Kaylee - why does she stay? by Aliasse

GENERAL DISCUSSIONS

Kaylee - why does she stay?

POSTED BY: ALIASSE
UPDATED: Wednesday, May 6, 2009 03:46
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VIEWED: 4441
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Friday, April 24, 2009 11:56 PM

Okay, I'm a really long-time lurker and now fic poster but I've never much read, contributed to or posted discussion threads, so I hope this is how you do it. Also, sorry if I'm going over ground that's really well covered.

Anyway, question 1: Why would someone like Kaylee - from a 'normal' background, with no exposure to or taste for violence, stay on board Serenity? These are the reasons I feel Joss gives: 1.She loves Serenity. 2. She loves Simon (but she seems willing to consider replacing him in her affections with Tracey, at fairly short notice). 3. She loves Mal (no I'm not a Mal/Kaylee shipper, I mean a different kind of love). 4. She loves everyone else. 5. She's really naive and sweet and softens all the horror around her with her naivity and sweetness, making it possible for her to stay on board in spite of being actually shot, Reaver near-misses, constant crime, Niska, having to take up arms herself, River's scary behaviour at the end of War Stories, being held hostage by Tracy, her encounter with Jubal Early, and then everything that happens in the movie.

I'd love to know what you all think.

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Saturday, April 25, 2009 12:25 AM

AGENTROUKA

Part of it - aside from her obvious emotional attachment - may simply be economic reasons. It is her job, it pays her money, and back home there is nothing better waiting for her, maybe worse, considering she said her dad's shop wasn't doing well.

Plus, it affords her to opportunity to travel. Kaylee enjoys getting to see so much of the 'verse.

Plus, she's rather childlike in her way, and it probably doesn't occur to her to question what jobs Mal and Zoe do on more abstract moral terms. They can't be too bad, since Mal and Zoe are such nice people! And the Alliance is so awful, anyway! I doubt she has ever thought about it on a truly intellectual level. And since she is so very very defensive about their lifestyle toward Simon, I suspect she may be subconsciously suppressing her own doubts before they even rise to the surface.

Part of it may also be her work ethic. She has a tremendous sense of duty. Serenity needs her, so she can't abandon her. She doesn't question the hardships of her work (beign shot is just what happens!) unless it interferes with doing her job (i.e. needing spare parts). She wasn't raised to make a fuss, really, and she's not very good at standing up for herself. I think she really doesn't consider it her place to complain or even question it.

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Saturday, April 25, 2009 5:00 AM

DEWRASTLER

I agree with AGENTROUKA but also believe that at this point the ship and everyone on it is her home and family. She's spent her adult life with these people and they all seem to genuinely care for each other. Even Jayne shows that he cares for Kaylee in the pilot by watching over her while she's in surgery. If she were to leave it would be like turning her back on her family, and who can really do that?

________________________________
People who don't care about anything will never understand the people who do

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Saturday, April 25, 2009 5:29 AM

RALLEM

I don't think the idea of crime affects Kaylee so much since she is a child of the outer worlds and as Inara explained to Book in "Serenity the pilot," that is what life is like sometimes on the border planets.

http://www.swyzzlestyx.com/index.html

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Saturday, April 25, 2009 5:53 AM

GILLIANROSE

She has considered leaving, at least that's how I interpret her remarks to Jayne in the cargo bay, early in the BDM when they are cleaning up after the Reaver chase. She predicts that Mal will run them all off - so there are some circumstances under which she'd consider leaving. And it would be personal - she'd leave if she couldn't stand being around Mal any more. But I think it would be a very drastic action for Kaylee - I agree that she feels a sense of family with the crew, and so it would be like cutting ties with a dysfunctional biological family - a pretty extreme act. She still believes in Mal, so she stays.

Joss said he read accounts of wagon train journeys while writing Serenity, and referred to the settlers' deadpan acceptance of the most horrendous conditions. I think "really bad" for Kaylee is different from "really bad" for me. And, she's an optimist - I think she thinks that in general things are going to get better, and there might be some blips on the way. Damn big blips.

Also, there is the question of where she would go to? She might be reluctant to leave what she knows and find herself in a less friendly environment on another ship.

Good question, Al1!

Gilliebeans, who is NOT at the beach.

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Saturday, April 25, 2009 7:03 AM

AURAPTOR

America loves a winner!

Well, she didn't get on board because of Simon, obviously. She's a mechanic, and sees Serenity as HER ship. Despite run ins w/ Reavers, bounter hunters and the likes of Niska, she gets to work, travel, wear big fluffy dresses, and all manner of things she's been deprived of back home. Seems there's little there, and she just wants to see the 'verse.

Sure, Kaylee is a bit of a pure of heart type, but she's not unwise to the world. I'd say she's seen some ugly in her young life, but because of her view of things, she remains on the shiny side. She seems to have not come from much, but what they did have, was probably pretty good,and if the bare necessities were all they had, at least that was in good supply. Seems what she values most is people, and not so much things. And that is a very good thing.

I suspect that she'd be a whole lot more lonely if Simon,River and Inara all left. With out Book and Wash, ( I've not read any post BDM stories ), I'm sure it'll be nice to sort of heal w/ the rest of the crew, but after a short period of time, who knows....she might want to re-evaluate things.

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Saturday, April 25, 2009 2:32 PM

BYTEMITE

In Better Days, at least, it's shown that Kaylee dreams about going off and starting her own mechanic shop and/or factory on a Core World.

I think that really only the lack of money is what keeps her from doing so. Sure she loves the adventure and her makeshift family, and seems to stay on out of a sense of obligation to them... But she didn't really seem to think about that or be concerned about that when they were all talking about their plans.

Not that I hold it against her: life on Serenity doesn't seem to be an easy one!

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Saturday, April 25, 2009 9:59 PM

ALIASSE

Quote:
Originally posted by GillianRose:

Joss said he read accounts of wagon train journeys while writing Serenity, and referred to the settlers' deadpan acceptance of the most horrendous conditions.
Good question, Al1!

Right, I'm trying this reply with quote thing again. Thanks GR, I hadn't seen that. That's really interesting. Still think I'd get off the ship at the next stop if I was shot in the abdomen, but this point does account for a lot.

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Saturday, April 25, 2009 10:00 PM

ALIASSE

Quote:
Originally posted by Bytemite:
In Better Days, at least, it's shown that Kaylee dreams about going off and starting her own mechanic shop and/or factory on a Core World.

B]

You're right. Still can't get past getting shot in the abdomen though...

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Monday, April 27, 2009 3:22 PM

ANOTHERSKY

I think this has pretty much been covered as far as motivation by perks. But the downsides are revealing too.

shot in the abdomen: (besides wagon train logic--definately what they're operating under)

Kaylee has made serenity her home now. The "Kayleefication" of the kitchen, dining area, bunk door and a corner of the engine room all attest to that.
Would you leave the place with a big brother/father figure who mostly doesn't order her so much as encourage, good medical care (by a kinda shuai doc), and the most glamourous woman you've yet laid eyes on in the entire verse?
plus this ship don't have anybody trying to harm her (even the man-ape-gone-wrong-thing), and she has full run of the ship she communicates with.
Aside from the occasional lack of parts, or bullet wound(both are common on the rim), it seems like a pretty nice gig to me from her perspective.

That comment about Mal seemed to have been made in anger for/about him. She wishes he wouldn't always try to drive people away who love him. this is an antithetical idea to her.

Leaving--
However competent she is, she doesn't strike me as the type to go out on her own, without a setup, whether physical (that dubious shop) or personal. Either way it's relational.
She seems wired to be attatched to somebody, to need it to be that cheerful self.

Nice point about the "nice people" stealing stuff and shooting people--she believes in their judgement, that they have the right to do so.

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Monday, April 27, 2009 9:49 PM

SHINYGOODGUY

Well, in point of fact, it's like Mal says at the end of the BDM - It's Love that keeps her flying, when she oughta fall down. Come to think of it, the Operative says that about Simon with River at the beginning. Great theme that comes full circle, it just occured to me now.

I always get the impression, whenever I watch OoG, that Kaylee sees flying on Serenity like a child sees running off to the circus - a fun adventure. She gets to do the thing she loves, fixing things, and fly off into the black on adventures. Much like how she sees Inara's companion life. She has that same glee on her face when she talks to Inara about her engagements with her clients.

She is a space-child (sort of like a hippie in space), full of love. She's mad at Mal because he's pushing away the people she's come to love - Inara, Book, and in the BDM, River and Simon.

Why did she stay? That is the question that Joss was exploring throughout the series and in the BDM. He just scratched the surface. But one reason I could figure almost immediately - her fantasies about adventure and her near-genius ability to "fix things".

Of course, the other reasons given above are okay?
I'm just saying:-)

SGG

Tawabawho?

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Sunday, May 3, 2009 11:50 PM

JEWELSTAITEFAN

I didn't want to interrupt the other replies.
I don't see any mystery. As made clear in the Pilot, she wants to meet new people, they all have such stories. She already knew all the people and their stories on her home world, now she can meet more.
She wants to travel, and seems to enjoy it.
Engines make her hot, she likes working on them, she considers herself Chief Engineer of Serenity, and nobody is asking for her certificates or engine qualifications - she keeps the job as long as she does the job, heaping self-satisfaction and self-worth onto her plate.
She knows about the crime. She knows the goods from the carrier in Pilot are hot, and need to get to Badger for payment, and they get stashed in one of the hidey spots aboard. In TTJ she proclaims they're doing Crime!! and they haven't done this one before but the crew is pretty good at it nonetheless, and she seems excited to help out with the crime. In BW she knows they're stealing stuff from the derelict ship. In Jaynestown she knows they are smuggling goods from Higgin's Moon to Bernoulli. In Ariel she knows they're stealing drugs from the Alliance medstores. She knows about stealing the Lassiter, and comes up with the solution of how, in Trash. I don't see her with much reluctance, she seems not coerced in any way.

I don't know why she wouldn't stay. No matter the dangers and hazards, Captain and crew get her through each time.
She knows that serenity is running because of her, and nobody can say different.
Plus, she gets her share of the take on each haul, and her work is less risky than Jayne's.

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Monday, May 4, 2009 12:03 AM

ALIASSE

*mutters to self: maybe getting shot in a vital area of the body just isn't that bad* :)!

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Monday, May 4, 2009 4:32 AM

BYTEMITE

No... It is. *wince* We just don't get to see the fun period of convalescence. In which Kaylee continues to work on the engines despite her injuries (kinda hurty, still fun!), Simon has a couple dozen heart attacks when she keeps disappearing from the infirmary (also fun!) and the inevitable pain induced fainting spells (not so fun).

JewelStraitfan: I apologize, I think I was being unclear again. She knows that they're doing crime, but that's different from recognizing the CONSEQUENCES of doing crime. It's the only way a person with her gentle, sympathetic, cheerful personality can cope with what she's doing, by seeing it as an adventure.

All of her crewmates go out of their way to keep her pretty sheltered; if she was confronted every day with the bodies of the people the crew had to kill, I think the crime would loose it's shiny edge pretty quickly.

I'm not saying that Kaylee isn't loyal to the ship or the crew or that she isn't attached to them like home and family when I say that she could leave without giving it too much grief. I'm saying that she's the most well-adjusted of all the characters on the ship, and that she'd get over it faster than any of the others. Lots of things could constitute adventures, such as starting up her own shop like she dreams about. Given the right opportunity and circumstances, I'd even argue that she would leave.

The reason she got on the ship, and the reason she stays, is not because of Mal's (sometimes nonexistent) charms, or her crush/potential relationship with Simon, her friendship with Inara and River, or the close comradery they all share. It's because she was offered a job. A fun job where she got to fix engines and see people she likes every day, but a job. She's not stuck there until the day she dies, and in fact I hope she leaves well before all her romantic ideas get all smashed up.

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Tuesday, May 5, 2009 10:48 PM

JEWELSTAITEFAN

I think Kaylee is aware, fully. She know shooting happens, because crew get shot, and they still come out ahead, so others are less fortunate.
She likely conjures most of the theft is from Alliance or their ilk.
I think she supported returning the meds in TTJ.
She was wary of stealing meds from needy in Ariel, until reasonably assured they wouldn't be missed.
She's not so naive, she knows Mal doesn't normally steal from the needy, and not even the middlemen in the black market. She might consider Mal to be Robin Hood.
I just don't see her as being that dense, dim, or fluffy-headed.

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Wednesday, May 6, 2009 3:46 AM

BYTEMITE

Mal isn't Robin Hood, though. That's the problem. He tries to be noble, but more often he can't be.

To think that he's more than he is doesn't make someone silly or fluffy brained: Inara seems to think that way too. But it is an indication of viewing the whole situation through rose coloured glasses. Smart people can still have idealized perspectives about their situations and the people they care about. The charms of Serenity are... pervasive. It would take a lot to shake loose the realization that it's NOT the best place in the world to be.

I mean, look at all us fans! Logically I can say that being on Serenity would be a hard lifestyle, with lots of close shaves and scrapping by. But if I had the opportunity to jump about 500 years into the future in a timeline where Firefly exists, you think I could say no? That I wouldn't be able to overlook some things? And we're not even THERE! Imagine how much Kaylee and Inara have to force themselves to overlook.

I haven't said any of them are unaware. I said that some people on the ship have a disconnect between the violence and moral ambiguity of the crime and life on Serenity. It's the only way they can cope.

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