Shiny

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

After finally catching all of Joss Whedon's outstanding and tragically short-lived Firefly series, I feel the need to give it some love. What a show. I actually caught the film adaptation, Serenity, a few years ago, and a handful of episodes some time after that. Sadly, I only had about another handful of episodes left to go, and I finally got around to Instant Netflixing them over the past week or so. I wish I'd done it sooner. This overlooked sci-fi gem has the perfect combination of drama, humor, action, intelligence, and, yes, even romance. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in any or all of those areas, even if you're like me and never got into any of Whedon's other shows.

I'm not alone in my adulation of the series, either. The show only lasted 14 episodes...and then got made into a movie. Have you ever heard of such a thing? No, you haven't. Generally, only highly successful shows lasting several seasons have a chance of getting the big-screen treatment. But Joss, the actors, and the rabid fans were so passionate about finding a way to continue the series after its cancellation that they somehow made Serenity a reality. Hats off to them and their insanity.

You'd best get to watchin' my show.

As I was watching the film again last night, I was thinking about how great the central conflict of the series is in that it's not black and white. The large governing body based in the central planets of the solar system, the Alliance, wants to bring the free peoples of the outer planets, the browncoats, under their rule. Though the war is officially over, this conflict is the driving force behind all the events we see. The main characters are browncoats, so we're naturally on their side. But the Alliance has a case: they have wealth, health care, advanced technologies, and a civilized society, and they want to unite everyone under their superior banner. The browncoats have none of these things; they're poor, disorganized, and even somewhat lawless and barbaric. But...they're free.

One way of looking at it is the way Whedon describes in the extras on the Serenity DVD: like the U.S. Civil War. The Alliance is like the North--more progressive and civilized, while the browncoats are like the South--fighting a losing battle to hang on to their way of doing things. Interesting, then, that we're put in a position to identify and sympathize with the South.

On the other hand, the Alliance could be seen as a totalitarian regime trying to force everyone to abide by their rule. This perspective is summed up wonderfully by a quote from young River early in the film, when asked why the browncoats would resist:

We meddle. People don't like to be meddled with. We tell them what to do, what to think. Don't run, don't walk. We're in their homes and in their heads, and we haven't the right. We're meddlesome.

Hard to argue with that.

Just remember: I can kill you with my mind.

While Firefly/Serenity may not be intellectually deep, it does touch on its fair share of juicy issues like this to contemplate if you so choose. Look to the Jaynestown episode for another example. And while you're at it, watch every episode and the film, for whatever reason you want. It's that damn good.