blog 24

Blog 24

Revolution, or the pursuit of freedom represents a fundamental characteristic of human kind. This characteristic is the pursuit of happiness and the lengths people will go to ensure this for themselves and their family.

The first scene of the first episode, “Serenity”, of Firefly is where the representation of the theme of this paper, the pursuit of happiness, is present. The scene begins with Mal, the main character, on a battlefield with several of his comrades. The situation looks bleak. Rebels are dying left and right as the warships of the Alliance are advancing voraciously upon them. Havoc ensues; all hell seems to be breaking loose. Mal confronts a terrified young soldier who is cowering at the bottom of a war trench. Mal is trying to convince this man that everything will be ok. He tells him that help is on the way, that they have a sure victory ahead of them. It is obvious this is not the case. Although Mal is surely almost positive they are going to be defeated, he is relying on hope to keep his men's morale, along with his own, from crashing and burning. This season is Joss Whedon's testimony to the will of mankind. He argues that even in times of darkness, when seemingly all is lost, when the light is barely hovering on the horizon, people fundamentally will not give up. People, due to an instinctual characteristic alive among us all, will battle for freedom until their liberty and happiness are achieved or all is indeed lost.