In the world of Serenity everyone is fighting to survive. So much so that survival achieves the status of almost religious dedication.
Thus, to die of ennui is just as unthinkable and tragic as becoming so aggressive that you seek to consume another person wholly--a state of frenzy propelled by the desire to dominate by physically demeaning others and eating them, as if by that act you take their soul too, via their screaming voices and screaming wounds.
The look of horror on the faces of the Serenity crew as they observe people who have simply ceased to have the will to live is nearly identical to the look when they discover the origin of the Reavers. They are presented with two extremes, and can accept neither. What's more, these people appear to have had no choice in the matter. The government decided what was best for them and took their will to choose as well as their will to continue to exist. The two acts are linked.
Life possesses the meaning you give it. And how much it is worth is directly proportional to the amount of meaning you give it by living it a certain way. Take that away, and you have nothing. There is no reason to live if you are unable to care or find meaning in living. I apologize, but I'm going to go down a rabbit trail and state that one of the things I hate the most about Star Wars: Episode III is that Padme gives up. She just refuses to live and dies from an extreme lack of caring. If that's not depressing I don't know what is. To me, the worst way to die is exactly that: to die from lack of passion for living.
Dying from a chronic state of not caring is quite different from being willing to die for what's right. Even when most of what you do with your life is wrong. Mal and his crew represent this concept. Do they value their lives? Yes. Do they want to live? Yes. Do they want to live at the expense of others and capitulate to an oppressive regime? No. And that, my blogging friends, is the very epitome of bringing meaning to your life.
This post is dedicated to the characters of Wash and Shepherd Book.
3 comments:
love the dedication.
lol Cait I second that notion. And I agree that life is worth what you make of it. Whedon presents this universal theme through the struggle that the crew members encounter, trying their damndest to avoid death at all costs. This extreme portrayal is more accurate than people may originally perceive, and for those who pay close attention to the themes behind Whedon's work there is something to be said about the evolution of ourselves as a society
I love this post. That's all.
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