What makes Firefly and Serenity wholly original, however, is the position and perspective of its heroes. Whereas in Star Trek the crew are well-fed, well-educated, well-equipped, American-looking representatives of a peaceful utopian Federation of planets, in Firefly, the crew’s primary enemy is a federation called “The Alliance” that looks a lot like the good guys in Star Trek. The Alliance has all the fancy hardware and nice uniforms, they don’t have distinctive accents (as does the largely “British” Empire of the Star Wars series), and they don’t go around blowing up planets. The one thing that really makes the Alliance characters unlikable is their arrogance. Also unlike Star Trek, there are no outsider, alien species to provide potential enemies for mankind—we are our only enemies. The series takes place six years after a civil war in which the Alliance crushed the “Independents,” a group that disliked their intrusive policies. The crew of the Serenity draws from the losing side in that civil war.

The commentary on the policies of the American government is impossible to miss, and it’s refreshing to see the perspective of those on the receiving end. Joss Whedon said that he intended to create a series that made space “more accessible to everyone.” The fact that “everyone” in this case includes the under-educated, under-equipped, and the oppressed reflects the growing social divide within our country and the rest of the world. Although this series does represent the oppressed in a more positive light than the elite, it never goes so far as to pass judgment. The Alliance really does make life better for everyone (mostly for the rich), and yes, their meddling is quite irksome. The series does not attempt to resolve this issue, but rather suggests that such class conflict is something we all need to muddle through in our own way.

The one “semi-utopian” aspect of this futuristic society is its implied merging of America and China into one superpower. This is represented by the fact that all the characters are bilingual, and the dialogue is laced with Chinese phrases that are never explained (though you can usually get the meaning from the context). It’s a handy device for conveying the seediness of the crew, as they can be as foul-mouthed as they want in Chinese without annoying any TV censors!

I was also thrilled by the fact that Christianity plays an important, positive role in the series. This begins in the pilot episode, when the traveling preacher/monk character Derria Book (Ron Glass), referred to as “Shepherd Book,” purchases passage to nowhere in particular and eventually becomes a part of Serenity’s crew. Book is an entirely likeable character, and although he has the occasional lapse of conviction and judgment, he serves well as a defender of the faith. Much of his attention is focused on Captain Malcom Reynolds (Nathan Fillion), referred to as “Mal”, who at one point says to Book, “You’re welcome here, Shepherd. God ain’t.” Mal represents what I would call the mainstream spiritual attitude, the assumption that morality transcends religion and Christians are certainly no moral exemplars. Book’s compassion satisfactorily challenges this popular notion.

The one thing that Shepherd Book said that really threw me for a loop, however, was in the movie Serenity. In a rather intense moment, he says to Mal, “I don’t care what you believe. Just believe it!” My first reaction was one of distaste. Of course it matters what you believe! How could a Christian say such a thing? But after musing about it for several weeks, I decided that there’s an important message here for Christians. That is, when inviting someone into fellowship with us, we so often lead with a requirement that they adopt our vernacular (i.e. “accept Jesus Christ as their savior”). I tend to feel that many people refuse to do this, not because they won’t submit to God, but because they refuse to submit to Christians. As my pastor Mark Acuff once said to someone struggling with their faith, don’t let the fact that you can’t stand the Church keep you away from God. From this perspective, Shepherd Book’s admonition to Mal Reynolds in Serenity is an attempt to get him to take a step towards faith, to let God work through him in the very midst of his hostile posture towards religion. Perhaps we Christians should have more faith that God can work through people who don’t profess faith the way that we do.