QotD

[avevale_intelligencer]

"The film is about the right to be wrong. You can't impose your way of thinking even if your way of thinking is more enlightened and better than theirs. It's just simply not how human beings are."
--Joss Whedon, on the Serenity commentary.

EDIT: apologies are apparently due for Mr Whedon's lack of clarity in phrasing. It seems obvious to me at least that he was not saying that it is not *possible* to try to impose one way of thinking on another, nor that there was anything to *preclude* such an attempt. He seems (again, to me at least) to be saying that such an act (a) *never works*, in the sense of the imposed way of thinking being whole-heartedly adopted, and (b) is *morally indefensible* according to his view of what is right and what is wrong. I can only assume that he was tired when he recorded the commentary, otherwise he would doubtless have expressed himself with more clarity and precision.

I would also infer (and this is again a personal opinion) that the "nubile...killing machine" in question is not imposing a way of thinking so much as engaging in combat against a direct and personal threat to the lives of others, as she sees it. Whether she is right or wrong to do so is regrettably beyond the scope of this post, or at the moment of my brain, which is hurting.

*sigh*

Comments

Sorry, Joss

[soren-nyrond.livejournal.com]

Bitter experience has taught me that, in truth, the chief motivation for human inter-action is for A to impose his/her/its view of the world onto B, generally as a way of getting B to give him (A) everything he (B) owns, as an acknowledgement of how right A is.

Then Z comes along (who already has more of everything than A has), and he does the same to A, and takes all of it.

"To him that hath shall be given; from he that hath not, shall be taken away even the little that he hath" ... or something like that.

Re: Sorry, Joss

[zanda-myrande.livejournal.com]

That's not been my experience...

[pink-sweater-uk.livejournal.com]

I'm sure that Whedon's words would be a great comfort to the various unfortunate pieces of cannon-fodder casually ripped apart by his latest nublie teenage female killing-machine... ;)

[keristor.livejournal.com]

Your edit is the way I interpreted what he meant. Possibly adding the word 'successfully' before 'impose' might clarify it, at least in respect of "it doesn't work". As exemplified by laws which try to ban or enforce certain attitudes, which almost always have the effect of just driving the attitudes underground, and often intensifying them in the process because they are hidden.

I also agree with your opinion about the "nubile...killing machine". I'd call it defense of her society from attackers.

[jahura.livejournal.com]

I don't know the source by which the quote was obtained, but reading it of its own implies to me that Josh Whedon does not consider himself to be human.

[pink-sweater-uk.livejournal.com]

In all fairness, I was being somewhat flippant when I made that comment. Maybe I should re-phrase a little: she's still ending lives of various individuals, against their will. It's sort of reminiscent of the old Star Wars argument: every Imperial Stormtrooper that gets zapped is still a life. Right or wrong is something that I couldn't really say, either, with 100% certainty: maybe my real issue is with the character's "deus ex machina" role, which is a different argument entirely.

Anyway. Running in circles a bit here. Will leave it at that for now.