Reanalyzing episode 2: The Train Job from the show Firelfy a significant theme stands out. The theme is that a woman can have a career in a field deemed unfeminine and still maintain her feminine image. Women in male dominated fields are often portrayed as serious, stern, cold and ruthless in order to achieve their desired goals and will not let anything stand in their way. However, the females in Firefly are portrayed as still maintaining their feminine image while performing jobs in male dominated fields. The character that best provides examples of this theme from Firefly is Kaylee. After Mal, Zoe, and Jayne are rescued from a bar fight and return to the ship then Kaylee teases them and asks them if they had gotten into another bar fight. In a later scene Inara and Kaylee are having some girl talk while Inara brushes Kaylee’s hair which shows some of Kaylee is able to relax and talk to another girl about feminine topics. In the same scene Mal walks into Inara’s room and asks Kaylee about the engine room, then Kaylee immediately switches to talking about technical topics. This reveals that Kaylee is tech savvy, but maintains her feminine interests at the same time. Kaylee storms out of the room in anger because Mal interrupts and breaks up the girl talk time that Inara and Kaylee were having. Later on, Kaylee argues with Jayne about keeping Simon and River on the Serenity even though they are fugitive because she cares about them and wants to keep them safe. This contradicts the cold and ruthless perception of career oriented females by showing compassion and care for others. After Jayne gets shot in the leg and lifted onto the ship, the first things that Kaylee asks are where are Zoe and Mal and is Jayne’s leg ok. This further expresses her concern about others and that she continues to contradict the usual image of career driven females. Lastly, Kaylee refuses to leave Zoe and Mal behind because they are important to her and she wants them to be safe. These qualities help to disprove and defeat the image that females that are career driven and in male dominated fields must be serious at all times and keep moving forward no matter what.
Hey Rick I just want to add onto what you said the theme was I agree with that but I think the main theme was loyalty. At the same time your theme do tie into that about how Kaylee keeps her feminie image and at the same time she do those things in the episode that you mentioned becuase she wants to reamin loyal to Mal and the crew. Basically she is doin two in one throughout this episode.
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting view on the show that I had not thought of until reading this. It is interesting to me, now that its been pointed out, how all of the women of the ship are definitely committed to their careers and upholding their duties on the ship yet they also manage to maintain their identity as female. Most TV series illustrate career women as cold and heartless, but this show counters that by showing both sides of the spectrum.
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