River's Age?? by Shadesiren

GENERAL DISCUSSIONS

River's Age??

POSTED BY: SHADESIREN
UPDATED: Sunday, June 13, 2004 05:10
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VIEWED: 6388
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Sunday, June 6, 2004 2:03 PM

Just how old is River supposed to be? She's not on the timeline here, but my husband and I tried to do the math - we were thinking about 18? Not sure. I don't know how old Summer is.

Shadesiren

www.shadesiren.tk

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Sunday, June 6, 2004 3:33 PM

SOUTHERNMERC

From Simon's story in the pilot, I got the impression she was 17 when Mal opened up the box. She went into the academy when she was 14, then Simon and family didn't hear from her for months. Then two years later he was approached by some ppl offering a way to get River out. So I figure two years and some change makes her about 17.

Jayne: "See, Vera? You get dressed up, you get taken someplace fun!"

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Sunday, June 6, 2004 3:59 PM

SHINYSEVEN

Actors are not always the same age as the characters they play--generally the actors are a lot older! and there's another problem: getting the ages in flashbacks to work out.

If River is 17, Simon might plausibly be 25 (he's a surgeon, not a surgical resident) but not really any younger. At the other end, he might plausibly be about 30 (which I suspect is closer to Sean Maher's actual age)--13 years between siblings, which is perfectly possible. However, in the flashback scene, they don't seem even seven years apart, much less 13.

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Sunday, June 6, 2004 4:34 PM

JEBBYPAL

Hmm, depends. Could be the medical education in the Core/Alliance mirrors that of China more than the US. Not sure on their internship/residency system, but I know that an M.D. degree only takes one (or possibly 2) more years of "college" in China. So maybe he is younger depending on how their school system/higher education system is set up.

Or he was a VERY SMALL teenager. possible too. My brother was a little over 4ft tall until after the 10th grade. Then one summer, 6 ft. Sigh, somehow those genes passed me by.

The Strawberry Monkey
http://p221.ezboard.com/bfireflyfanficawards

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Sunday, June 6, 2004 4:54 PM

FILMGODDESS

She's 17. Read the scripts. They mention that she's 17.

"You can't take the sky from me."

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Sunday, June 6, 2004 5:09 PM

SHADESIREN

Thanks - I don't even know where the scripts are.

That's not much off from what we suspected, thanks everyone.

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Sunday, June 6, 2004 5:16 PM

FILMGODDESS

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Sunday, June 6, 2004 8:52 PM

PURPLEBELLY

Thanks for this link, filmgoddess. A wiki, goodee - now I've somewhere else to publish you've saved this board from my meanderings

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Monday, June 7, 2004 4:37 AM

LIZ

In Serenity (just verified it in the Serenity script), Simon says "finished my internship in eight months." does that help figure out the difference in age?

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Monday, June 7, 2004 4:43 AM

SHINYSEVEN

Thanks for the info, Liz. I think it means we're supposed to assume that an internship usually takes a year or more, so Simon would have become a fully qualified surgeon (using even more fancy tech stuff than we have now) at a younger age than usual, which is why I'd believe that he could be 25 rather than the 30+ that it takes to finish surgical training in the RL US.

If we're supposed to believe that he's 23, as far as I'm concerned that wouldn't be quite in the same league as the geriatric teenagers in "Beverly Hills 90210" but gettin' up there.

Sadistic crap legitimized by florid prose

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Friday, June 11, 2004 6:01 AM

SOULOFSERENITY

The Man They Call Soul...

*bump* for Liz!!

______________________

But if your hand touches metal, I swear by my pretty floral bonnet, I will end you.

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Friday, June 11, 2004 7:04 AM

SOULOFSERENITY

The Man They Call Soul...

*bump* agin for Liz

______________________

But if your hand touches metal, I swear by my pretty floral bonnet, I will end you.

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Friday, June 11, 2004 7:15 AM

LIZ

Thank you SoulOfSerenity!!!
i got an email saying:

Quote:
shinyseven has responded to a message you posted

in the 'FIREFLY UNIVERSE FORUM'
with the topic 'RIVER'S AGE??'

You can go to the following URL to read the response.

http://www.fireflyfans.net/thread.asp?b=17&t=5587&m=69952#69952

and i couldn't get the link to work and i couldn't find it in the FF universe Fourm (because it wasn't there). anyway, i'm glad to see this and i'm glad if the quote from Serenity helped

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Friday, June 11, 2004 7:41 AM

SOULOFSERENITY

The Man They Call Soul...

Yeah, I had gone to Firefly Universe first as well. I saw the theme of those threads was RPGing, so I checked the General Discussions. After several minutes of waiting for it to load, I ran down the list and there it was!!

Glad I could be of service, Liz. It's just what us Gentlemen do best...

______________________

But if your hand touches metal, I swear by my pretty floral bonnet, I will end you.

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Friday, June 11, 2004 7:47 AM

SHIKSA

I always assumed that River was @17.

As for Simon,I always pegged him to be in his early to mid-20s (probably no more than 25) his medical degree notwithstanding. As some people have pointed out, the education process in the Firefly 'Verse may mean a shorter stint in med school.

But Simon also tells us in the pilot that, even though he can't compete with River, he himself is gifted. I always pictured Simon as being one of those kids who went through school at a faster pace than others (remember that 10 year old kid who was in your 8th grade algebra class?). It might also explain why he has such a difficult time talking to girls, if he was constantly thrown in with classmates who were older than he was. Basically, I think that Simon is younger than the average doctor.

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Friday, June 11, 2004 8:14 AM

STATIC

Just a thought. . .

Simon also attended Med school while a major war was being fought. . .

historically, our society has a tendency to make certain things go a little more quickly when that society may have a burning need for the finished product. I believe they did that in WW1, WW2, and Korea.

Maybe Simon's medical school was someone accelerated for the purposes of practicality on the part of the Alliance?

==================================================
"Wash. . .we got some local color happening. A grand entrance would not go amiss."

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Friday, June 11, 2004 8:20 AM

BROWNCOAT1

May have been the losing side. Still not convinced it was the wrong one.

I would put River @ 17 yrs old when the show starts and somewhere aroung (but not quite) 18 in Objects in Space.

I think that Simon is in his mid-twenties, perhaps 24 or 25. If he was as bright as he says (finishing in the top of his class) he may have gotten out of med school earlier than what med students do now in the U.S.

"May have been the losing side. Still not convinced it was the wrong one."

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Saturday, June 12, 2004 12:03 AM

AURAPTOR

America loves a winner!

Yep, she's 17.

While part of me wants to make a Jayne like comment on River , her being 17 and some off color remark about the age of consent..I won't.

Instead, I'll just say that the real reason I posted on this thread was that I noticed there were 16 replies and adding my 1 more makes it 17...the same number of yrs old that River is.

How's THAT for a lame excuse to post on here? heh heh.

" They don't like it when you shoot at 'em. I worked that out myself. "

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Saturday, June 12, 2004 1:46 AM

BLINKER

I just want to know what colour her hair is.

Some draw it brown, others black, others red...

_________
Sliders: Gate Haven - http://slidersweb.net/blinker

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Saturday, June 12, 2004 2:46 AM

PURPLEBELLY

Quote:
Originally posted by Static:
Simon also attended Med school while a major war was being fought. . .

OT [added after some confusion had been caused]:
Some rich men's sons have extended their education in such circumstances, towards the greater good no doubt

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Saturday, June 12, 2004 3:27 AM

AURAPTOR

America loves a winner!

Quote:
Some rich men's sons have extended their education in such circumstances, towards the greater good no doubt

To the contrary, it appears to me that Simon actually accelerated his schooling, being that he was so gifted. Kaylee's remark that he looked young for a doctor suggests that he could have gotten out 2,3,..5? years ahead of what was standard for his age ?

If I missed the true meaning of your post, then never mind

" They don't like it when you shoot at 'em. I worked that out myself. "

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Saturday, June 12, 2004 5:03 AM

STATIC

I think he was noticing the strange coincidence that back in the days of the draft, the sons of wealthy men somehow managed to find convenient conflicts that prevented them from having to go away to war. . .for instance an extended commitment to higher education.

==================================================
"Wash. . .we got some local color happening. A grand entrance would not go amiss."

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Saturday, June 12, 2004 5:44 AM

AURAPTOR

America loves a winner!

Quote:
Static wrote:
Saturday, June 12, 2004 05:03
I think he was noticing the strange coincidence that back in the days of the draft, the sons of wealthy men somehow managed to find convenient conflicts that prevented them from having to go away to war. . .for instance an extended commitment to higher education.

Ahh..I see now. Kinda figured that, but wasn't sure, since we're not sure there WAS ( will be ? ) a draft in the Firefly 'verse. Either way, Simon certainly wasn't some dead beat who simply "enrolled" in school to avoid any service. My guess is that he was too young anyways.

" They don't like it when you shoot at 'em. I worked that out myself. "

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Saturday, June 12, 2004 6:35 AM

PURPLEBELLY

Quote:
Originally posted by AURaptor:
My guess is that he was too young anyways.

I'm sure you're correct. There would be an interesting back-story about Simon's mentor(s) in Trauma Surgery, who presumably had the war-injury experience and may have given him a proficiency with weapon inflicted damage.

OT: has anyone other than Zoid opined on Wash's War?

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Saturday, June 12, 2004 3:48 PM

THEGREYJEDI

Quote:
Originally posted by Blinker:
I just want to know what colour her hair is.

Some draw it brown, others black, others red...
Quote:

It's a very dark chocolate color.

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Sunday, June 13, 2004 5:10 AM

MERETEAN

Quote:
Originally posted by Blinker:
I just want to know what colour her hair is.

Us wimmen can have different hair colors, but I suspect it's her real color in the candid picture here : http://www.afan.dk/firefly/actglau.shtml

I've only seen her in Angel, Firefly and Cold Case, and it seems to me it's been the same color all the time.

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