I aim to misbehave. What say you?

The Serenity ship logo with the White Rose on either side

I aim to misbehave.

Let’s make that clear.

I’ve identified with the Operative in Serenity before. The idea of sacrificing yourself, of being the nasty defensive antibody to provide something better for others… there’s something appealing about that to me.

But if you go back and watch Serenity – and you should – you’ll quickly realize that the Operative would side with the incoming administration.

He would have seen it as a step – perhaps an unpleasant step, but a step – toward the transition to something better. To a better world.

And in doing so, he would – as he did in the movie – become complicit in perpetuating the very horrors that he wanted to eliminate.

Instead, I find myself identifying more with Jesse Custer (from Preacher) these days.

Jesse has a strong sense of right and wrong like the Operative, but with more than a little understanding of the fallibility of people and a strong sense of compassion for those who are less powerful.

The last, in particular, is what the Operative lacks.

The Operative will “punch down” if he thinks it might be needed. Jesse never would. He’d blow the whole system to high heaven instead.

“Half of writing history is hiding the truth.” – Malcom Reynolds

“We’ve done the impossible, and that makes us mighty.” – Malcom Reynolds