She’ll Fly True The character development of Serenity

Serenity, the fan fueled, cult classic (to some) made an impact on today’s society of “geeks.” Serenity, the science fiction western as some would call it, is full of memorable characters, which represent a more “down and dirty” type of space travel. Joss Whedon presents us with a world of people who are just trying to fly under the radar and get by with what they can. Although the story seems like one of the “good guys protect a woman whom bad guys will do everything in their power to capture lest she reveal a secret diabolical plan that would unmask them as superbad guys” (Ross), it really is a story of a man and his family, even if it is a makeshift one, and their ability to face anything that comes against them. Serenity is a story: Set nearly 500 years in the future, and the title is the name of a ship commanded by Capt. Mal Reynolds (Nathan Fillion), whose crew of "naughty men" has resorted to thievery and smuggling to survive. Serenity has also picked up its share of passengers, including Simon Tam (Sean Maher) and his younger sister River (Summer Glau), whom he recently freed from an experiment designed to create "human weapons." (Vice) Joss Whedon created a world that gives the audience a sense of reality not a Star Trekesq world where everything is bright and shiny and aliens are diplomats as with humans. Serenity gives the audience a view of what the other side is like, a world in which the hero doesn’t always prevail and in some cases even runs away. When Joss Whedon started to write this story, he has a bit of a dilemma. The film was a continuation of the show Firefly that was canceled after twelve episodes. Whedon said that he was ultimately making a movie for everyone not just the fans but he “had nine characters who had all already met. So there were no shortcuts, no easy paths, no simple pieces of storytelling. What [he] had to do was construct a story that hid that fact structurally as much as it hid things expositionally” (Eagan). Whedon managed to give the fans a continuation of a long love story and the new comers a fresh new look at the science fiction genre and yet some how managed to make the audience laugh and cry along with the characters and give them characters that they relate to. Whedon’s world started out with the ship, Serenity, who is ultimately the tenth character in the film. The ship is presented as a safe, trusted place that is just as part of the crew as any of the humans. Even though the ship isn’t alive, the audience gets a sense its personality by how the characters talk about and to it and also the use of camera. The kind of movement the cameras uses “eliminates some elements and reveals others within the frame, it helps create meaning” (Barsam 220). In Serenity for the first four and a half minutes when we are on the ship there is only one shot. Whedon does this to give the audience a feeling of the layout of the ship and also to give them a feeling of safety, which is what the ship is the Mal and his crew. Kaylee (played by Jewel Staite) is a very important to the film because her character is the one that everyone trusts. She is the heart of the ship; “she’s somebody who gives the captain cred because she likes him even when he’s mean. And she sees the good in him, and in everything… [she’s] the thing that connects everybody” (Whedon 16). Kaylee has been characterized as “flirtatious, sweet, maybe a little naive but brilliant when it comes to technical machines… She is very friendly, she’s very open, very warm, emotional” (Whedon 141). She is someone who is very open about what she thinks about even at very intense times. For example when she and Simon are behind the barricade at Mr. Universe’s home, Simon expresses his regret and Kaylee responds in a very open way. “Simon: My one true regret is all this time is never being with you. Kaylee: With me? You mean to say, as sex? Simon: (smiles) I mean to say. Kaylee: Hell with this. I’m gonna live.” (Serenity) She uses her relationship with Simon and a motivator and she doesn’t care if anyone knows it. Although Simon’s relationship with Kaylee is a very sweet and “innocent” one, the character of Simon (played by Sean Maher) is stoicism and strength, strength for his sister, River. Alliance breed, he was taught to be proper and brilliant, but he is not able to show emotion. He is there to give his sister strength and protection when she needs it the most. River as a character came to “represent the audience voice, [she] became soaked in everything that everybody did so tactilely and so emotionally that she was almost kind of a narrator” (Whedon 16). It becomes apparent in the film that she is not your everyday, average teenager, but she is an Alliance weapon with psychic abilities. It is not said out right what she can do exactly but as an audience we get glimpses in to her world by camera angels, lighting and even dialogue. For example: with the crew arrives a Miranda, we see that River is bothered and even pained by the surrounding areas by her dialogue. RUNtse duh SHANG-DEE, ching DAIwuhtzo, [English: Merciful God please take me away] make them stop, they’re everywhere, every city every house every room, they’re all inside me, I can hear them all and they’re saying nothing! GET UP! PLEASE GET THEM UP! WUOshang mayer, maysheen, BYEN shr-to, [English: I will close my ears and my heart and I will be a stone] please God make me a stone… (Serenity) In this scene we start to understand that she is connected with everyone and she really can’t control it. With River we also get a sense of isolation. Because she is connected with everyone, she is isolated by it. Joss Whedon presents this part of River to the audience by his use of camera angle and the light he uses. During the River’s fight scene in the bar, Whedon uses the lighting and the lack of sound to give the audience the sense of isolation that River is experiencing. Unlike River, Jayne (played by Adam Baldwin) is very easy to understand as a character. He is knows what he wants, what he stands for, how much he can be bought for, and has the ability to say what’s on everyone’s mind at the most inappropriate times. In the film Jayne says “I’ll kill a man in a fair fight.” This very much describes who Jayne is. He with all of his simplicities asks the reasonable questions that everyone else is afraid to ask. Joss Whedon never intended for Jayne to be so lovable as a character, he wanted “somebody on the ship that we absolutely couldn’t trust, but who in a pinch was good in a fight, but that as a person, we are always waiting for him to stab us in the back” (Whedon 11). Serenity has some characters that although they are not on the ship they are still considered crew members. Shepard Book (played by Ron Glass) is one that even though he lives on Haven, you still get the sense that he is a very crucial part of the crew, its conscience. Even though he only appear two times in the movie, the audience gets a feeling of his importance and that he is the one man Mal trust above all. Book and Haven turn out to be the crew’s safe place. A place where they can go and not have to continually look behind their back to see if anyone is out to get them. This is especially apparent with Mal. Mal comes to Book for guidance, although Book doesn’t tell Mal exactly what to do, he does give him insight on how to handle things. For all of Books wisdom he still has a sense of humor, even on his deathbed, this is something that a lot of audience members (including this writer) relate to. Inara (played by Morena Baccarin) is another one of those who may not be on the ship but is still part of the crew. She in one of those who were raised in an Alliance household but still had a strong sense of self. She is a businesswoman and conducts everything in a very business like manner. Because of this training as a companion (which is a form of prostitution that is much like the Japanese geishas) she is able to handle herself in a fight and is in no way a damsel in distress. The character of Inara is very much defined in her relationship with Mal. Most of the time they are semi- hostile to each other and are continually arguing. This becomes apparent when Mal gets word from Inara at the training house to come and help her. They do not fight with each other. This with in itself is very out of character for both of them and triggers the audiences suspicion that something it off about the situations. “Kaylee: How can you be sure that Inara don’t just wanna see you? Sometimes people have feelings- I’m referring here to people. Mal: Y’all were watching, I take it. Kaylee: Yes. Mal: You see us fight? Kaylee: No. Mal: Trap.” (Serenity) Although they are never romantically involved in the film, the audience assumes that they will eventually end up together. Like Inara, The Operative (played by Chiwetel Ejiofor) is a product of the Alliance but without the individuality and rebellion that Inara shows. He may not be a part of Mal’s crew but his development as a character is on that needs to be discussed. Joss Whedon didn’t want a “mustache twirling” villain for this film, he wanted his villain to be scary because had conviction and honor, someone who will kill a person in cold blood and try to comfort them as he is doing it. This is what makes the character of The Operative a villain. Most of the time the audience is presented with glimpses of The Operative because Whedon felt that “the less The Operative made himself known, the more his presents was felt.” He knows what he does is wrong but does it because he believes is something bigger than himself. He makes this clear by telling Mal “What I do is evil, I’ve no illusions about that. But it must be done.” His belief in something greater that himself gives him the ability to do what he has to do. “It’s not my place to ask, I believe in something that is greater that myself. A better world. A world without sin.” We are shown what an unshakable belief can do to someone but showing us what happens when it is broken. In the end of the film Mal shows The Operative a “world without sin” and it shatters his world and after that becomes like a ghost because he doesn’t know who to believe anymore. Working on the opposing side of The Operative is Mr. Universe (played by Dave Krumholtz). He is the beating heart of everything subversive. He knows about the manipulation being done by the Alliance and does his best to stop it in is own why. “He’s a character in all the best senses of the word and a consummate professional.” (Serenity) He is the one with gives insight to Mal about the Alliances manipulation and does what he can even in death to make sure the word gets out. He tells Mal “they can’t stop the signal, Mal. They can never stop the signal.” (Serenity) The ship’s crew has some lovable characters and some not so lovable. Wash (played by Alan Tudyk) represents the sort of every-day, humorous, self-deprecating guy. He’s the one with all the jokes and has the ability to make light in any situation. He’s the type of guy is “just fly the ship, but let’s make some money, we’ll be great, but once we get some money, let go on vacation!” (Whedon 118) But he not always cracking jokes and making light of the situation, he has the ability to buckle down and do what needs to be done. As the pilot his calmest moments is what he’s flying in a high stress situation. In the scene before his death, he is calm while the rest of the crew is “freaking out.” He chants the mantra “I’m a leaf on the wind. Watch how a soar” to keep himself “in the zone.” But a lot of Wash’s character has to do with Zoe (played by Gina Torres). As her husband, he is her opposite, her ying to her yang if you will. She is the one who is the fighter and he’s the one driving the getaway car, and he wouldn’t have it any other way. Zoe, on the other hand, is not just Wash’s wife but also Mal’s partner. She is the one who has the most history with Mal. Because they fought together against the Alliance, they had a bond that couldn’t be broken. Zoe is there to represent a side of Mal that nobody else really understood- his honor and that fact that he was such a good leader that this person who is happily marries and completely at peace with herself would still follow his into these serious and sometimes dumb situations, because he had been important to her in the war, and that just gave Mal cred. (Whedon, 11) She shows her strength when Wash dies. Instead of falling apart and refusing to go on, she reverts back to her military training. She takes all of her grief and morning and takes it out on the Reavers. In the end of the film we are given hope for Zoe recovery after Wash’s death when Mal ask Zoe is she thinks the ship with pull though. She responds “she’s tore up plenty. But she’ll fly true.” This line is not only talking about the ship but also Zoe talking about herself and that even though she lost someone so dear to her, that she’s pull through in the end. This line also talks about the crew and their ability to rise above all obstacles and get by. The character of Mal is not your typical hero because he doesn’t fit the mold of “I will fight for what I believe, no matter the cost.” Whedon says that “Mal was supposed to be the hero, but in the loosest sense of the word, everything that a hero is not, and everything by the way that my hero is not.” He did however fight on the losing side of the war between the Independence and the Alliance. This is why his is the way he is. At the stage in his development when the film opens, we find him in a “bad place.” He has the mentality that “sometimes that closest thing to mercy is killing someone.” (Serenity) He pushes his crew away and pulling himself apart from the crew. He shows that he is not in the best mindset when he shoots a total of three unarmed men in the film. When he shoots The Operative, who is unarmed, it says that he is pragmatic and he is nobody’s hero. It could also be Joss Whedon’s tribute to the original released version of Star Wars: A New Hope’s Gredo shooting. Mal believes that if he becomes someone who actually cares about things, then he might become a bigger monster then he is now. Mal tells Inara that when “I start fighting a war I guarantee you’ll see something new.” This is his way of saying the leaders by nature are monsters and he doesn’t want to become more of one. Although he tries to separate himself from his crew, he still has a deep sense of family. His family is his crew and when Simon and River bringing them into danger threaten his crew, he fights back. But even River and Simon are apart of his family in a way because when he could have let River and Simon be caught by the Alliance, he brings them back to the ship. He cares deeply for his crew and will do anything to keep them safe, including standing up and fighting, which goes against his better nature. Mal is more likely to run from a fight then stand up to one and will only join the fight when he has not other option. When Book dies, Mal’s first reaction is to run but when he realizes that there is not place to run he has to talk a step up and become that hero that everyone knows he can be. After leaving Haven Mal decides to find Miranda and get answers. He gives a speech in which he stands up and tells is crew that this is what he is doing and they can join him if they like. He ends is with “no more running, I aim to misbehave.” The first people to speak up and join in is Jayne, who is the most “amoral character of the movie,” which is why we don’t need everyone else to say their in because is Jayne, who is only in it for himself, is in that the rest of the moral characters are assumes to be in favor of Mal’s plan. For Mal, even when his world is falling apart around him he still is able to overcome all obstacles that stand in his way, including The Operative. He has a deep love for his ship and his crew. In the end of the film Mal tells River that [Y]ou can learn all the math in the ‘verse, but you take a boat in the air you don’t love, she’ll shake you off just as sure as the turning of the worlds. Love keeps her in the air when she aughta fall down, tells you she’s hurting ‘fore she keens. Makes her home. For Mal love isn’t learned or made, it’s always there and when you find something that you really love you should hold onto it with all you might, because you never know when you’re going to lose it. This film is more about family than it is about the “man saves world from imminent destruction” theme. Serenity being the title of the ship is very fitting for the film because the crew only finds peace when they are on the ship. In the end of the film the crew bands together to put back together the beloved ship and make it and them whole again. Zoe’s line of “she’s tore up plenty, but she’ll fly true” sums up the entire film. No matter who bets them down or how hard they try, in the end the crew and their ship will still fly true, even if it’s full of petty criminals and high-class prostitutes.

Works Cited Barsam, Richard. Looking at Movies: An Introduction to Film. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2004.

Eagan, Daniel. "FINDING SERENITY." Film Journal International 108(2005): 10.

Ross, Dalton. "Space Cowboys." Entertainment Weekly (2005)

Serenity. Dir. Joss Whedon. Perf. Nathan Fillion, Summer Glau. DVD. Universal Studios, 2005.

Vice, Jeff. "Movie review: Serenity." deseretnews.com. 30 September 2005. Deseret News Publishing Co.. 25 Nov 2006 .

Whedon, Joss. Serenity: The Official Visual Companion. London: Titan Publishing Group Ltd., 2005.