Confronting Death in “Serenity”

So far, my blog posts have been relevant to newly released films (the latest "Twilight" movie and "Dragon Tattoo"). However, I also want to address cult classics, obscure films, older films, and everything in between.

Today my blog post will be a geeky homage to the cult hero Joss Whedon and his film "Serenity," which was basically the last episode of the tragically canceled TV series "Firefly." "Serenity" can teach us many lessons, and one of them is how confronting our own mortality can change us as human beings. If you're not familiar, Serenity is the name of a spaceship, flying around in a wild-West type future. The crew are lovable criminals and rebels, constantly hunted by the government (the Alliance) who wants to kill them. They are also humans, constantly hunted by alien zombies (Reavers) who want to eat their brains and make their skin into jackets. Imminent death is something that cannot be denied.

Terror Management Theory

Terror Management Theory (TMT) was created in 1984 by three men (Pyszczynski, Solomon, & Greenberg). TMT attempts to explain human coping mechanisms regarding the fact that death is inevitable. There are several tenets to TMT, and they build on each other. Here is a basic outline of the theory's ideas:

1. All living things want to continue living.
2. Humans are unique in that they realize immortality is impossible; we will, eventually, die.
3. Humans can imagine what the physical experience of death will be like.
4. The thought of death is terrifying.
5. To avoid thinking about death, we embrace "worldviews," or ways of creating a bigger meaning to life, such as culture, religion, or a legacy of some kind.
6. These worldviews allow us to believe that even though we personally will die, we can somehow leave behind an everlasting, permanent reality, and contribute to that reality.

In other words, we can avoid the terror caused by death by clinging to the worldviews of our culture or religion (and hope that this culture or religion will go on forever). So, we avoid thinking about death by distracting ourselves and by trying to leave some lasting mark on the world. But, what happens when we cannot avoid death? Conditions in which thoughts of death are unavoidable are called times of mortality salience. Death is there, smacking you in the face. TMT argues that when death is at the doorstep, you will embrace your worldviews even more. Judges who are asked to write essays about death immediately before sentencing give harsher punishments. After the 9/11 attacks in the U.S., both donations to charity and sales of engagement rings shot up. All of these examples show that when mortality is salient, we cling to whatever gives us, personally, a sense that there's a bigger meaning to the chaos of the universe. In the movie, we can see the effects of mortality salience in three areas: personal identity, close relationships, and ideological conviction.

Personal Identity in Captain Mal

TMT suggests that in a world of mortality salience, one's personal identity should become very strong. Individuals will have well thought-out worldviews, which will lead them to a strong sense of self and, sometimes, a stubborn clinging to one's pre-formed identity. We saw this perhaps the strongest and the most consistently with Captain Mal Reynolds. Mal started his career as a captain, a leader against the conformist Alliance government. He lived his life according to specific honor codes that he created (in his own mind) to deal with the fact that he was on the losing side of a war, and remained on the losing side even after the war ended. Specifically, his life might be summed up with the following rules: (1) The crew and the ship come first. (2) The crew does not argue with the captain. (3) Never leave a crew member behind. (4) Never give up. We saw these rules guiding Mal's life in practically every situation. Why was Mal the man he became? His guiding principles were formed at least in part because of his early life in the military; we see the structure and the implicit chain of command that he holds dear. However, at the same time, he delighted in breaking the rules set down on him by authorities he didn't acknowledge. If the Alliance told him to do it, he'd immediately do whatever he could to do the exact opposite. Why? Mal knew that his life was most likely going to be, in the words of Hobbes, nasty, brutish, and short. The fact that he could die at any moment led him to the decision that if he were going to die, he was at least going to choose how he died--he wanted to die with meaning. He wanted to be worth something. This mindset made his convictions even stronger.

Close Relationships Aboard Serenity

Serenity's only successful romantic relationship is that of the marriage between Zoё and Wash. When really put to the test, it was clear that either would sacrifice anything for the other one. Zoё would have chosen Wash over the ship or her friend and fellow soldier Mal, and Wash couldn't bear to be away from Zoё, especially when she was hurt or in danger. In the first episode of the TV show, when Reavers hovered overhead, Zoё and Wash held hands, literally reaching out to each other in this time of mortality salience. When the crew got back from the job safely, Zoё's first thought was of grabbing Wash and making love; being physically intimate with her husband was how she wanted to work off the built up death anxiety. Wash was happy to help. Interestingly, we learn that Zoё didn't like Wash when he first came aboard. It's possible that being in mortal peril all the time led Zoё and Wash to be attracted to each other. Maybe that constant danger made them yearn for something happy and meaningful in life, such as the passionate embrace of a lover.

Ideological Conviction

Ideological conviction defined Shepherd Book, the ship's ad hoc preacher. While Shepherd had a sketchy background that implied he might have formerly worked for the Alliance, by the time of the movie he was a full-time preacher, with the message that faith will set you free. When an Alliance spy shot a crew member, Shepherd punched him in the face and disarmed him, but prevented the crew from harming him further. He thus protected the crew, but also protected the man himself, showing that even in the face of death, he would hold to his code of helping others. Shepherd's faith was true--but that doesn't mean it was unquestioned. After an ordeal involving several risks to his life, he confessed to a prostitute: "Is this what life is? Out here? I've been out of the Abbey two days. I've beaten a lawman senseless, fallen in with criminals. I've watched the Captain shoot the man I swore to protect. And I'm not even sure if I think he was wrong. I believe I just . . . I think I'm on the wrong ship." It is possible that this was the first time Shepherd questioned his choices. Death made him confront what he always believed to be true. It was only after two days of danger and guns that he asked himself what he really believed. Faith is not something that should be based on blindly following what you've been told to believe in. True faith is based on questioning what you have learned, then really agreeing with it. This experience, which would not have happened if Shepherd had not faced death, is what made his faith stronger than ever.

Conclusion

The individuals aboard Serenity would not be who they are if their lives had taken a different path. If they were peaceful farmers or accountants, they would not love as strongly, would not live as fiercely. To experience life, you must experience death. Do you know who you truly are? What are your fears? Whom do you love? If you want to know what you really believe, go to a funeral. Experience the death of a loved one. Almost die. Only then will your life crystallize in a way that allows you to see clearly into your own soul. Maybe you will fight the system. Maybe you will be a preacher. Maybe you will be a killer. Maybe you will fall in love.

For more information about this topic, check out Dr. Goodfriend's book chapter in the volume The Psychology of Joss Whedon, by BenBella Books.

Copyright Wind Goodfriend, Ph.D.