I have found it
Oct. 2nd, 2005 01:04 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
trinityvixenI am in the way of figuring out Serenity finally. I do like it. It's not perfect, no, but it's as near to it as any film has a right to be, considering all that was coming against it. It was to be a continuation of the story the fans loved while being open enough to take in new folk; it does that, and it rewards both contingents of the audience. It was a chance to show a story of the blue-collar underdogs without making it about the evil empire; it succeeded in making the Alliance and its Operative neither entirely heartless and Star Wars imperial. The characters were supposed to drive the action, not the other way around; there is no place Serenity could be that wasn't where those characters were.
Aside from that, my nitpicks are few. I'm less confused over the film the second time around. The first time was such an emotional punch to the gut, I couldn't sort out how I felt. Most times, as with anything I've been dying to see that turns out to be good, it's on my mind 24/7 and I can't stop myself from going over and over it in every detail. Serenity wasn't like that. Serenity got into my head, all right, but it closed off every investigative track. It denied my attachment to it. Now that I can see with 20/20 hindsight going into it, I find myself loving it to death and still lamenting some of the choices Whedon made.
Those choices are the characters he sacrificed--I'm not talking about bodily, only in terms of screen time. In a series, each character could have a focus episode, but in a movie, the stronger characters dominate. Those with complexities that defy simple confrontations to illustrate are going to fall by the way side. No, we didn't have time to go into the social implications of Companions; the mysterious connection between Shepherd Book's old life and the Alliance; or why the ships fall where they do. I miss not having some of these layers to Serenity, but the movie itself, taken from an outside perspective wouldn't hurt for it, so I don't fault Whedon too much. I wish it might have been otherwise, but for what it was, it was enough.
I am still working out all the angles, but I can honestly say I liked it now. Before, given how traumatic the experience was the first time, and how closed off I felt and unable to get attached, I wasn't sure if that might have been because I hated it. I know now that I don't hate it. I'm not completely reconciled to some of it, but I love it just the same. Whedon is a God of the 'verse, for both the loving-caring-forgiving and vengeful-possessive-whimsical visions of Yahweh as we know him. As Ivy03 pointed out: I love Joss Whedon. I hate Joss Whedon.
Aside from that, my nitpicks are few. I'm less confused over the film the second time around. The first time was such an emotional punch to the gut, I couldn't sort out how I felt. Most times, as with anything I've been dying to see that turns out to be good, it's on my mind 24/7 and I can't stop myself from going over and over it in every detail. Serenity wasn't like that. Serenity got into my head, all right, but it closed off every investigative track. It denied my attachment to it. Now that I can see with 20/20 hindsight going into it, I find myself loving it to death and still lamenting some of the choices Whedon made.
Those choices are the characters he sacrificed--I'm not talking about bodily, only in terms of screen time. In a series, each character could have a focus episode, but in a movie, the stronger characters dominate. Those with complexities that defy simple confrontations to illustrate are going to fall by the way side. No, we didn't have time to go into the social implications of Companions; the mysterious connection between Shepherd Book's old life and the Alliance; or why the ships fall where they do. I miss not having some of these layers to Serenity, but the movie itself, taken from an outside perspective wouldn't hurt for it, so I don't fault Whedon too much. I wish it might have been otherwise, but for what it was, it was enough.
I am still working out all the angles, but I can honestly say I liked it now. Before, given how traumatic the experience was the first time, and how closed off I felt and unable to get attached, I wasn't sure if that might have been because I hated it. I know now that I don't hate it. I'm not completely reconciled to some of it, but I love it just the same. Whedon is a God of the 'verse, for both the loving-caring-forgiving and vengeful-possessive-whimsical visions of Yahweh as we know him. As Ivy03 pointed out: I love Joss Whedon. I hate Joss Whedon.
