Kaylee--What Did They Do by Mekan

GENERAL DISCUSSIONS

Kaylee--What Did They Do

POSTED BY: MEKAN
UPDATED: Wednesday, January 18, 2006 15:20
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VIEWED: 2600
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Wednesday, January 18, 2006 10:12 AM

Hello all,

I have watched my copy of Serenity multiple times and each time I get a bit more frustrated with the lack of quality in Kaylee's character. In fairness I must admit that I think she is the cutest gal in the crew and loved her goofiness. Why did they relegate her into a goofy I love the Dr. character? She was so one dimensional in the film. There was no real referance to her mechanical genius or vital role in the ship.

This is the second time my view of her character has been lessened, the first was when they first showed her joining the crew.....My innocent lil country genious seems to have opened her nethers many a time

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Wednesday, January 18, 2006 10:21 AM

MUIRGHEAL

Awwwwwww!

Seeing how Kaylee joined the crew just made me love her more. But maybe its because I relate so deeply to her. I come from a tiny southern town where there is slap nothing to do most of the time. Alot of time is spent tuning hotrods, racing hotrods, talking about hotrods, polishing hotrods, reading magazines about hotrods etc . .
Its kind of a culture thing to have these girls who are all about guys who have hotrods. Girls who are fangirls for these cars, the engines and the guys who drive/work on them. Alot of these girls have no education or prospects, their best bet is to hitch up with one of these guys and get out of town.
I immediately recognized that in Kaylee, you have this backwater girl with no prospects to "make it" no education to speak of, no rich parents to help her make a start. Just a tomboy with a love for these big ships and engines who just happens to be gifted. But Id bet on her planet its still male dominated and she would otherwise never be anything but an engine groupie. Her hooking up with that scuzzy doofus is the best thing that could have happened to her because it got her ON Serenity where she showed her worth to a man who sees past apperances.

But yea, the movie did kind of cook her down to some love starved hangeron. But I thought the movie was awfully dark and if it had been an episode it wouldnt have been one of my favorites. Its just too hard to be true to a cast that large in such a small amount of time when you have to push towards the end. I mean, look at Book, he was barely in it.

Anyways, just had to give some support to my girl Kaylee, from one backwater redneck girl to another.

"I'm just a product of my raisin'
I say Hey Y'all and Ye Haw"

Muirgheal
A Shiny Happy Person
"Ain't we just!"

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Wednesday, January 18, 2006 10:24 AM

BOWIE

I think that the movie, while not exploring her too much, didn't do anything to her. Those of us who know her for who she is love her, and those that don't still get to know her a little bit.

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

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Wednesday, January 18, 2006 10:56 AM

EMPXENU

I've never considered Kaylee innocent. A sweetie sure, but very open about sexuality. One of the many things I love about 'Fly is the unexpected character traits. Mal is a pirate with a sense of honour, Jayne is a hardass who likes funny hats and fuzzy animals (I'm referencing the 'Dead or Alive' script), Inara is a prostitute with intelligence and grace, Book is a preacher with a probably violent past, Wash/Zoe have a relationship that turns gender stereotypes upside down etc.

----
"I think, therefore I am... I think"

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Wednesday, January 18, 2006 11:01 AM

KSC

Mekan, it all comes down to running time. It's difficult to focus on 10 MAIN characters AND try to catch up a non FF watching audience in the span of two hours. Serenity was River's story. Hopefully, one day, we will get more.

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Wednesday, January 18, 2006 11:14 AM

REGINAROADIE

I've heard this complaint about Kaylee a lot, and I've thought about it for a while. Here are my thoughts on this.

Right from the beginning, we realize that Mal and River are going to be the two characters that will get the majority of the focus and that while the other seven have vital character moments for the movie and to the overall arch that stretched from 'Serenity' the pilot to 'Serenity' the movie, they would be in fact subdued.

You have to realize that, with the exception of Robert Altman films, movies that have multiple narratives and more than two leads can be tricky and often fail. With ensemble flicks, it's a juggling act to keep characters in order and enough time to develop them. So I'm not surprised that some characters got the short end of the stick when it came to screen time and development.

Personally, I felt that Simon (who I always identified with, if Mal is Han Solo, then Simon is clearly Luke Skywalker) and Kaylee got the right amount of time towards them and were able to consumate their desires for each other and give all of us Silee shippers their money's worth.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"YES!!!I'm a man posessed by many demons....Polite demons that would open the door for a lady carrying too many parcels...BUT DEMONS NONETHELESS!!!! Yes. I have walked along the path of evil many times, it's a twisting, curving path that..actually leads to a charming plot garden, BUT BEYOND THAT EVIL!!!"

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Wednesday, January 18, 2006 1:33 PM

SAMEERTIA

My frustration is that you don't see Kaylee being competent.
You see the ship falling apart while Mal yells at her. (Which I felt terribly out of character. There's an affection between Mal & Kaylee that we see time and again in the series, but that's all gone in the film.)
You see one moment where Mal has faith in Kaylee's ability. (On Haven, telling her to muck up the reactor core).
And you see her being scared out of her wits. Her crowning moment is the "Tell that to Inara." line. (I still cheer every time!)

For much of the film, she's standing around, looking terribly lifeless and overwhelmed. That isn't Kaylee. She's motion, creation, playfulness and nurturement.

The only two moments I felt were really Kaylee were the cargo bay scenes with Simon. "Not that you spit." and "You shouldn't aughta look so clean."

I wanted, at the end of the movie, to see Kaylee patting Serenity's engine case as she lights up to fly, not standing in the kitchen with a box in her hands.

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Wednesday, January 18, 2006 2:29 PM

MUIRGHEAL

What if the box was full of Strawberries?????

Muirgheal
A Shiny Happy Person
"Ain't we just!"

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Wednesday, January 18, 2006 2:32 PM

SAMEERTIA

I don't think even strawberries would stop Kaylee from being in the engine room when Serenity takes to the air again.

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Wednesday, January 18, 2006 2:33 PM

AERIN

Since I saw the movie first, I was initially only interested in Mal, River, and Simon. I was amused by Kaylee's determination to stay alive when Simon admitted he regretted not being with her, but I didn't appreciate her for the cheerful, loving, wonderful person she is. She came across as flat. So did Inara. I can't understand why, but her grace and allure just didn't show in the movie. Maybe it was a bad outfit, or the fact that she was just standing around most of the time. Even Jayne. The friend I went to see the movie with said Jayne was her favorite, but without his little quirks (funny hats, loves his mother, loves Kaylee) he just came across as a big thug who had some funny lines (no disrespect to Adam Baldwin!).

TV ensembles usually have this problem in movies. The actor who played Sulu(?) stopped doing the movies because he thought he wasn't getting enough screen time. I am gradually converting my coworkers, and after they watch Firefly I warn them that Serenity had to trade character development for big screen action. Everyone says the same - they liked the movie, but they wished it had more of (fill in the character). That's why I'm hoping for more TV episodes, vs. movies.

Jayne: I once hit a guy in the neck from 500 yards with a bent scope. Don't that count upstairs?
Book: Oh, it'll be taken into consideration.
Jayne: You made that sound kind of ominous.

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Wednesday, January 18, 2006 2:39 PM

NDRAGE85

it was kind of hard to give all the characters the proper treatment for the movie. There were a few moments that showed how great she is with Serenity though, and with other machines as well. I mean, the fact alone that this cute little sweetie is the ship's mechanic. I mean, it's a space ship, if you screw up, you're all dead. So the fact that she's the mechanic says a lot. In the movie she is seen working on the Mule. This is also when Mal tells her that he expects her to have Serenity running by the time he gets back. She has another highlight when she is talking to Simon about what kind of ships to not fly in. Another would be when Mal tells her to "muck up" the engine. Sure, Kaylee's full personality and genius wasn't shown, but it would have been hard to fully express everything.

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Wednesday, January 18, 2006 3:20 PM

MEKAN

This is why the Browncoats will rule the world, if not the verse. These are all great insights. I was not upset with Kaylee's sexual scene, I just wanted her to be MINE LOL. Actualy I just loved the character.

The comments about flat characters and inability to give all cast enough time in a short time frame is imposible. After all, Firefly had a few episodes at least.

I am just missing the verse and the cast. Dang you corporate FOX!!! You killed this great show and are running junk like 'So You Are a Used Up Actor That We Can Embarass By Making them Skate On Ice' GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR]

Ok, we go into FOX studios and let Jayne bring the grenades this time.

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