I think I’ve waited long enough to avoid spoiling anyone who is going to be upset about being spoiled…but if not, just be warned, I’m talking about Serenity, and I’m not waiting anymore.  You’ve had your chance to go see it in the theaters and you have a chance now to stop reading.  So there.

I loved Serenity.  I went and saw it twice.  Once with Grasshopper and Adventurer Boy, and once with Rocky.

Number one favorite thing about Serenity:  River’s kick-assy Kung Fu goodness.  How about that swirling move with the sword and ax?  Kick. Ass.

Number Two favorite thing about Serenity:  The operative.  I thought Jubil Early from the series remains the hands-down scariest villain I’ve ever seen in fiction.  The phrase “Does that seem right to you?” STILL sends little fingers of chill up my spine…but The Operative was soo cool.

Number three favorite thing about Serenity:  The theme.  The basic philosophical premise; that messing around with human nature, no matter how well intentioned, is not a good idea.  The attempt to artificially MAKE PEOPLE BETTER is not only futile, but ill-advised.

Don’t get me wrong, I believe that people can better themselves.  I think that through hard work, intentional living, meditation, reflection, and constant effort, we can elevate ourselves.

But millions of years of evolutionary selection for certain responses and urges; certain reactions and impulses cannot be undone with chemical, social or psychological engineering and attempts to do so will almost always lead to unexpected and unwanted side-effects.

Beyond that, it is not the job of some government, or religion or cadre of medical professionals to elevate humanity.

In America, we generally believe that the right and responsibility of freedom of conscience is the purview of the individual.  There are exceptions; there are the political machinations against it with Political Correctness on the left, and NeoCon elitism and Fundamentalist demagoguery on the right.  They are wrong when they try to regulate impose a certain world-view and ideology on others.

We have to walk that balance beam alone, and we have to do it with the beam constantly shifting, and people poking at us.  Some of them are poking at us to knock us down, and some of them are grabbing us and trying to haul us this way or that convinced they are helping us to safety…but ultimately, we have to maintain it on our own.  No one can or should do it for us.  It’s ours; to have or lose or give away.  We are responsible for the results.

The Alliance tried to make a super-human when they worked on River and the other like her.  The only reason they succeeded with River is because her brother rescued her before they could finish their work.  She still thought and acted independently.  They raised her physical skill level, unlocked latent telepathic skills, and bent her considerable genius to focus on certain skills…but they had not yet succeeded in changing the way she thought about how people should be treated and what their rights were.  She didn’t agree that it was OK to meddle with people, to manipulate their brain chemistry or their socialization or whatever to take away choices and decisions that are theirs to make.  She saw what they did on Miranda, and she knew it wasn’t right.  It made her crazy, knowing what had happened there, but it was probably the one thing that ultimately saved her mind from something worse than insanity; accepting the unacceptable.  Instead, with the help of her brother, and Mal and his crew…she changed the unacceptable, and won back her sanity.

Had they also succeeded in breaking her mind, and creating a human weapon, God knows what would have happened.  I’m guessing, nothing good.  I’m also guessing Joss Wheadon has thought about the possible consequences of that little eventuality.  I’m hoping that we get to meet an adversary in the form of the second star student of the secret torture academy, the one they managed to completely succeed with. 

And when we find out where the Reavers come from, we really begin to understand the depth of the arrogance and hubris of the The Alliance.

I thought I knew where Joss was going with the Reavers…and boy was I not expecting this.  And it was so much better than I thought it was going to be.  I know, I can’t believe I didn’t see it coming, and a few people have said “Of course, it was obvious”…well, not to me and these things usually are, so I’m impressed.

I know I’m looking forward to the next two movies.  And how...

...I just don't know how I am going to face them without Wash.  Why the hell did they have to kill Wash?  Sniff.