Home Sweet Home

| Sunday, April 25
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"Love. Can know all the math in the 'verse but take a boat in the air that you don't love? She'll shake you off just as sure as a turn in the worlds. Love keeps her in the air when she oughtta fall down...tell you she's hurtin' 'fore she keens...makes her a home." - Mal Reynolds

I'm sitting, watching the "Objects in Space" episode of Firefly this morning, and they bring up an interesting point, that has been addressed in many aspects of culture over and over again. What is home? I find it interesting to see the places people consider to be "home" that are somewhat unconventional.

Obviously, to the crew of Serenity, their rugged old ship is "home." Simon makes the comment that he thinks that the ship is the first place River has ever felt at home. Even though she's having all of these mental issues, like hearing voices and seeing things not as they are, she is completely comfortable in the ship by this point. She actually claims to have become fused with Serenity to outsmart bounty hunter, Jubal Early. Her giggle is definitely "somewhat unsettling."



Simon even starts to think of the ship as home. In his conversation with Kaylee, he says that he was starting to feel "at home" at the hospital because he was helping and making a difference. Well, isn't that what he's doing on Serenity, now, too? I think he realizes this as the conversation trails off and he gets a pensive look on his face.

Of course Mal considers Serenity his home. He has nothing else. He's fiercely protective of her. Who would Captain Malcolm Reynolds be without Serenity? Same with Kaylee. Just as River pretends to become part of the ship, I really think that Kaylee is a part of Serenity, like it's connected to her life force. Even the brutal Early can respect the subtleties of the Firefly class design.

I also love the light-hearted reference that Zoe and Wash make to science fiction and living in a spaceship.  Because calling a spaceship "home" is apparently just as unlikely as someone being psychic.

So, if a rag-tag crew of misfits and fugitives can call an old tin can "home," any place you come to feel comfortable in life could be "home." Is there any place outside of the house you grew up in or own now that you feel "at home"?

Don't let the spacebugs bite!

6 comments:

Catherine said...

I had several places that I considered "home" over the years b/c I spent so much time there--one was the writing center i worked at in grad school. Even if I wasnt' working, I was hanging out there, or in my office which was down the hall. And we were all family--it was great, and I miss it a lot!

Caity said...

First of all, Firefly is awesome. :)

To me, home is wherever you feel the most like you belong. It isn't necessarily a place to me but a state of mind. It's usually wherever my family and close friends are.

Amber said...

Love Firefly so much. The best sci-fi, in my opinion, inspires you to reflect on your own life. I think I might have to crack open ye olde Firefly DVDs and re-watch this episode. Home to me is very literally the house I grew up in. I'm just so emotionally and at the moment physically attached to the place.

Kara said...

@Cat I felt like the tutoring center I worked in as an undergrad was like that! And sometimes my classroom now feels like "home," too!

@Caity I agree! I feel like I've got many homes now. Friends' houses, my in-laws' house, my school.

@Amber Firefly constantly makes me reflect on out world, which is why I think I like it so much. A lot of Whedon's writing (and his partners' as well as RDM's BSG) deals with such real issues in fantastic settings. It always makes me think.

Melissa said...

Objects in Space is such brilliant TV. And I love that you've dedicated an entire post to unpacking the meaning of "home" in Firefly. You rock.

Kara said...

@Melissa It makes me sad that "Objects" was never aired to the general public. It's such a beautifully made episode in addition to being brilliantly written. The Hub and I were talking about how pretty some of the scenes and framing of this ep were!

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