thought.
On the OiS monologues, I like the theory of the core psyche thing. Most seem to think some of them are predictions of future phrases, and I dislike the idea of the future being set in my speculative fiction.
I like the the idea that the majority of the crew have deep statements of their pasts in their monologue wheras Good Ol' Jayne is taken up with something very recent, which might be a subtle blast at his shallowness of character.
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Quote:
... Inara may be speaking of her wish that Mal just tell her how he feels...
I have to admit, that's not quite how I interpreted Inara's comment/thought. I assumed she was referring to (as many of us believe) being diagnosed with some terminal illness, or it could be she was referring to something like being informed of the death of someone she loved.
Just a thought.
---
"Today we were kidnapped by hill folk, never to be seen again. It was the best day ever."
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Quote:
Originally posted by Tiger:
Inara may be speaking of her wish that Mal just tell her how he feels
But Inara is an experienced courtesan, not a High School Class President; that figure of fun and fantasy was missing from Whedon's education
My view is that River's reading of Inara presents Inara's suppression of her wish to know River's secret's. Inara wants to know because, although she is part of a True Alliance cell, unlike Book she is not aware at this time of Blue Sun's direction of the research programme.
Only Purplebelly believes any of this
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