Serenity

I had only a passing knowledge of this movie and the TV show that it's based off of (Firefly). So I didn't really have any expectations going into the film about what it would be like. Even thought there were times where I felt a little left out of the loop (in-jokes or allusions to things that occured prior to the film), I enjoyed this movie a lot. It was the best kind of sci-fi, where the characters are more than just cardboard cutouts or potential victims for whatever alien creature likes to feed on human blood.

The movie asks a lot of questions that we're facing in our current situation in Iraq and around the world (as well as here at home): what is the cost (in terms of humanity) of creating a "perfect society?" Can we live with the ramifications of our actions if we find that we were wrong to meddle in areas beyond our comprehension? Is there a clear dividing line between "us" and "them," or is it murkier to see? Into all of this, the central question seems to be "what do you do when you've created a weapon beyond your control?"

River, the girl who is the center of action, has been programmed to be the ultimate fighting machine, yet much like Ender she's lost much of what made her human. She responds to commands in order to kill or (when the job is done) stop killing. The assassin who tracks her down is similarly programmed, but in the sense that he kills those who he is charged with by higher-ups to do so, with no regard for why they are targeted. He expresses some genuine regret over his actions, but that doesn't excuse what he does (there were a few Nazi war criminals who took responsibility for their actions, but whether they meant it or they were just trying to avoid the hangman's noose is a matter of debate). The captain of the ship, a former war hero, turns to piracy a'la Han Solo because he doesn't fit in with the current regime (the sinister-sounding "Alliance"). He and his crew don't want to be heroes; they want to get paid. That they decide to make a stand on behalf of the truth and nearly die for it is expected, yet compelling to watch (it's become a cliche that the anti-hero or heroes decide to do what's right by the end of such stories, but the way that they do so is definitely interesting).

In Iraq today, we face a situation that may get worse before it gets better. Similarly, things get bad for the crew of the Firefly long before any salvation makes its way. There will be hard times ahead, and the "perfection" that the Alliance seeks actually manufactures the source of its potential doom in freakish monsters who were once human. The message is clear: what we do in the name of peace can be almost as horrific as what we do in the name of war. The atomic bomb was conceived to end the war sooner than later, but it ushered in an age of paranoia and pollution that we may never see fully subside.

Control is the name of the game, and in the film the crew can't really control River because she doesn't know how to control herself. She's been turned into a weapon, but she's just a young girl. The crew's fears that she might be more harmful to them than she is to the Alliance are justified. We might get the tiger by the tail, so to speak, but there's no guarentee that the tiger won't still take a bite out of us.

Again, I enjoyed this movie a lot, and I gave a damn about the characters and their journey. As the film shows, it's not always easy to do the right thing but it is always worth it.