Blog 6

I think I have finally figured out the theme to “Firefly”. The standards of their community are not as they are labeled. The Brown Coats are outcasts, thieves, and rebels. They run from the government, they reject conformity, and they survive using less than honorable tactics. The Alliance consists of conformed citizens who work normal jobs and live under a supposedly grand unified government. They go to work every day, live in close communities, and obey the law. Pretty straight forward, right? However, the Brown Coats seem to be much more unified than the Alliance. For example, Mal steals Paradiso’s medicine supply, but when he sees its suffering community he returns the goods immediately. Mal knows that Niska has made it blatantly obvious that if the heist is not finished successfully, he will kill him. He disregards this and puts his own life in jeopardy in order to spare the planets habitants. Also, Inara, a non-crew member prostitute, kindly converses with crew members and even comes to save them when they are in the sheriff’s custody. She knows she could be arrested and jailed, but she comes to save her friends. Even then, before they are rescued, the rest of the crew on the ship will not abandon Mal and Zoe even when an intimidating passenger attempts to assume command by force. They are all interconnected, even in their independence. Perhaps this is why the Alliance is so harsh towards the Brown Coats. They may fear this deep connection between people could inspire an overthrow of government. The Brown Coats are extremely loyal to each other.