Kaylee&Inara-Hearts of Serenity by BrionJaeger

GENERAL DISCUSSIONS

Kaylee&Inara-Hearts of Serenity

POSTED BY: BRIONJAEGER
UPDATED: Saturday, December 11, 2004 07:19
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Sunday, December 5, 2004 4:54 AM

Greetings&Felecitations:

It's pretty much agreed that Kaylee is the "Mom" of the Serenity crew. She reminds them that they are a family from time to time and keeps up that motherly spirit or emotion. Yes, Kaylee has her ups and downs, who wouldn't with Simon Tam bumbling about a burgeoning relationship like a half blind rhino? (S.Africanism there)
Inara on the other hand plays a role just as vital and perhaps more subtle. She is more of the reason and intellect of the mother side of the Serenity's heart. She cuts through the debate to get the 'right thing' done. Look at her lines in 'Serenity' the pilot and in 'Safe'. She forces Mal with the strength of her personality to do what 'should be done', what Mal knows needs to be done while his emotions fight with his reason over it.
As Kaylee balances Simon's deteachment, aloofness and incomprehension of what's going on, Inara balances the void left in Mal's character bringing him the scary emotion of caring and loving again, believing in something with all his heart besides his will to go on.
I can relate to the Mal loosing his hope and his heart, seeing them smashed to bits and trampled upon, being abandoned and seeing all one believes in turned upside down and tossed out. A bit like Ehren Sung at the end of the 2'nd season on Farscape, a bit like what I went through in a badly broken engagement w/a real sociopath ex.
Joss touches on all the things that makes us people w/o having all the obvious signs. He nudges us with Kaylee's open goodness and questions and Inara's decisive actions dealing with all the events onboard but those of her own heart.
Brion Jaeger of Amber
p.s. I'd love to see more of Jewel & Rowena beyond the Firefly series.

"Once you've been in Serenity, you can never leave." Zoe to Simon

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Sunday, December 5, 2004 5:41 AM

ZOID

BrionJaeger:

I always saw Zoe as the Mother, Kaylee as the Little Sister, Inara as the Lover, and River as the Infant Savior (growing into her powers towards the end of S1 and into Serenity)...

Thoughtfully,

zoid

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Sunday, December 5, 2004 6:41 AM

PURPLEBELLY

I'd hate to agree with zoid, except that if I do I deny his concept of my role on this 'board. So with a deep intake of breath, I agree with zoid.

More, taking Whedon's notion that Firefly is as much Grapes of Wrath as it is Stagecoach, Zoe is Ma Joad. Moms ain't about cute, they're about strength. That's why Zoe's is the only death required in Purplebelly's Denouement.

I like the parallels with Song of the South too, but AFAIK Whedon hasn't admitted those yet.

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Sunday, December 5, 2004 7:10 AM

ZOID

P'Belly agrees with me! Well, zip-a-dee-doo-dah! What a wonderful day!

...but isn't PurpleBelly and zoid agreeing one of the Signs of the Apocalypse? (zoid checks) Yeah, that's what I thought. 'Bout time!

(Ev'rything is) Satisfactually,

zoid

P.S.
For everyone else: The End is Nigh! Just go on about your business; nothing to look at here.

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Monday, December 6, 2004 6:04 AM

MINIME

Am I allowed to partly agree and partly disagree?
I think there is some 'mum' (or 'mom' if you're american) in Zoe, Kaylee, and Inara. And also River, if you look at how she sometimes deals with Simon.
The fact is that they are all adults, and they have complex relationships, which means that sometimes they take turns to be mother, sister, friend, lover (in a yet-to-be-fulfilled way!), saviour for each other and the male crew members.
Speaking of whom - I guess the typical response would be to list Mal as the 'father-figure' of the group; but sometimes we see fatherliness in Book, sometimes I think even in Simon. (struggling to stretch that to include Jayne... nope, won't work).
feel free to tell me i'm wrong.

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Monday, December 6, 2004 8:14 AM

ZOID

Of course you're not wrong, minime. Your viewpoint is valid and constructive. To a certain extent, all characters will exhibit the gamut of traditional roles. Real people do the same: I have been Infant, Son, Brother, Lover and/or Husband, and finally Father; The Sage and The Imbecile.

I think what was intended by the thread was the question: What is the archetype of these characters? What primary major archetypal role do they play, regardless that they sometimes play all the minor notes too.

Zoe is the Mother. She is the female authority figure in the group. Inara sometimes takes charge, Zoe sometimes plays the physical lover. But most often, Zoe is Hera, not Aphrodite.

Inara is the Lover. If she's not Aphrodite, she's not anything. She offers support and encouragement to her heroes (in the classical sense here); but it's hard to get a sense of heartfelt love from her. She's a little cold, a little analytical, don't you think? She prefers to keep her distance (Inara says that's why she's leaving the ship, to avoid emotional entanglement). But she is definitely all about the physical act of love, if unfortunately (at least outwardly) devoid of the emotional component.

Kaylee is the Little Sister. While she's the hardest for me to correlate to Greek mythology, the fact remains that everyone else on the boat sees her as a younger, female sibling. Think about it: Mal protects her, Jayne teases her like a big brother; hell, even River saves her ass in "War Stories". I'm toying with the idea of Demeter for her: Earth motherly, but simple (she's often deceived or frightened into inaction like a rabbit (fertility symbol)); she's definitely connected to fertility, the fruit of the Earth (strawberries and other natural foods) and reproduction. We'll know for sure when Kaylee and Mal's daughter gets kidnapped into married confinement by Niska, and is only able to visit her Mum during the growing seasons...

River is the Infant Savior. River's the easiest as far as I'm concerned. She's Athena. Athena sprang fully mature from her father's head wearing a war helmet, and is the goddess of wisdom, warcraft and the arts. I say that she is the 'infant' because throughout the first season she attempts to communicate inportant information; but it's incoherent. Many times people goggle at her, or ignore her as insane; but later they are able to comprehend that she was aware of her surroundings in a deeper way than they were, and was trying to warn them of trouble ahead. This is very much the problem with very bright children. You can tell they are trying to communicate with you. You can see it in their eyes ('the lights are on'), but they don't have the skills yet to make themselves understood. At the end of OiS, River seems to make a breakthrough, and become more integrated with the reality around her. It has been reported that the movie will see more of this progression for her, and that we get a glimpse of what she will become; hence, the 'savior' part.

Mythically,

zoid

P.S.
Anyone care to do the guys? I'll start you off: Jayne is Ares, Simon is Apollo... Gotta go to work now.

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Monday, December 6, 2004 10:43 AM

MINIME

I'm not as mythically aware as you are Zoid, but coming down to essential character, I'd see them this way:

Zoe: Big sister. In some ways, big brother - in the sense of protector, someone strong and wise who carries you rather than needing to be carried.

Inara: Mother (sorry, still sticking with that one). The one with the motherly wisdom and care etc. Even the way that she treats some of her clients (eg: Fess Higgins) is more motherly than strictly sexual. I agree that she has trouble connecting emotionally - I think that expresses itself more in advice (sometimes a little cold, maybe) and motherliness.

Kaylee: Little sister. Gotta agree with that one.

River: Hmmm. Must say I like the Infant Saviour thing you've got. I'll go with that. Can I say Infant Saviour mixed with Sage (person, not herb)?

Mal: Well, I'll go with his character being primarily a father-figure. A lot like what one assumes post-war dads might have been like: a little emotionally distant sometimes, but willing to lay everything on the line for his family. (I'm thinking of where he's talking to Inara right at the start of War Stories when Kaylee and River run past - very fatherly!)

Book: Grandfather. (I think I'm going mostly with family-type metaphors). I guess saying 'Preacher' is a little too obvious. So perhaps I can say combination prophet and priest.

Jayne: Yep, war god. (not completely mythically uninformed) In family terms - the other big brother! The one you don't get along with so well. The Machiavellian pragmatist who might turn any moment, but not without losing part of himself.

Simon: Often feels like the unwanted cousin come to visit! The out-of-towner. Or maybe the townie come to visit the country.

And I'm going to stop there, I've been working for 11 hours and my brain ain't connected any more.

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Monday, December 6, 2004 11:53 AM

CYBERSNARK

Quote:
Originally posted by zoid:
Jayne is Ares,

Yup. Big, dumb, violent, and prone to getting beaten up by Athena/River (Athena threw a rock at Ares' head, and River slashed Jayne with a butcher knife).

-----
We applied the cortical electrodes but were unable to get a neural reaction from either patient.

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Monday, December 6, 2004 7:53 PM

BRIONJAEGER

Greetings&Felecitations:

This has really taken off and if it weren't so bloody late I'd say more.
Never really considered Zoe that much as the motherly type, but after thinking about OIS and The Message, can see it.
She's strong, willing to do what it takes to get the job done.
River is the precocious child or the 2nd sight that mothers sometimes have.
Inara is anything but cold! She seperates her 'business' from her personal life. She loves, perhaps more deeply than any of the rest of the crew because she KNOWS. Knows what love is, what passion is and what lust is and can seperate them out from each other. She is afraid of her love for Mal and the weakness it brings her by letting him have so much of her. Mein Gott in Himmel, did anyone watch The Heart of Gold episode? I know where she was when she ran back up the hallway and later was so very brave when she ran in Mal. Been there, done that and after way too much time got over it. If Inara is cold in the last couple of episodes, it's because she is dealing with a love she thinks is lost beyond all hope. She's just lost her heart and is trying to keep her life together when there's not that much reason to any more.
Sorry for running on like that. Jayne is that awful cousin we all have who is very good at a couple of things the rest of us aren't, but isn't always very dependable. I'd like to see him
and River become a team. His expression when River announces she can kill him with her mind is priceless. :-)
I wonder if Joss ever read a good bit of Roger Zelazny's works. At times his work seems to be a TV/Movie reflection of some of Zelazny's stuff. Mal is Corwin, Jayne is Caine, Zoe as Dierdre, Inara as Llywellen and Walsh as Random.
later,
Brion Jaeger of Amber

"Once you've been in Serenity, how can you ever leave?" Zoe to Simon.

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Tuesday, December 7, 2004 6:20 AM

DIETCOKE

Quote:
Originally posted by minime:
I'm not as mythically aware as you are Zoid, but coming down to essential character, I'd see them this way:

Zoe: Big sister. In some ways, big brother - in the sense of protector, someone strong and wise who carries you rather than needing to be carried.

Inara: Mother (sorry, still sticking with that one). The one with the motherly wisdom and care etc. Even the way that she treats some of her clients (eg: Fess Higgins) is more motherly than strictly sexual. I agree that she has trouble connecting emotionally - I think that expresses itself more in advice (sometimes a little cold, maybe) and motherliness.

Kaylee: Little sister. Gotta agree with that one.

River: Hmmm. Must say I like the Infant Saviour thing you've got. I'll go with that. Can I say Infant Saviour mixed with Sage (person, not herb)?

Mal: Well, I'll go with his character being primarily a father-figure. A lot like what one assumes post-war dads might have been like: a little emotionally distant sometimes, but willing to lay everything on the line for his family. (I'm thinking of where he's talking to Inara right at the start of War Stories when Kaylee and River run past - very fatherly!)

Book: Grandfather. (I think I'm going mostly with family-type metaphors). I guess saying 'Preacher' is a little too obvious. So perhaps I can say combination prophet and priest.

Jayne: Yep, war god. (not completely mythically uninformed) In family terms - the other big brother! The one you don't get along with so well. The Machiavellian pragmatist who might turn any moment, but not without losing part of himself.

Simon: Often feels like the unwanted cousin come to visit! The out-of-towner. Or maybe the townie come to visit the country.

And I'm going to stop there, I've been working for 11 hours and my brain ain't connected any more.

I agree with all of them, but Inara. I don't see a motherly (good or bad) bone in her body. She is not connected to her emotions at all. I find her very cold.

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Tuesday, December 7, 2004 7:35 AM

MINIME

Quote:
Originally posted by dietcoke:

I agree with all of them, but Inara. I don't see a motherly (good or bad) bone in her body. She is not connected to her emotions at all. I find her very cold.

I don't think she's unconnected, I think she's very very self-protective. (Is that a word? It's 4am) But I think that underneath it, there's a kind of warmth, that shows through when she's giving Book a bennediction, or interacting with Kaylee, or (as previously stated) with Fess Higgins.

Anyone ever thought that our opinions on this topic might relate to how we relate to our mothers???

BTW forgot to say that in my family scheme of things, Wash is like the little brother. Which is why he and Kaylee get along so well. And also why he and Zoe sometimes have tension in their relationship.

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Tuesday, December 7, 2004 10:59 AM

JAHZARA

I find Inara very motherly. It never really occurred to me until Morena describes Inara on "The Making of Firefly." She is SO emotionally invested in that ship. She can be seen as cold, though, because of the facade of distance she puts up. I see it as a remnant of her life from a cold childhood, or perhaps, as said before, a defense mechanism from her life in the Core. Gonna not be PC for a minute here and just speculate how petty a organization of women can be.

Inara's emotional problems are so different from Mal's. In terms of mental health, she wins hands down, but while Mal is much more open (but still got a perimeter up) to growing and being part of a relationship, she will not open that door. I don't think its a simple as her being a Companion. I would be shocked if she didn't have some kind of relationship without, um, money changing hands before. I believe its directly related to why she's on Serenity in the first place.

Inara and Mal are very much the mother and father of the ship. That's one of the reasons they are so perfect for one another *sigh*. People go to Inara for advice, because she is empathic and wise. The crew implicitly trust Mal. His ability to to protect them is never really questioned. Everyone on that boat knows (or learns) that Father will be there. Period.

I think we'll find her in Serenity colder and more distant. There's more than just her heart on that ship. I hope that last sentence makes sense ?

I join everyone else in apologizing for my grammer. Just took my Trig final. Last math test EVER!

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Saturday, December 11, 2004 7:19 AM

JEWELDIGGER

I always saw Kaylee and Inara as potential lovers.

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