The long Mal post I was talking about
Oct. 4th, 2005 05:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dangermousieSerenity is such a Mal-centric movie. And considering that Mal is probably the second biggest fictional crush I've ever had, I am not complaining.
Among other things, Serenity is about Mal falling apart and being brought back again. Because he is brought very low, even lower than in "Out of Gas." (and messed-up Mal=happy Dangermousie). There is a whole Serenity (the ship)=Mal parallel that![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
alizzy brought up and I so agree. Just like Serenity, Mal ends up a wreck but just like her he wins through and is ready to go again, at the end.
On a more shallow note, he is hotter than ever on the big screen. There is one shot in particular where it's a close up of his face as he is testing a gun and his eyes are so blue and he looks so hot I kinda forgot to breathe. I can forsee the rewind button used VERY often on this DVD when it comes out.
I also found it interesting just how dark he goes, because it hurts him, really it does. At heart, he'd like to believe he is an honorable soldier, still fighting a war for independence. And when he has to do something that basically contradicts it, however pragmatic: as when he leaves that man in Reaver-occupied town (ROT) to die, it just kills his soul, a little. The look on his face as he pushes him off? Wow.
That's why when Zoe confronts him about it later, he assumes she means the fact that he shot him so that Reavers wouldn't torture him. Because I think he knows that she means something else, but he doesn't want to deal with it, and hopes that maybe she meant something else. And when he gives her his reasons for leaving him (and they are good ones), you can see that these are the justifications he has been repeating in his head all this time, trying to convince himself, and it's not working. I think there is self-loathing there. Zoe has a fall-back: she takes Mal's lead. He has no such fallback. The decision is on his head.
I do think that the nameless guy in ROT actually saved the 'verse from a repetition of Miranda. Because the reason Mal picked up River and took her back to the ship after her little attack (and I love how gentle he is with her there) is because he is haunted by that guy in ROT and he can't bear to leave anyone else behind.
And that of course brings him a further world of hurt: the scene with Book, as Book is dying, breaks my heart. Because no matter what, Mal still hasn't steeled himself to losing the people he loves. He limited them to a small, manageable, easily cared for number: i.e. his crew, but he hadn't stopped caring. And I think it tears him apart. And then of course when he listens to the Operative's message and TO places the blame on his shoulders. You know that is something Mal is going to be thinking every freaking night for probably the rest of his life. Remember how he felt so guilty for Nandi in Heart of Gold, even though it was clearly not his fault. Well, take that and multiply it times a 1000. No wonder that when he walks out of the ship to give new orders, he face looks like a ravaged mask. He really looks like a man in hell. And I love that he shoots that surrendering Alliance man. Mal is fraying at the seams.
And when he gives orders to desecrate the ship? Oh. My. God. Because Serenity is what Mal believes in, what he loves. That something Book was telling him he has to have in his life. And he is destroying her on purpose, decorating it with the bodies of his friends. No wonder he sounds half-insane when he gives orders. Not even Jayne, who picked a fight with him when he agreed to shelter River (I love that scene too. The look in Mal's eyes? I wanted to take a step back and I was only watching), argues. That is a man whose reason is subsumed in purpose and grief. I have NO idea what it does to Mal. But when he wearily wonders through the mutilated Serenity, looking as if he can barely stand up, and as if he is falling apart in front of our eyes, and then he stumbles to somewhere he can lean because he has no strength? Oh, God. And the look on his face is that of someone who is tortured almost beyond endurance.
But at the end, he fights through the horror and the guilt and the desolation and wins through. When Serenity is rebuilt, I think it's quite symbolic. And I love the last scene with Inara: the hope and the openness and the vulnerability. I think they both realized that time is finite, very finite. And of course, my third time yesterday I noticed that when they are in Mr. Universe's place and he is off to try to get the signal out Inara looks at him with tears in her eyes and he looks back at her. Because you know what they are thinking they might never see each other again. It's in the background, but it's perfect. Then when he reutrns: the look on her face, his face. Wow.
I also loved his "I came back for you" when she is frustrated and asks him why he came to the Sanctuary. Because only in M/I can something this amazing come out in the middle of an argument, not as a declaration of love but as a justification. Mal is so vulnerable to her, the way he is to no one else, but it's true the other way around as well. (I also love how she takes on TO to help Mal even though she has no chance).
Of course, he misses her even before that: I love his looking at the video card of Inara, and he adorably tries to smooth his hair when he gets her on the videophone (also, points to Joss for consistency. Inara has more than one suit of clothes when she gets on Serenity because she forgot a trunk). And even though he knows it's a trap, when Kaylee asks him "don't you think she just might have wanted to see you?" you catch this wistful expression on his face so briefly which shows just how much he'd love for that to be true, how a part of him hoped that was the case, even though he knew it wasn't.
In other Mal news, he's still super funny: I loved his "Dear Buddha, bring me a pony and a plastic rocket." ROFL. And his telling Inara that "Yes, I read a poem. Try not to faint." There is a glimpse of boyishness there, under layers of a really dedicated and capable man that just makes you want to....*ehem*
And how adorable is that he calls River "Little Albatross" at the end. He does care for her: he always speaks softly to her and is gentle with her. He does enjoy driving Simon crazy by pretending he doesn't. I think he doesn't want to admit just how caring (or a sucker :P) he is.
I also loved that he figured the truth about Reavers (on Miranda) first and the look on his face? Oh boy. Mal does go to war in the movie and you certainly do see something else. He wins over TO (who is very samurai-like, really) because Mal is just that desperate and smart and just never gives up. Because Serenity Valley had broken in him everything that could be broken. And nothing can really break him again.
Among other things, Serenity is about Mal falling apart and being brought back again. Because he is brought very low, even lower than in "Out of Gas." (and messed-up Mal=happy Dangermousie). There is a whole Serenity (the ship)=Mal parallel that
alizzy brought up and I so agree. Just like Serenity, Mal ends up a wreck but just like her he wins through and is ready to go again, at the end.On a more shallow note, he is hotter than ever on the big screen. There is one shot in particular where it's a close up of his face as he is testing a gun and his eyes are so blue and he looks so hot I kinda forgot to breathe. I can forsee the rewind button used VERY often on this DVD when it comes out.
I also found it interesting just how dark he goes, because it hurts him, really it does. At heart, he'd like to believe he is an honorable soldier, still fighting a war for independence. And when he has to do something that basically contradicts it, however pragmatic: as when he leaves that man in Reaver-occupied town (ROT) to die, it just kills his soul, a little. The look on his face as he pushes him off? Wow.
That's why when Zoe confronts him about it later, he assumes she means the fact that he shot him so that Reavers wouldn't torture him. Because I think he knows that she means something else, but he doesn't want to deal with it, and hopes that maybe she meant something else. And when he gives her his reasons for leaving him (and they are good ones), you can see that these are the justifications he has been repeating in his head all this time, trying to convince himself, and it's not working. I think there is self-loathing there. Zoe has a fall-back: she takes Mal's lead. He has no such fallback. The decision is on his head.
I do think that the nameless guy in ROT actually saved the 'verse from a repetition of Miranda. Because the reason Mal picked up River and took her back to the ship after her little attack (and I love how gentle he is with her there) is because he is haunted by that guy in ROT and he can't bear to leave anyone else behind.
And that of course brings him a further world of hurt: the scene with Book, as Book is dying, breaks my heart. Because no matter what, Mal still hasn't steeled himself to losing the people he loves. He limited them to a small, manageable, easily cared for number: i.e. his crew, but he hadn't stopped caring. And I think it tears him apart. And then of course when he listens to the Operative's message and TO places the blame on his shoulders. You know that is something Mal is going to be thinking every freaking night for probably the rest of his life. Remember how he felt so guilty for Nandi in Heart of Gold, even though it was clearly not his fault. Well, take that and multiply it times a 1000. No wonder that when he walks out of the ship to give new orders, he face looks like a ravaged mask. He really looks like a man in hell. And I love that he shoots that surrendering Alliance man. Mal is fraying at the seams.
And when he gives orders to desecrate the ship? Oh. My. God. Because Serenity is what Mal believes in, what he loves. That something Book was telling him he has to have in his life. And he is destroying her on purpose, decorating it with the bodies of his friends. No wonder he sounds half-insane when he gives orders. Not even Jayne, who picked a fight with him when he agreed to shelter River (I love that scene too. The look in Mal's eyes? I wanted to take a step back and I was only watching), argues. That is a man whose reason is subsumed in purpose and grief. I have NO idea what it does to Mal. But when he wearily wonders through the mutilated Serenity, looking as if he can barely stand up, and as if he is falling apart in front of our eyes, and then he stumbles to somewhere he can lean because he has no strength? Oh, God. And the look on his face is that of someone who is tortured almost beyond endurance.
But at the end, he fights through the horror and the guilt and the desolation and wins through. When Serenity is rebuilt, I think it's quite symbolic. And I love the last scene with Inara: the hope and the openness and the vulnerability. I think they both realized that time is finite, very finite. And of course, my third time yesterday I noticed that when they are in Mr. Universe's place and he is off to try to get the signal out Inara looks at him with tears in her eyes and he looks back at her. Because you know what they are thinking they might never see each other again. It's in the background, but it's perfect. Then when he reutrns: the look on her face, his face. Wow.
I also loved his "I came back for you" when she is frustrated and asks him why he came to the Sanctuary. Because only in M/I can something this amazing come out in the middle of an argument, not as a declaration of love but as a justification. Mal is so vulnerable to her, the way he is to no one else, but it's true the other way around as well. (I also love how she takes on TO to help Mal even though she has no chance).
Of course, he misses her even before that: I love his looking at the video card of Inara, and he adorably tries to smooth his hair when he gets her on the videophone (also, points to Joss for consistency. Inara has more than one suit of clothes when she gets on Serenity because she forgot a trunk). And even though he knows it's a trap, when Kaylee asks him "don't you think she just might have wanted to see you?" you catch this wistful expression on his face so briefly which shows just how much he'd love for that to be true, how a part of him hoped that was the case, even though he knew it wasn't.
In other Mal news, he's still super funny: I loved his "Dear Buddha, bring me a pony and a plastic rocket." ROFL. And his telling Inara that "Yes, I read a poem. Try not to faint." There is a glimpse of boyishness there, under layers of a really dedicated and capable man that just makes you want to....*ehem*
And how adorable is that he calls River "Little Albatross" at the end. He does care for her: he always speaks softly to her and is gentle with her. He does enjoy driving Simon crazy by pretending he doesn't. I think he doesn't want to admit just how caring (or a sucker :P) he is.
I also loved that he figured the truth about Reavers (on Miranda) first and the look on his face? Oh boy. Mal does go to war in the movie and you certainly do see something else. He wins over TO (who is very samurai-like, really) because Mal is just that desperate and smart and just never gives up. Because Serenity Valley had broken in him everything that could be broken. And nothing can really break him again.
