I just recently watched the film Serenity with a friend of mine. One of my favorite characters from both the film and the series, has been Jayne Cobb. I suppose one of the things I find interesting and like about the character is that despite how simple he seems, he is in fact a rather complicated man. Both Jaynestown and Ariel are the episodes I would say display his complex nature. Sure he is a selfish, crude and greedy but there are moments where he does put others before him (although not always willingly), and he is almost endearing. It's hard to completely love or hate Jayne because of these contrasting characteristics, just when you think he's really fucked things up, he comes and saves the day.
I got to thinking about how similar people are to Jayne and how because he is so many shades of gray he is rarely ever one or the other: the hero or the villain of the piece. How come when we tell stories we try to make everything clear--black and white; we are either decked out in black top hats and capes, or the cliched shining armor. Do we not allow complexities to show because it's simpler to boil it down to "fire bad, tree pretty?"
Things aren't simple, they never will be no matter how much you want them to be. I'm allowing this complication to happen, I like the shades of gray. Please stop trying to make it black or white.
