On Mal's "personality change" in the movie (**MOVIE SPOILERS**) by Kizyr

GENERAL DISCUSSIONS

On Mal's "personality change" in the movie (**MOVIE SPOILERS**)

POSTED BY: KIZYR
UPDATED: Tuesday, October 4, 2005 21:08
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VIEWED: 4850
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Tuesday, October 4, 2005 5:29 AM

Ok, already marked spoilers in the headline, so I don't think I need to mark them in the post. Just a forewarning.

Anyway, I've done a spot of thinking on how Mal changed throughout the movie, and what triggered it... I disagree first off that it was unlike him; in fact, I think it was very much like Mal. But because of events that happened, we saw a much different side of the captain we never saw before...

Let me put it this way, Mal is a soldier--or, sargeant. Always has been. Captaining Serenity and taking jobs out at the edge of the universe was a way for him to regain freedom from the enemy against whom he lost... and quite often, you see a bit of the old soldier crop up in him when he has to lay down the law (end of Ariel in talking to Jayne, beginning of Objects in Space when talking about River, and of course in The Message when ordering Tracey).

He'd almost been able to forget that part of himself. But, when he saw Book die, and when he saw the burning ruins of his comrades on Whitefall and elsewhere, something visibly snapped in him. At that point, Mal became scary. You saw the old soldier come up in him, but not partway like before; it came up full circle--particularly when he now saw a way to strike back at the Alliance in a way he was never able to during the war. But unlike before, he didn't have that same optimism or faith like you saw in Serenity Valley when he took down the skiff.

I figure that's the reason why the Mal in the movie was so different than the one we got used to. It's the same character, and very believable. But, events happened in the movie that never happened before, and it got to him. Hell, even Kaylee and Inara were scared of him. KF

~Kaiser Farooque

ZOE: Preacher, don’t the Bible have some pretty specific things to say about killing?
BOOK: Quite specific. It is, however, somewhat fuzzier on the subject of kneecaps...

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Tuesday, October 4, 2005 6:15 AM

SKYSCRAPER

You kind of see Mal’s mood changing if you read the comics. He is darker in the comics then he was throughout the series. Part of it was difficulties getting jobs. It seems that after snatching the Lassister (Firefly: Trash) they haven’t had any other really good jobs. Even Inara argues with him about their lack of work on that episode. I won’t spoil the comics for anyone, but suffice to say, his mood doesn’t change.

Six months later we see a very stressed Mal. Not only are they still having a hard time getting jobs, but he is dealing with letting Inara leaving. (Believe me, that wrecks a lot of things.) Book has also left the ship, and he was always a source of guidance for Mal. Maybe not about God, but about many other things. Who knows what craziness of River he has had to deal with in that time frame too, not to mention now? And because of the heavy damage the previous Mule had suffered during “War Stories” they had to use most of the money they fenced with the Lassister to get the new Mule, the hovercraft. And with so little money, they don’t have much to eat and maintaining Serenity is on ‘only desperate parts’ phase. You would think after “Out of Gas” Mal wouldn’t let parts get that worn out. I don’t think he would either, which tells me how desperate their situation is. They’re hanging on by a very thin thread… and so is he.

I think dark mood Mal is similar to the 2hr Firefly pilot episode Mal. Remember, Fox asked/told Joss to lighten Mal up a bit after that. But it doesn’t matter how bright and happy someone is, they’re going to get burdened by that much stress.

In the movie, he promised Inara that if a war started she would see a new version of him. Book’s death pushed him into military commander mode. “Stressed” military commander mode. But he didn’t get his purpose until The Operative, having killed most of their friends, mentions that he wasn’t a Reaver. It was then, that he remembers River’s planet.

The movie being as dark as it was surprised me, but after thinking about it, it makes sense. And it was still great. This wasn’t an episode of Firefly, but it is an epic continuation of the story and the character we all love.

------------------
Once, just once, I want things to go according to
the gorram plan!

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Tuesday, October 4, 2005 6:31 AM

JAKE7

Judging by the OB, I must be really weird or something, because I LOVED the darker Mal.

You could really watch the struggle going on after Book died and then seeing that all his friends had been murdered just because they helped him. The weight of the universe is now on his shoulders and that's gotta do something to you.

He warned Inara that she'd see a different side - well, we all did! (and it was executed BRILLIANTLY by Nathan)

Side note: I think I might just have to get me the comics and read them now. They still available?

--------------
MAL: Everybody's makin' a fuss.

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Tuesday, October 4, 2005 7:14 AM

LUCYFERSAM

I believe it is still possible to get all the issues, otherwise the trade paperback comes out in December.

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Tuesday, October 4, 2005 7:36 AM

LUCIDDREAMS

No, jake7, you're not the only one who loved the darker Mal. He was always my favorite character, even way back when, when people were complaining about him being too stiff.

I agree that Mal's change was natural. When in a war-like situation he becomes the soldier. Also, I think what happened on Mirando was a big factor in triggering the change in him. Book told him to believe and I feel like this is where he began to believe. There's a scene that was cut out (but can be found in the shooting script and probably in the novelization) where he and Inara kind of share a moment together where it's clear that he's pretty upset about what's going on.

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Tuesday, October 4, 2005 7:53 AM

CHANNAIN

i DO aim to misbehave

Quote:
Originally posted by luciddreams:
No, jake7, you're not the only one who loved the darker Mal. He was always my favorite character, even way back when, when people were complaining about him being too stiff.

My sentiments as well.

Quote:
I agree that Mal's change was natural. When in a war-like situation he becomes the soldier. Also, I think what happened on Miranda was a big factor in triggering the change in him. Book told him to believe and I feel like this is where he began to believe. There's a scene that was cut out (but can be found in the shooting script and probably in the novelization) where he and Inara kind of share a moment together where it's clear that he's pretty upset about what's going on.

Part of Mal's character development has been his climb back to his faith - at least from my point of view. Otherwise, why make such a huge deal out of how he responds to Book whenever the topic of prayer or spirituality comes up?

Book said he didn't care what Mal believed in, so long as he believed. Mal's gone so long not believing in anything - except "just keep flying" - that it would take something like this to turn the corner for him. Book knew that once a person starts believing in something - one thing - it can lead to something else, then to something else and eventually the believer can find their way back to the path. Sometimes it happens in days, sometimes in years, sometimes at the point of death.

Whether or not that would have happened to Mal would have been fun to see in the series. I don't know if that can be explored in the sequels to the BDM, but I can't see it not getting some attention in the future.

I draw...therefore I am. http://www.mnartists.org/Nora_Leverson
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http://tv.groups.yahoo.com/group/MN-Firefly

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Tuesday, October 4, 2005 8:41 AM

BROWNCOAT1

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

I don't think Mal ever forgot his being a soldier. Having been a soldier & seen combat I can tell you it is something that remains w/ you the rest of your life.

We glimpsed part of Mal's wrath in War Stories when Niska tortured him & Wash. That dark part of Mal is there, has always been there, but Mal has never had the need to tap into it.

When Inara left, Mal lost the woman he loved. He may never have told her how he felt, but with her gone he would never get the opportunity. In the series Inara was always a calming influence, a voice of reason that helped Mal keep a cool head, even if all it seemed they did was argue. Inara leaving Serenity started Mal's sinking into this darker side we see in the film. The events in the comics simply add to it.

The movie start out w/ the Reavers attacking the settlement where the crew is stealing the payroll. Mal is forced to shoot the man he leaves behind when the three Reavers grab him. Look at Mal's face when he makes the decision to push him off the mule & when he shoots the man. You can clearly see the conflict over what he has to do. As he tells Zoe they could not take the extra man on the mule due to the weight. Mal weighed the option of most likely losing Zoe, Jayne & River, not to mention himself, in an attempt to save this man, or leaving the man behind in the hopes he would heed his advise & get in the vault. When he was grabbed by the Reavers Mal did him the mercy of killing him to save him from what the Reavers would have done to him. I can see why Mal did what he did, and most likely would have done the same myself in the same circumstances. Regardless of why he did it, we can see it weighs on Mal's spirit.

The confrontation w/ Simon only fuels the fire, but you will note that Mal does not toss Simon & River off the ship, it is Simon that declares they are leaving. Even after Simon sucker punched him, Mal would have let them stay on the ship.

The events in the film where the conflict between the Operative & the crew starts & builds, we see how each action of the Alliance man pushes Mal further & further. First his using Inara as bait, than the massacre of Book & the people of Haven, the murder of all the people that have sheltered Serenity before, to the death of Mr Universe, all if it makes this very personal for Mal. The cold blooded, vicious tactics of the Operative causes the soldier in Mal to come to the forefront in an effort to end the threat and protect his crew.

Yet there remains that noble side of Mal, the side where he will go to any lengths to protect his crew. I think he takes the data disk from Miranda partly because broadcasting the information will hurt the Alliance, but mostly for the reason that making the secret public will allow Mal, River & the crew of Serenity to be free of the fear of pursuit by the Alliance & their bloodhounds.

Yes, we do see a colder, more dark side of Mal, perhaps the side we were meant to see in the series before Fox had Joss make him more humorous & lighter. This Mal was necessary to see the crew through the dangers of the movie. If not for him I doubt any of them would have survived.

I have always liked Mal the most. I have always felt that there was more to him that remained untapped in the series due to interference from Fox. I am glad we got to explore him a bit in the film.

__________________________________________

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

Richmond, VA & surrounding area Firefly Fans:

http://tv.groups.yahoo.com/group/richmondbrowncoats/

http://www.richmondbrowncoats.org

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Tuesday, October 4, 2005 8:45 AM

DIGIFICWRITER

The Mals that we see in the pilot version of 'Serenity', the movie version of 'Serenity', and 'The Train Job' (and other eps) are all different personality facets of the same character, and Mal changes them like most people would change clothes; he puts on a different personality facade depending on the situation. Also, whether or not he'd admit it to anybody, Inara's leaving is just the kind of thing that would push him back to being 'aloof and broody Mal', which is what we see throughout a good deal of the film. Also, I want to say that I don't think that the darker elements of Mal's personality that crop up in the film (especially after the Haven incident) are anything new; we've seen aspects of this 'darker' Mal, but never to the extent that we do in the film. The fact that the Operative killed 'his' people for no reason pisses Mal off more than anything else he's ever had to deal with, and finding out that River's psycho behavior might be the reason for the Operative killing the people he's killed, he decides that he's not going to let anything, including Reavers, stop him from figuring out what the Alliance is trying so desperately to hide, and what River might have to do with it.

Take my love
Take my land
Take me where I cannot stand
I don't care
I'm still free
You can't take the sky from me
Take me out to the black
Tell 'em I ain't comin' back
Burn the land and boil the sea
You can't take the sky from me
There's no place I can be
Since I've found Serenity
But you can't take the sky from me

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Tuesday, October 4, 2005 8:52 AM

CHRISTHECYNIC

I didn't think Mal really changed. People talk about the dark Mal and the light Mal and whatnot, but I went to the movie three times already and I saw the same Mal I already knew. We’ve seen how he gets less charitable when work is scarce, and we’ve seen how he acts when someone hurts him (killing those he cares about is a pretty good way to hurt him.)

That’s what we saw in history.

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Tuesday, October 4, 2005 9:12 AM

WRIGLEYVILLER

I really do think that the movie showcases two sides of Mal that we rarely got to see in Firefly.

At the beginning of the movie, things on Serenity are pretty desperate. I think the sense of community and family that had become pretty strong by Objects in Space - especially once River was sort of accepted at the end of that episode - has largely evaporated. Inara has left, devastating Mal and clearly creating a lot of tension on Serenity (you really get the feeling that everyone else blamed Mal for her departure - when Kaylee had the balls to mention Inara's departure to Mal, it felt like she was finally saying what everyone else wanted to say for months). Book's departure only furthered the dissolution of the "family."

I think times are bad, the sense of family is gone, and everyone's testy - Zoe and Mal arguing about the guy Mal left to the Reavers, Simon and Mal really getting into it about River, Simon and Kaylee seem even further apart from finally getting it on than in Objects in Space, etc.

I think Mal does get pushed to the absolute breaking point by the Operative - and, yes, that's when Sargeant Malcolm Reynolds takes over. He dark and serious and suffers absolutely no fools - well, nobody who won't go along with his plan, anyways - and views broadcasting that message as the way to get back at the Alliance for everything that happened to him since the War of Unification.

So, yes, he's darker, and most of this side was absent in the show, but I think it totally fits him.

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Tuesday, October 4, 2005 9:26 AM

CHRISTHECYNIC

Ok, obviously I'm seeing this differently than everyone else here.

Sergeant Malcolm Reynolds was a guy who kissed crosses and made speeches about righteous victory. He was not a dark person.

If we try to trace the "darker Mal" to his origin it was in Serenity Valley that he came into existence, from what we know of the war that was really where the Browncoats lost (though not where the war actually ended), it was their Gettysburg.

That means that Sergeant Reynolds would be mostly from before Serenity, making him the lighter faith filled Mal.

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Tuesday, October 4, 2005 10:18 AM

WRIGLEYVILLER

I think that, following the battle of Serenity Valley, Sgt. Reynolds no longer includes the hopeful, faith-filled, inspiring Mal. Instead, Sgt. Reynolds is left with his military seriousness, his single-minded focus, and his utter dedication to his cause.

Compare Sgt. Reynolds from the beginning of the pilot episode Serenity from the "St. Crispin's Day speech" in Serenity. In both, he's utterly dedicated to his cause and trying his best to get his troops to go along with him. However, instead of telling jokes and bucking up his troops with witty banter, he very seriously tells them that it is time to stand up and misbehave.

It's the new and...well, maybe not improved, but different, Sgt. Reynolds.

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Tuesday, October 4, 2005 10:27 AM

DIGIFICWRITER

The only thing that Mal really loses at Serenity Valley is his faith (faith in God and faith in general).

Take my love
Take my land
Take me where I cannot stand
I don't care
I'm still free
You can't take the sky from me
Take me out to the black
Tell 'em I ain't comin' back
Burn the land and boil the sea
You can't take the sky from me
There's no place I can be
Since I've found Serenity
But you can't take the sky from me

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Tuesday, October 4, 2005 7:25 PM

KIZYR

Quote:
Originally posted by jake7:
Judging by the OB, I must be really weird or something, because I LOVED the darker Mal.

Don't get me wrong... I loved the portrayal of the darker Mal. I thought it was incredible and enlightening.

But I hated it. On a personal, subjective level. Though, I hated it because I knew the Operative intentionally brought that aspect of Mal out, and I hated the Operative with a passion. Hell at the end of the movie, I was wishing Mal kept to his darker side and killed the Op instead of giving him the chance to walk away.

Great characterization... and that's an understatement. I'm not used to characters eliciting this level of an emotional response from me. KF

~Kaiser Farooque

ZOE: Preacher, don’t the Bible have some pretty specific things to say about killing?
BOOK: Quite specific. It is, however, somewhat fuzzier on the subject of kneecaps...

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Tuesday, October 4, 2005 9:08 PM

GIANTEVILHEAD

Lots and lots of stress, not just from the lack of jobs. I'm thinking that there was a lot of conflicts within the crew after Book and Inara left, especially with Simon/River since Inara and Book were always on Simon and River's side and they always took care of River when the rest of the crew were away. Without Inara and Book, Kaylee would have been the only one to take care of River when Simon has to patch someone up but she has a job to do as well so there could have been a lot of incidents involving River that would have pissed Mal off.

"I swallowed a bug." -River Tam

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