What's in a Name?

In Firefly, I am a newbie, so the first job I gave myself was to learn the characters. I relate best when I work on an individual basis. Therefore, I started out writing the character names on the paper as I learned them

Mal

Shepherd Book

Kaylee

Simon

Badger

These were the first names I could get a hold of. Okay, so how does someone not an avid watcher, who may not get to see the show start to make little connections. I started to play with the idea in my head of “What’s in a name?” in Whedonverse.

Mal-makes me think of Inception (which obviously came later) and how it is the French word for a sickness, so like, ‘Malady.’ Within this first episode there is a lot of allusion to what is bothering the captain, I feel strongly that the idea of “what is his malady?” could definitely be a question posed by the initial viewing of this show. We see his war experiences, we see a back-story with the space hooker, and we see a personality not formed by roses and kittens. There is clearly a lot to come from this character, and it was nice of Joss to give us the heads up with his name.

Shepherd Book- shepherd is a very kind word for a missionary. It is less intrusive; it makes you feel that warm fuzzy “daddy” kind of feeling that I have always wanted from religion. This name gives you the preview that Book will be the kind of person who slowly but successfully diffuses his morality to the group, in a non-obtrusive way. You see this when he goes to bring the dinner to Lady Hooker Chick, he doesn’t preach to her, he shows her an imitation of what God/god/whatever should be through his kindness, leaving her more open to him and, undoubtedly, to his message.

Kaylee- This is such a young and modern name; it tells you that this lady is going to be the voice of innocence, yet also childlike wisdom.

Simon- “when I look at you I think about the Bible.” Well, that is not exactly what I mean, but it is in a way. The character of Dr. Simon, especially that name makes me think of Simon in the bible. There were two disciples named Simon in the New Testament: Peter as in the first Pope was originally named Simon, and there was also Simon the Zealot who was another of the original 12. Simon Peter was very much a man of the world, successful in his own right, just like our Doctor. But, underneath the façade both Simons have a deeper dedication, and that is to those they love. Doctor Simon uses his worldly skills to help the only person who matters to him, his little sister. Simon in the Bible struggles to be family man and to follow Jesus, in the end choosing Jesus and the idea of of being a father to the “flock” of all believers as the first Pope (another Shepherd reference.) I could definitely see this Simon as a Simon Peter re-imagined, but I will need to see more before I make the call.

Badger- Pretty darn self-explanatory. Especially after you saw that guy