GENERAL DISCUSSIONS

Mal and his people are just low-life thieves...

POSTED BY: CHRISISALL
UPDATED: Tuesday, January 24, 2006 04:32
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Wednesday, January 18, 2006 7:48 AM

CHRISISALL


...I've heard it said by some.

I feel Mal and co. are survivors; they don't steal from regular folk, or endanger lives. They nibble off the edge of the Alliance to live. They definitly ain't getting rich stealin' and such. Plenty ways to get wealthy in the 'Verse if you got no morals...

Thoughts?

Chrisisall, Alliance Historian

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Wednesday, January 18, 2006 8:02 AM

FOLLOWMAL




"The war's long done. We're all just folk now."
Mal

Folk indeed. Our crew are just scraping by, like so many of us folks out here. Their ways of doin' it just be a little more colorful than ours!
I'd not hold it against 'em if they really stuck it to the Alliance and made out real well.

Besides our crew has morals... they watch out as Mal says " for me and mine". Doesn't preclude them from doin' "good works."

My Mama taught me to always share with others, but charity starts at home. You ain't gonna be able to help others, if you're down and out yourself.

" You hold. Hold til I get back." Mal

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Wednesday, January 18, 2006 8:08 AM

CHRISISALL


I've heard from some right on this board that Mal is someone you wouldn't want to know in real life, that he's cold and hard, and that no matter how entertaining Serenity/Firefly is, we're basically rooting for crooks.

I don't hold with that.
I think they're Big Damn Heroes, as much as their existence allows them to be.
Like the best in us sometimes has to be.

Chrisisall, pattin' us Browncoats on the back a little

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Wednesday, January 18, 2006 8:11 AM

PRINCESSROHANNEN


I don't think the crew is targeting the Alliance every time they do a job, it's just that the Alliance has its fingers in so many pies that it's hard to steal something that doesn't belong to them.

What about the laceter(sp?) in "Trash"? That guy may have been rich, but I don't recall him having any official connection to the Alliance.

What about the payroll at the beginning of the movie? If I recall, the connection to the Alliance there was pretty loose.

I'm actually one of those who would call the crew a bunch of low-down petty thieves; and I'd say it with pride. Mal isn't Robin Hood. These people aren't heroes. They're just trying to live free. I think of them as pirates, and that's what makes them unique. It's one of my favorite things about the show that the characters are complex and imperfect. Anti-heroes, if you like the term.

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Wednesday, January 18, 2006 8:12 AM

STYROFOAMGUY


They do what they have to in order to survive. However there is a line they will not cross that others will.


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Wednesday, January 18, 2006 8:14 AM

KSC


Quote:

Originally posted by PrincessRohannen:
I think of them as pirates, Anti-heroes, if you like the term.



Right on. You saved me from saying it.

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Wednesday, January 18, 2006 8:15 AM

PRINCESSROHANNEN


Quote:

Originally posted by StyrofoamGuy:
They do what they have to in order to survive. However there is a line they will not cross that others will.




I think I may agree with you, but I wonder if you can put that line into words?

Will they stop at killing? Nope. Crossed that line a few times right in the pilot, and in several episodes after that.

They certainly won't refrain from stealing from the innocent dead (Bushwhacked).

I wonder exactly where that line is?

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Wednesday, January 18, 2006 8:19 AM

KSC


Id say that line is smack dab in the middle of The Train Job. Returning the medical supplies to those in need, and knowing full well the repercussions from Niske...

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Wednesday, January 18, 2006 8:20 AM

FOLLOWMAL



I don't hold with that, either!

Our crew are not crooks. They are living life within the boundaries that they have. What is it Mal says...."The way it is, is the way it is."

Some folks haven't ever had to suffer ( war, strife, loss of home and family, hunger, loss of health), and I reckon their take on what is considered crooked or not might be a little different. If your children ( your crew) are hungry and you live on the raggedy edge, aren't you going to risk much to make sure they are taken care of? My Mom and Dad grew up during the depression, and they've told me tales of what people had to do to survive.

It's really easy to brand people crooks and brigands when you are comfortable and well fed, but when life is rough ( a rough most folks where I'm from have never seen) the rules change.

Joss wrote Firefly after reading " The Killer Angels". From what I've read, he based life in the 'verse on the rebuilding of things after a devastating war. Our crew is not living the fat life on one of the core planets. They are "in the black", that makes the take a little different.

Whew, what a rant I went off on... but I stand on my opinion. Our crew are BDH's, shaped by their times and I'm proud to admire them. I would want to know them in real life.



" You hold. Hold til I get back." Mal

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Wednesday, January 18, 2006 8:21 AM

CHRISISALL


Causing harm to (living) innocents would seem to cross that line to me.
If the term 'pirate' is applicable to them, you must use it in the most fanciful sense though, like in 'Pirates of the Carribean', wherein not all pirates are out to loot and kill everyone.

Good, bad, I'm the guy with the gun Chrisisall

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Wednesday, January 18, 2006 8:22 AM

NOSADSEVEN


Yeah, but they're our low-life theives!


Re: the Lassiter - remember Saffron's story about the guy getting all his stuff during the war? Whether her story was true, or not, the Alliance connection was there for the crew.

~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ain't. We. Just.

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Wednesday, January 18, 2006 8:36 AM

CHRISISALL


Quote:

Originally posted by KSC:
Id say that line is smack dab in the middle of The Train Job. Returning the medical supplies to those in need, and knowing full well the repercussions from Niske...

Exactly! Not the actions of career criminals.
Or when Mal was trying to talk the guard into more than a graze (in Serenity), for his own good! A real crook wouldn't give a care, he'd just shoot him or not and be on his merry.

Bad Guy Chrisisall

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Wednesday, January 18, 2006 8:44 AM

OCELOT


Hmm....I can answer this with a quote.


"Mercy is the mark of a great man."

*poke*

"Guess that just makes me a good one."

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Wednesday, January 18, 2006 8:45 AM

PRINCESSROHANNEN


Quote:

Originally posted by FollowMal:

Our crew are BDH's, shaped by their times and I'm proud to admire them. I would want to know them in real life.



" You hold. Hold til I get back." Mal



Let me clarify: I love these people. I'd follow my captain straight into the gaping mouth of hell.

But just because we like this crew doesn't make them "good guys." Sometimes the job, whatever it is, hurts the Alliance in a small way. Sometimes the crew does heroic things.

But never do they go looking for heroic things to do. Never do they go on the hunt for innocents to protect. Never do they go looking for a way to irritate the Alliance. Any of that would be impractical and dangerous. This crew looks out for each other. Period.

Any heroism is purely accidental.

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Wednesday, January 18, 2006 8:48 AM

PRINCESSROHANNEN


Quote:

Originally posted by chrisisall:
Quote:

Originally posted by KSC:
Id say that line is smack dab in the middle of The Train Job. Returning the medical supplies to those in need, and knowing full well the repercussions from Niske...

Exactly! Not the actions of career criminals.
Or when Mal was trying to talk the guard into more than a graze (in Serenity), for his own good! A real crook wouldn't give a care, he'd just shoot him or not and be on his merry.

Bad Guy Chrisisall



Some good points here. I wonder how many headaches Whedon gave himself trying to come up with just the right blend of compassion and callousness for Mal?

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Wednesday, January 18, 2006 8:58 AM

CHRISISALL


Quote:

Originally posted by PrincessRohannen:
But never do they go looking for heroic things to do.

But then, real heroes never do, do they? They just do what is right to the best of their ability when the time comes.

I've conversed with more than one real hero right on this board over the last few months. And none thought themselves particularly 'heroic', they were just doing what needed to be done.
Heroes.



Costume not mandatory Chrisisall

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Wednesday, January 18, 2006 9:02 AM

PRINCESSROHANNEN


Quote:

Originally posted by chrisisall:
Quote:

Originally posted by PrincessRohannen:
But never do they go looking for heroic things to do.

But then, real heroes never do, do they? They just do what is right to the best of their ability when the time comes.

I've conversed with more than one real hero right on this board over the last few months. And none thought themselves particularly 'heroic', they were just doing what needed to be done.
Heroes.



Costume not mandatory Chrisisall



Well, Spider-man goes looking for heroic things to do. Innocents to save, etc. I guess I just don't want to start calling them actual heroes because that would make them ... typical. And Firefly is so unique.

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Wednesday, January 18, 2006 9:03 AM

AGENTROUKA


Hmm..

IF Mal wanted, he could live an honest life, have an honest job. He could attempt to change the Alliance system in a legal way from within. (Which would be the truly heroic thing.)

He chooses not to. I don't think there is anything particularly heroic about that, per se.

Thieving is thieving, even if it is from the Alliance. It's only cool in a juvenile, break all rules, rebel without a clue kind of way.

Arguing with the guard where to shoot him to make it look like he fought back... that's still him injuring an innocent man. Killing Crow wasn't strictly necessary, it was preventative murder. Stealing medicine from an Alliance hospital may not have been immediately harmful, but it's still not good, not to mention attacking that doctor in the hospital who was only doing his job by checking out suspicious-acting "paramedics".


He IS a violent, petty thief by choice. There is not much in the way of moral high ground there.

Not hurting innocents.. if that's the standard for heroism, then ouch.


I like him in spite of it. Not because of it. It makes him a layered character.

A hero? Not so much.

What he did in Serenity was heroic. Sheltering River. Defending the whores in "Heart of Gold". The kind of thing that involves sacrifice rather than mere cunning.



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Wednesday, January 18, 2006 9:09 AM

BOWIE


Like cowboys on earth of old, they rob, steal, and fight. But they live by their own code of morals, adn they don't cross that line. Cowboys are given a bad rap by holywood nowadays, and I think the peeps who like the movies that give em a bad rap are the same that say these arent heros. They arent saints, thats for sure, but they are heros. Hero's are not always fancy knights on chargers, set to make all ends good. In fact I wouldn't like being near a hero like that, cause it seems to me when someone sets out to make the world better, they often turn it worse. No a true hero is someone who says, this is whats right, and I'm going to fight for it. Not because I want a happy ending, though I do, not because I want glory, but because its whats right to do, its what needs to be done, and someone has to do it. Sums Mal up right pritty to me.

If you play Nationstates.net check out the region Firefly.

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Wednesday, January 18, 2006 9:11 AM

STILLTHEREWAITING


I think that question was answered definitively in "The Train Job".


SHERIFF
You were truthful back in town. These are tough
times. If a man can get a job, he might not look
too close at what that job is. But a man learns
all the details of a situation like ours, well,
then he has a choice.

MAL
I don't believe he does.


They're basically moral people living as best they can without harming anyone else's life who isn't harming or trying to harm them.




Laugh while you can, monkey-boy.

If I were you, I'd run!
If you were me, you'd be good-looking

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Wednesday, January 18, 2006 9:15 AM

PRINCESSROHANNEN


Well said, AgentRouka.

Lemmee ask you all this:

When Mal pulled a gun to shut the crew up, shot a man with his hands held high in surrender, and told the crew to "get to work" in the movie, was he still a hero?

To me, that was one of his most defining moments. That was Mal looking out for him and his; doing what had to be done. Was it right and heroic?

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Wednesday, January 18, 2006 9:21 AM

CHRISISALL


Quote:

Originally posted by AgentRouka:
Thieving is thieving, even if it is from the Alliance. It's only cool in a juvenile, break all rules, rebel without a clue kind of way.

Pardon me for speculating, but correct me if I'm wrong.
You never had a policeman threaten you, or steal from you, have you? You never had a day in court where the bailiff took you aside to inform you that you weren't going to win this one 'no matter what', have you? I have.
It's easy to play the good citizen card if you never felt the injustice possible in 'the system', any system.
And if you don't know both sides, it's easy to label Mal.

Respectfully, Chrisisall

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Wednesday, January 18, 2006 9:23 AM

PRINCESSROHANNEN


Quote:

Originally posted by chrisisall:
Quote:

Originally posted by AgentRouka:
Thieving is thieving, even if it is from the Alliance. It's only cool in a juvenile, break all rules, rebel without a clue kind of way.

Pardon me for speculating, but correct me if I'm wrong.
You never had a policeman threaten you, or steal from you, have you? You never had a day in court where the bailiff took you aside to inform you that you weren't going to win this one 'no matter what', have you? I have.
It's easy to play the good citizen card if you never felt the injustice possible in 'the system', any system.
And if you don't know both sides, it's easy to label Mal.

Respectfully, Chrisisall



Now hang on just a minute. Just because the system is imperfect doesn't mean anarchy is the answer.

If society creates a serial killer, does that mean killing is right?

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Wednesday, January 18, 2006 9:25 AM

BOWIE


yes, it was. The man who came out may have been trying to surender, but he killed all the town, and Mal didn't accept his surender. If Mal had taken his surender adn killed him, hat would be wrong, but there was no way in hell he was going to let the guy live after.

And Mal does not say he will shoot them if they don't do what he wants. He says if he hears any words that "aren't taking your leave" He'll shoot them down. Which to me means, if your gonna come don't argue, if your not just leave. If you try to stay and argue, I'll shoot you. Though I don't really think he would, I think it was a bluff. Theres just no way in my mind that he'd ever shoot little sister.

If you play Nationstates.net check out the region Firefly.

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Wednesday, January 18, 2006 9:26 AM

STAKETHELURK


I don’t want to come down on either side right now, cuz I’m still a little uncertain on my position (which I see as separate from whether or not I enjoy the crew’s characters and escapades as entertainment).

However, I would like to remind folks who feel that stealing from the Alliance isn’t a bad thing to ask themselves: where does the Alliance’s money come from? Innocent taxpayers, folks who never bothered anyone. And when you steal from the Alliance, even just a little bit, the burden eventually rests on the innocent folk at the very bottom. It doesn't really hurt the Alliance as an institution, it just squeezes its citizens.

Just something for us all to mull over…

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Wednesday, January 18, 2006 9:27 AM

CHRISISALL


Quote:

Originally posted by PrincessRohannen:
When Mal pulled a gun to shut the crew up, shot a man with his hands held high in surrender, and told the crew to "get to work" in the movie, Was it right and heroic?

It was right.
Heroic would come later in the movie.
Mal was on the clock; it's frustrating.

Early Chrisisall

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Wednesday, January 18, 2006 9:30 AM

PRINCESSROHANNEN


Quote:

Originally posted by Bowie:
yes, it was. The man who came out may have been trying to surender, but he killed all the town, and Mal didn't accept his surender. If Mal had taken his surender adn killed him, hat would be wrong, but there was no way in hell he was going to let the guy live after.


If you play Nationstates.net check out the region Firefly.



Then it's right to kill if it's for the sake of revenge?

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Wednesday, January 18, 2006 9:31 AM

PRINCESSROHANNEN


Quote:

Originally posted by chrisisall:
Quote:

Originally posted by PrincessRohannen:
When Mal pulled a gun to shut the crew up, shot a man with his hands held high in surrender, and told the crew to "get to work" in the movie, Was it right and heroic?

It was right.
Heroic would come later in the movie.
Mal was on the clock; it's frustrating.

Early Chrisisall



Are you saying that frustration and time contraints justify anything?

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Wednesday, January 18, 2006 9:39 AM

BOWIE


Its right to kill someone if they killed a whole town, yes. Not all revenge is justified, like it'd be bad to kill for the sake of being slighted at school, but for killing a whole town, including children and old folk, yes. They don't have a law system to do it for them, so they do what they have to do, cause someone has to.


If you play Nationstates.net check out the region Firefly.

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Wednesday, January 18, 2006 10:03 AM

ITSBROKEN


Quote:

Originally posted by PrincessRohannen:
I'm actually one of those who would call the crew a bunch of low-down petty thieves; and I'd say it with pride. Mal isn't Robin Hood. These people aren't heroes. They're just trying to live free. I think of them as pirates, and that's what makes them unique. It's one of my favorite things about the show that the characters are complex and imperfect. Anti-heroes, if you like the term.



They are definitely thieves, but no where near low-down or petty. They have values and certain moral lines that they do not cross.

-----
***someone should make a MMORPG based on the 'verse!***

Geeze i want Firefly to come back!

-----

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Wednesday, January 18, 2006 10:06 AM

ITSBROKEN


Quote:

Originally posted by PrincessRohannen:
Quote:

Originally posted by chrisisall:
Quote:

Originally posted by PrincessRohannen:
When Mal pulled a gun to shut the crew up, shot a man with his hands held high in surrender, and told the crew to "get to work" in the movie, Was it right and heroic?

It was right.
Heroic would come later in the movie.
Mal was on the clock; it's frustrating.

Early Chrisisall



Are you saying that frustration and time contraints justify anything?



given a situation like theirs where one of your closest friends was killed by that man, im pretty sure many of us would've shot that man with his arms held high. They dont live on earth, they have a different mind set. Plus, that guy killed Book, and he was a soldier, during WWII the allies and the axis both did not take prisoners for the first few days of combat in Europe. you seem very narrow minded PR. Think of them in THEIR context and environment, they dont live in our everyday lives which is what you are basing a lot of your comments on.

-----
***someone should make a MMORPG based on the 'verse!***

Geeze i want Firefly to come back!

-----

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Wednesday, January 18, 2006 10:17 AM

AGENTROUKA


Quote:

Originally posted by PrincessRohannen:
Well said, AgentRouka.

Lemmee ask you all this:

When Mal pulled a gun to shut the crew up, shot a man with his hands held high in surrender, and told the crew to "get to work" in the movie, was he still a hero?

To me, that was one of his most defining moments. That was Mal looking out for him and his; doing what had to be done. Was it right and heroic?



Shooting someone who surrenders: In my book that is always wrong. Always.

Threatening the crew, can be argued, was likely not quite genuine and more of a way to harden both himself and them to the situation.

Shooting that Alliance guy? Wrong. Callous, selfish, immoral, testament of how far OVER the line this savagery pushed Mal.


Heroic was Mal when he decided that the message had to be sent out. Then and not before.

My personal opinion, anyway.




Chrisisall --

I defer to what PrincessRohannen replied to you.

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Wednesday, January 18, 2006 10:20 AM

BOWIE


I say shooting the alliance's man was nothing short of justice.

If you play Nationstates.net check out the region Firefly.

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Wednesday, January 18, 2006 10:25 AM

AGENTROUKA


Quote:

Originally posted by Bowie:
I say shooting the alliance's man was nothing short of justice.

If you play Nationstates.net check out the region Firefly.



In the way that lynching is justice.

Where that man belonged was a court. With a lawyer in his defense.

That would be what I consider justice.

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Wednesday, January 18, 2006 10:30 AM

BOWIE


yeah, cause sending the alliance men back to them would really have gotten justice. Alliance wasn't about to do justice for thsoe people. There was no cout, there isn't allways. When people are on teh fringes that happens, its something that has always happened threw history, and sometimes those people are wrong, but then so are the courts. There was absolutly no way that man was not guilty. If your going to say no one should ever kill anyone else, even if those peeps killed first, well I think perhaps your watching the wrong show.

If you play Nationstates.net check out the region Firefly.

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Wednesday, January 18, 2006 10:37 AM

AGENTROUKA


Quote:

Originally posted by Bowie:
yeah, cause sending the alliance men back to them would really have gotten justice. Alliance wasn't about to do justice for thsoe people. There was no cout, there isn't allways. When people are on teh fringes that happens, its something that has always happened threw history, and sometimes those people are wrong, but then so are the courts. There was absolutly no way that man was not guilty. If your going to say no one should ever kill anyone else, even if those peeps killed first, well I think perhaps your watching the wrong show.

If you play Nationstates.net check out the region Firefly.




Let's just say, I don't believe in "collateral damage".

And who's to say there's no way that man was not guilty? That ship had more than one person in it, obviously, nor do I think that the soldiers on that plane knew the lifestories of everyone on that planet. They got orders to attack an enemy on that planet.

Should they have known the people there were innocents? Where from?

I can imagine a lot of soldier in a lot of wars end up killing a lot of innocent civilians with bombs and the like, without personally wanting to, but because the people who ordered them felt it was okay.

Should all these soldiers be shot at sight by the friends of the innocent victims?

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Wednesday, January 18, 2006 10:44 AM

NOSADSEVEN


Quote:

Originally posted by StakeTheLurk:
However, I would like to remind folks who feel that stealing from the Alliance isn’t a bad thing to ask themselves: where does the Alliance’s money come from? Innocent taxpayers, folks who never bothered anyone. And when you steal from the Alliance, even just a little bit, the burden eventually rests on the innocent folk at the very bottom. It doesn't really hurt the Alliance as an institution, it just squeezes its citizens.

The Alliance is responsible for squeezing its citizens, no matter who steals from it.

Congruently, Mal is responsible for his own decisions regardless of what hardships the Alliance has brought him. I think he recognizes this. He's not forced to steal from the Alliance, he often admits the he just likes to.

Mal chooses to live the life of a 'low-down thief', and you can see the responsibility of that decision wear on him. "It's what I do, darlin'. It's what I do." It is what he does, but it is not who he is - and thus we have our tragic figure, our anti-hero.

~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ain't. We. Just.

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Wednesday, January 18, 2006 11:22 AM

QUEENOFTHENORTH


Quote:

Originally posted by AgentRouka:


Let's just say, I don't believe in "collateral damage".

And who's to say there's no way that man was not guilty? That ship had more than one person in it, obviously, nor do I think that the soldiers on that plane knew the lifestories of everyone on that planet. They got orders to attack an enemy on that planet.

Should they have known the people there were innocents? Where from?

I can imagine a lot of soldier in a lot of wars end up killing a lot of innocent civilians with bombs and the like, without personally wanting to, but because the people who ordered them felt it was okay.

Should all these soldiers be shot at sight by the friends of the innocent victims?



While I wouldn't say you're technically wrong, you're looking at this entirely too rationally. It's easy to look at something like this and say that when you're not the friend of the innocent victims who died just a few minutes before. However, if you ever encountered a situation like this, where your friends, innocent civilians, are brutally slaughtered by soldiers, and you encounter one of those soldiers just a few minutes after you've watched one of your friends die, how do you know you wouldn't do exactly the same thing? How can you say that in that moment of rage, grief and anger, you would be rationally thinking about how this guy might not be guilty and you should just take him back to have a court of law deal with him?

The same goes to Princess: you're looking at this in an entirely too black-and-white fashion. Can you say that if you were in a kill-or-be-killed situation, or if someone you love was, you wouldn't kill the other person because you know it's wrong? If so, I applaud you. You're certainly a much better person than I could ever hope to be.

As for whether or not they're heroes, I think they are. They're ordinary people struggling to do what's right. They make mistakes sometimes, sure, because they're not saints. But that doesn't mean they're not heroes.

"I'm having one of those things - a headache with pictures."

"Of course I'm right. And if I'm not, may we all be horribly crushed from above somehow."

Like books? Go to this thread: http://www.fireflyfans.net/thread.asp?b=2&t=14862
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Wednesday, January 18, 2006 12:21 PM

AGENTROUKA


Quote:

Originally posted by queenofthenorth:
While I wouldn't say you're technically wrong, you're looking at this entirely too rationally. It's easy to look at something like this and say that when you're not the friend of the innocent victims who died just a few minutes before. However, if you ever encountered a situation like this, where your friends, innocent civilians, are brutally slaughtered by soldiers, and you encounter one of those soldiers just a few minutes after you've watched one of your friends die, how do you know you wouldn't do exactly the same thing? How can you say that in that moment of rage, grief and anger, you would be rationally thinking about how this guy might not be guilty and you should just take him back to have a court of law deal with him?



I'm not saying that I would be immune to mindless rage in that situation.

However, that very human response is the reason courts were invented in the first place. The victim (and their friends) are not impartial and will exact revenge rather than justice.

Killing that man was a human and easily understandable response. But it was a wrong thing to do, an immoral one.

Quote:


As for whether or not they're heroes, I think they are. They're ordinary people struggling to do what's right. They make mistakes sometimes, sure, because they're not saints. But that doesn't mean they're not heroes.



Why do they need to be heroes for just living, though?

Heroes for getting out the Miranda word, sure.

But heroes for just... living their lives the way they do? That makes the definition of "hero" awfully wide. That means I'm a hero for surviving on a small paycheck, when I think that makes me merely an ordinary person. Hell, I don't even have to steal to get by. Does that mean I deserve an award?


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Wednesday, January 18, 2006 1:01 PM

TOMSIMPSONAZ


If you enjoy Firefly and don't know what the Libertarian political affiliation is, you should check it out.

Browncoats exist outside of the verse :)

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Wednesday, January 18, 2006 1:03 PM

PINBALLWIZARD


You a libertarian too Tomsimpson? Way to go!

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Wednesday, January 18, 2006 1:04 PM

WINDWALKER


Maybe but they are fun low life thieves

I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Time to die.

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Wednesday, January 18, 2006 1:19 PM

SAMEERTIA


Yah, but they're OUR low-life thieves.

:D

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Wednesday, January 18, 2006 1:20 PM

TOMSIMPSONAZ


Quote:

Originally posted by pinballwizard:
You a libertarian too Tomsimpson? Way to go!



Yip :)

[URL= http://www.theadvocates.org/celebrities.html]Libertarian Celebrities: An interesting read[/URL]
[URL= http://www.lp.org/issues/issues.shtml]I am libertarian, click here for a brief summary of how I feel on our country's major political issues.[/URL]

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Wednesday, January 18, 2006 1:22 PM

QUEENOFTHENORTH


Quote:

Originally posted by AgentRouka:

I'm not saying that I would be immune to mindless rage in that situation.

However, that very human response is the reason courts were invented in the first place. The victim (and their friends) are not impartial and will exact revenge rather than justice.

Killing that man was a human and easily understandable response. But it was a wrong thing to do, an immoral one.

Quote:


As for whether or not they're heroes, I think they are. They're ordinary people struggling to do what's right. They make mistakes sometimes, sure, because they're not saints. But that doesn't mean they're not heroes.



Why do they need to be heroes for just living, though?

Heroes for getting out the Miranda word, sure.

But heroes for just... living their lives the way they do? That makes the definition of "hero" awfully wide. That means I'm a hero for surviving on a small paycheck, when I think that makes me merely an ordinary person. Hell, I don't even have to steal to get by. Does that mean I deserve an award?




I never said that what Mal did wasn't wrong. It was wrong and immoral. What I'm saying is exactly what you're saying - it's human and understandable. You can't condemn Mal based on that one act. Especially since Mal is a soldier, a trained killer. His first reaction to any situation is bound to be "shoot first, ask questions later" especially when it involves the death of one of his crew. Also, what I'm saying is that Mal found that Alliance guy at a time when he wasn't rationally thinking about letting the law deal with him. Otherwise, he probably would have let the law deal with him. He doesn't always kill people who hurt him/piss him off. (eg. Atherton, Niska, the Operative)

I also never said that they are heroes just for living their lives. I said they're heroes for struggling to do what's right. That's what they do with the Miranda situation: what's right. They also do that in Heart of Gold when they risk their lives for the prostitutes, and even in Train Job. Mal gives the medicine back, which is the right thing to do, even though he knows Niska will come after him. He even ends up dying, if only for a few seconds, because of that action. If all these things aren't heroism, then I don't know what is.

"I'm having one of those things - a headache with pictures."

"Of course I'm right. And if I'm not, may we all be horribly crushed from above somehow."

Like books? Go to this thread: http://www.fireflyfans.net/thread.asp?b=2&t=14862
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Wednesday, January 18, 2006 1:43 PM

AGENTROUKA


Quote:

Originally posted by queenofthenorth:
I never said that what Mal did wasn't wrong. It was wrong and immoral. What I'm saying is exactly what you're saying - it's human and understandable. You can't condemn Mal based on that one act.



Then I don't understand why you replied in the way you did, I suppose. I wasn't condemning Mal as evil. Merely stating that what he did was wrong and immoral.


Quote:


Especially since Mal is a soldier, a trained killer. His first reaction to any situation is bound to be "shoot first, ask questions later" especially when it involves the death of one of his crew.



ANY situation? If that is true of all soldiers, I'd suggest don't let them run loose in public. *g*

It's not Mal's soldier self that shoots first. It's his crook self that has no recourse with the law and chooses a life among immoral and dangerous people. It's the life he chose that often makes it necessary for him to defend himself with violence.

His response to this particular situation, though, doesn't have to be justified by anything other than being human. Revenge. It's natural. Not just, but natural.

Quote:


I also never said that they are heroes just for living their lives. I said they're heroes for struggling to do what's right. That's what they do with the Miranda situation: what's right. They also do that in Heart of Gold when they risk their lives for the prostitutes, and even in Train Job. Mal gives the medicine back, which is the right thing to do, even though he knows Niska will come after him. He even ends up dying, if only for a few seconds, because of that action. If all these things aren't heroism, then I don't know what is.



As I said before, Miranda and the Heart of Gold, I grant as heroism.

But The Train Job? That wasn't struggling to do what's right. That was not going through with doing the wrong thing they had started doing. It's essentially his own fault for entering into business with Niska. That's not heroic, that's suffering the consequences of stupidity.


Most of the time they aren't struggling to do what's right. They merely refrain from doing truly wrong things (when they can), which is simply not heroic. It's common decency.

Heroism involves selflessness and sacrifice. "Not being bad" doesn't count.


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Wednesday, January 18, 2006 1:55 PM

QUEENOFTHENORTH


Oops. What I meant by "any situation" was any situation which involves violence and especially Alliance soldiers. I mean, you gotta figure that it's pretty difficult for Mal to encounter these people that he spent so much time fighting against and treat them as normal people. And right at that moment, all Mal's anger towards the Alliance, the Operative, and all the things they'd done to him was bubbling right at the surface. The guy trying to surrender was just a poor, unlucky bastard who took the brunt of that anger.

Anyways, the point that I was trying to make is that Mal still is a hero, in spite of the mistakes he makes that sometimes result in immoral actions. Just because he's human and has flaws doesn't mean he can't be a hero. Heroes aren't godlike figures who do no wrong.

And also, although in the Train Job, they were just reversing a wrong, the point is - they didn't have to. And reversing that wrong was a very dangerous thing to do. Mal ends up sacrificing his life for it, if only for a few seconds. Admitting that you've done a wrong and sacrificing your own life to make it better is still pretty heroic in my book.

Edited to add: Just because they don't do something right every day doesn't mean they aren't heroes either. Just how many acts of heroism does it take to make a hero???



"I'm having one of those things - a headache with pictures."

"Of course I'm right. And if I'm not, may we all be horribly crushed from above somehow."

Like books? Go to this thread: http://www.fireflyfans.net/thread.asp?b=2&t=14862
to find out how to buy mine!

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Wednesday, January 18, 2006 1:59 PM

DC4BS



Sorry. I can't cotton to the notion the guy surrendering was innocent.

He was an active participant in the unprovoked slaughter of an entire settlement.

Look back to the war trials after WWII, etc... It's up to a soldier to refuse "bad" orders. The soldier is held responsible for his own actions.

If they were in a declaired war and the settelment had attacked first or something, that's one thing. Still a big problem with killing the children and other non-combatents even then.

Simply showing up and killing everyone in town with no better reason than "Well, that guy with no name who doesn't exist told me to!" just doesn't cut it. He aint innocent, no-how, no-way.

Courts are all well and good WHEN they are impartial and there is doubt about guilt.

How bout this:
You are walking down the street with your wife/sister/brother/best friend etc...
A stranger walks up and shoots them dead in front of you and then tosses you their gun and raises their arms...
You honestly would go find a cop and politely ask for this person to be arrested? You hoestly have any doubt of this persons guilt? You are the only witness. It will be their word against yours. By the way, he happens to work as a security guard for said court and you happen to have a record of previous arrests for various crimes.

Sorry. There ARE times when you either take matters into your own hands or walk away and know that justice will not ever be done.

May be hard to imagine in the current US. In the Old West or out on the fringe, not quite so hard...

And o'course history, as always, is written by the victor.


------------------------------------------
dc4bs

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Wednesday, January 18, 2006 2:02 PM

GIXXER


Sheriff: “A man can get a job, he might not look to close at what that job is. But a man learns all the details of a situation like ours, well, then he has a choice.”

Mal: “I don't believe he does."

(I don't even have to identify the episode for anyone.)

Coolest 5 word sentence ever spoken. It says what they're all about, what they have to do, and what they won't.

G


Quite like Robin Hood. Stealing from the rich, but without the simmering homoeroticism, and not so much of the giving to the poor going on. At all.

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Wednesday, January 18, 2006 2:03 PM

TOMSIMPSONAZ


If you can't do something smart.....

Libertarian Celebrities: See if your favorite people are libertarian
http://www.theadvocates.org/celebrities.html

I am libertarian, click here for a brief summary of how I feel on our country's major political issues
http://www.lp.org/issues/issues.shtml

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