sister_luck (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
sister_luck) wrote2005-10-28 06:52 pm
sister_luck) wrote2005-10-28 06:52 pm
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Serenity and The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
If you recognise a reference to a work of art without actually knowing the work in question, then it has truly become part of (popular) culture.
When The Operative tries to convince Mal to hand over River he refers to her as an albatross around Mal's neck. Of course, I screamed 'Rime of the Ancient Mariner', 'Coleridge' and 'You've got it all wrong'.
Mal knows his poetry, too, and calmly informs The Operative that the albatross - when alive - is actually a bird of good omen. Harming the albatross, on the other hand, will curse you. Speaking to Inara, he adds "Yes. I read a poem once. Try not to faint." [Paraphrased from memory.]
I hadn't read the poem, but I knew enough to get the reference. I've heard the song by Iron Maiden though. Today I hunted down the poem, easily found thanks to the internet, and was surprised to see it's very long, even for a ballad.
Incidentally, "Coleridge was once told by the publisher that most of the book's sales were to sailors who thought it was a naval songbook" (cf. wikipedia. Mal, as a captain of a ship, a not so ancient space mariner, might have stumbled across the poem the same way. Or does he have hidden depths? Nevermind.
While Mal seems to know his Coleridge, The Operative just uses the term albatross in its idiomatic sense meaning "something or someone you want to be free from because they are causing you problems" without being aware of its origin. Coleridge's poem is built on the superstition among sailors that an albatross is a good omen - they often follow ships - and that it is unlucky to kill it.
Here's the very short version: Ancient mariner tells his story to a wedding guest keeping him from going to the reception. He used to be the captain of a ship that got into a storm and was blown to a land of ice, i.e. Antarctica. An albatross appears and leads them to safety. Ancient Mariner shoots albatross, bad luck ensues, the ship is stuck and won't move. Sailors are surrounded by water, but are suffering from thirst. The crew gets angry and as a sign of the captain's guilt they hang the dead albatross around his neck (hence the idiomatic use of 'albatross around one's neck' for a burden of guilt). A ghostly ship comes along with Death and Life-in-Death (a skeleton and a woman) who play dice for the ship's crew. Life-in-Death wins the Mariner, the others die. Ancient Mariner sits for seven days and nights on his ship surrounded by corpses that neither "rot nor reek" - just like the corpses on Miranda. The curse is lifted when he sees watersnakes and blesses them. The crew returns as ghosts and takes him home where the ship eventually sinks. The Mariner escapes and now wanders the earth telling his tale and teaching his lesson to those he meets:
He prayeth best, who loveth best
All things both great and small;
For the dear God who loveth us,
He made and loveth all.
Leave God out of the equation, and you've got the ending of the film, when Mal tells River that love is needed to pilot a ship. River is Mal's albatross, with her psychic abilities she is able to save the crew from the reavers - she is their good-luck charm. Handing her over to the Operative though would be akin to killing her. Just like River, the albatross is a mysterious creature that has to be kept from harm. Serenity's captain has learned the lesson of the Ancient Mariner and opts to protect River.
Oh, and a quote from the popular culture section of the wikipedia article on the Ancient Mariner:
"The major themes of this epic poem are weaved throughout the film Serenity (2005) by Joss Whedon. Although never mentioned by name, the significance of the albatross is described by the main character Malcolm Reynolds."
When The Operative tries to convince Mal to hand over River he refers to her as an albatross around Mal's neck. Of course, I screamed 'Rime of the Ancient Mariner', 'Coleridge' and 'You've got it all wrong'.
Mal knows his poetry, too, and calmly informs The Operative that the albatross - when alive - is actually a bird of good omen. Harming the albatross, on the other hand, will curse you. Speaking to Inara, he adds "Yes. I read a poem once. Try not to faint." [Paraphrased from memory.]
I hadn't read the poem, but I knew enough to get the reference. I've heard the song by Iron Maiden though. Today I hunted down the poem, easily found thanks to the internet, and was surprised to see it's very long, even for a ballad.
Incidentally, "Coleridge was once told by the publisher that most of the book's sales were to sailors who thought it was a naval songbook" (cf. wikipedia. Mal, as a captain of a ship, a not so ancient space mariner, might have stumbled across the poem the same way. Or does he have hidden depths? Nevermind.
While Mal seems to know his Coleridge, The Operative just uses the term albatross in its idiomatic sense meaning "something or someone you want to be free from because they are causing you problems" without being aware of its origin. Coleridge's poem is built on the superstition among sailors that an albatross is a good omen - they often follow ships - and that it is unlucky to kill it.
Here's the very short version: Ancient mariner tells his story to a wedding guest keeping him from going to the reception. He used to be the captain of a ship that got into a storm and was blown to a land of ice, i.e. Antarctica. An albatross appears and leads them to safety. Ancient Mariner shoots albatross, bad luck ensues, the ship is stuck and won't move. Sailors are surrounded by water, but are suffering from thirst. The crew gets angry and as a sign of the captain's guilt they hang the dead albatross around his neck (hence the idiomatic use of 'albatross around one's neck' for a burden of guilt). A ghostly ship comes along with Death and Life-in-Death (a skeleton and a woman) who play dice for the ship's crew. Life-in-Death wins the Mariner, the others die. Ancient Mariner sits for seven days and nights on his ship surrounded by corpses that neither "rot nor reek" - just like the corpses on Miranda. The curse is lifted when he sees watersnakes and blesses them. The crew returns as ghosts and takes him home where the ship eventually sinks. The Mariner escapes and now wanders the earth telling his tale and teaching his lesson to those he meets:
He prayeth best, who loveth best
All things both great and small;
For the dear God who loveth us,
He made and loveth all.
Leave God out of the equation, and you've got the ending of the film, when Mal tells River that love is needed to pilot a ship. River is Mal's albatross, with her psychic abilities she is able to save the crew from the reavers - she is their good-luck charm. Handing her over to the Operative though would be akin to killing her. Just like River, the albatross is a mysterious creature that has to be kept from harm. Serenity's captain has learned the lesson of the Ancient Mariner and opts to protect River.
Oh, and a quote from the popular culture section of the wikipedia article on the Ancient Mariner:
"The major themes of this epic poem are weaved throughout the film Serenity (2005) by Joss Whedon. Although never mentioned by name, the significance of the albatross is described by the main character Malcolm Reynolds."
no subject
BTW there's another famous poem about The Albatros, it's from Les Fleurs du Mal by Baudelaire. This time The Albatros stands for the poet:
Souvent, pour s'amuser, les hommes d'équipage
Prennent des albatros, vastes oiseaux des mers,
Qui suivent, indolents compagnons de voyage,
Le navire glissant sur les gouffres amers.
A peine les ont-ils déposés sur les planches,
Que ces rois de l'azur, maladroits et honteux,
Laissent piteusement leurs grandes ailes blanches
Comme des avirons traîner à côté d'eux.
Ce voyageur ailé, comme il est gauche et veule !
Lui, naguère si beau, qu'il est comique et laid !
L'un agace son bec avec un brûle-gueule,
L'autre mime, en boitant, l'infirme qui volait !
Le Poète est semblable au prince des nuées
Qui hante la tempête et se rit de l'archer
Exilé sur le sol au milieu des huées,
Ses ailes de géant l'empêchent de marcher.
Charles BAUDELAIRE (1821-1867)
(Les fleurs du mal)
no subject
And thanks for the Spike.
no subject