“In the rare instance when the cinema permits the woman’s look, she not only sees a monster, she sees a monster that offers a distorted reflection of her own image,” Linda Williams writes in her essay on women in horror films entitled “When the Woman Looks.” The question sparked by Williams’ essay is this: Why is the monster a reflection of the woman? Williams suggests that the reason is both represent the “Other,” that is, something distinctly different from the predominant white patriarchy that the West is founded upon. Women, according to Susan Lurie, are often viewed by men as just “a castrated version of man.” Monsters, in a similar instance, represent another type of disfigurement of man. This notion implies that women are inherently linked to the monster as both are born as a monstrosity, an abomination of man. Due to the correlation between female and monster, “the destruction of the monster that concludes many horror films could therefore be interpreted as yet another way of disavowing and mastering the castration her body represents” (Lurie). But what happens when the woman, to a degree, as well as the monster are both man-made?

At first glimpse, Serenity may appear to be just another science fiction film, although amazingly written by Joss Whedon. However, this sci-fi flick facade is only represented by the technology (spaceships and laser guns) and the setting (in space and in the future). These, however, are only superficial characteristics of the sci-fi genre. Rather than showing man’s exploration of space, the film discusses the consequence of dominating this final frontier, resembling more of a Western than a science-fiction film. Conversely, on a deeper level, director Joss Whedon incorporates elements (through narrative and technique) of the horror genre but from his own perspective, much like his television take on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Unlike the horror films discussed by Williams, Serenity’s female hero, River, holds an affinity with monsters. Though it is not necessarily intrinsic and rather due to a special set of circumstances: the part of her that identifies with the monster was in fact created in order to destroy them. In effect, she has been created not only to neutralize the monsters (known as the Reavers) but she was created by the monsters themselves, because in a special Whedon twist, the monsters were created by the same governing entity known as the Alliance. Both River and the Reavers are Alliance creations. So without these monsters, River would not be in her current condition. As the Reavers become more and more of a menace, River must not only destroy them but also the tyrannical patriarchic monster (the Alliance) that gave birth to her.

Although no alien forms of life exist within the narrative of the film, monsters still lurk in the dark corners of space. Known as the Reavers, these once-human fiends became something found only in nightmares, something much darker than man could ever imagine, and descended into a murderous, cannibalistic mental state. Originally thought to have gone mad because they “went to the end of space and all they found was more darkness” in the television show Firefly, in this film our heroes discover something else, something hidden by the Alliance. Mal and his crew uncover the truth: after the Alliance introduced a pathogen into the air supply on the recently terra-formed planet of Miranda, half the population died as a result of apathy (they no longer ate, slept, or even spoke) while the other half became what would be known as the Reavers. As the Reavers ventured farther and farther away from Miranda, the Alliance began a secret program to “create” super humans, people who could over think and overpower the Reavers. It is this program that created out heroine, River. Much like Buffy and the monsters she fights (and sometimes loves) in Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, Joss Whedon’s River identifies more with the monsters than her human friends, or her brother. Like the Reavers, she cannot control her own actions, as a sleeper agent she can be activated by the Alliance using subliminal messages, or what has been done to her, as a child at a special government school for the gifted. They are both the victim and the offender. As mentioned in Linda Williams’ essay, the Reavers offer a distorted reflection of River. However, it is not only the physical act of looking that offers this “mirror” image; she also sees their thoughts through their eyes –the tests the Alliance conducted on River seem to have given her some telepathic ability, making her perfect for detecting confrontation. For example, during the second scene of the film, as River stands guard in the bank that our heroes are robbing, she has a flash of premonition. She falls to ground as a Reaver lashes at her with a weapon but from everyone else’s perspective, there is nothing there. After a few seconds of uncontrollable shaking, she whispers, “Reavers.” The vulnerability and awesome power of her mind allows her a connection to them and she can sense their presence. She thinks as they think.

Nevertheless, Joss Whedon is not saying that woman are simply monsters who seek to become the destroyers of man, even if Freud might support that claim, especially compared to the three other women present in the film. River was not born like this; the Alliance made her. At the start of the film, we see River as a child sitting in the back of a class, seemingly isolated due to the angle of the camera. As she states that the Alliance does not have the right to invade the privacy of people’s lives, the teacher, after taking River’s phallic (yeah, we noticed) stylus, responds with: “We are not teaching people what to think, we’re just teaching them how.” A second later, the teacher shoves the stylus towards Young River’s forehead and we jump to the laboratory where a scientist has just inserted some kind of metal shaft into River’s brain, to program her with behavioral conditioning. So much for not telling people what to think. With this jump we realize that what we saw was not necessarily an actual flashback but rather River’s current version of the memory. Though we did not see it literally through her eyes, the scene is subjectively shown from her perspective, her view of the world and of her past. As we see with any of River’s flashbacks, they are highly stylized, often with very bright lighting, which is most likely attributed to her time in the laboratory and under the proverbial microscope. These flashbacks demonstrate River’s mental instability while also revealing not only the connections between her and the monsters (presented by both the Reavers and the Alliance) but also the connections between the events in her life. It is important to remember that these memories are shown through River’s point-of-view after the Alliance experimented on her.

As we, along with her brother, Simon, discover later in the film, not all the memories that River carries in her mind are hers. When asked who or what Miranda is, River cries “This memory. It isn’t mine. The memory, it isn’t mine. And I shouldn’t have to carry it. It isn’t mine.” Throughout this conversation with her brother, her face is all but covered in darkness, adding to the dark psychology that we know lurks in River’s mind. She speaks nonsense, disturbing nonsense, but she is aware of it. Her high level of intelligence makes her aware of her behavior, even at its most puzzling moments.

Unlike the perhaps more clear-cut analysis of horror films offered by Williams, Joss Whedon presents a more complicated view of his heroines. Seen as physically and mentally powerful, River does not appear masculine in any way but instead Whedon utilizes her femininity to make her the hero, but without that voyeuristic gazes of Hitchcock. She always wears a dress, even while fighting, and her grace cannot be denied. Whedon seems to suggest that women are the ultimate fighters, not men. Historically, men have been trained to become robots in battle, no emotion, no sympathy. But River is the complete opposite; she sees and feels everything, including the thoughts of her opponent. River’s torture is internal. Yet at the end of the film, when she finally fights the Reavers, her face is relatively expressionless (note it is not until the Alliance arrives that we see any sign of emotion); this is what she has to do to save the people she loves, including her brother who has been shot, the people who saved and protected her. River does not fight to save herself but to save others, like a mother protecting her children, she will do whatever she has to. Earlier in the film we witness River fighting normal human men after being triggered by a subliminal messaged carried through a commercial. This fight is not on her terms, not her choice. But this time, with the Reavers, it is all her.

Another aspect of River’s femininity is her fighting style. River’s graceful “dance” is contrasted by the Reavers’, seemingly all male, clumsy, thrusting attacks. Curiously, we see this same contrast between Buffy and her monsters as well. The Reavers advance and River counteracts their every move, sensing, if not actually seeing, their next step before it happens. Perhaps it is River’s feminine intuition that allows her to be such an amazing fighter, an aspect that the Alliance has exploited and amplified. After River defeats these monsters, and Mal his, we see one of the most powerful shots of the film. From inside the protected corridor that hides her brother and friends, we watch as the door opens, revealing River, semi-silhouetted by the light behind her. She is covered in blood, face mostly in shadow and poised to strike in a second’s need, weapons in hand. Once again the shadows reflect the darker part of River’s mind; she has just killed an entire “army” of Reavers. The camera moves in closer as she stands there, perfectly still. Suddenly the wall behind her collapses but River does not even flinch. The Alliance moves in and surrounds her and we are finally granted a close-up of River’s face. The fierce glare is frightening. River is still unstable and who knows what she is capable of; this is the first time we have see her as the monster. Seconds later, when River turns her head to see them, we know she is contemplating her options: attack or be attacked. A close-up of the weapon in her hand, wet blood still dripping from it, shows her grip tightening. Only after the stand-down order is given and the immediate danger has subsided, she turns to look at her friends. The camera remains behind her right shoulder in what is probably the closest actual point-of-view shot in the film. Now that it is all over, now that the truth is out, we can truly see the world through River’s eyes.

River’s identification with the Reavers lies within the fact that they were both created by the same entity, the Alliance, one as an accident, and the other to correct and cover up that accident. The fact that both are therefore “man-made” perhaps means that only a woman could destroy the real monster, the Alliance, the monster that created these monstrosities. Whedon thus explores how women, revealers of truth, can destroy evil men without destroying all men. Although it is ultimately Mal who exposes the truth, it was a little girl, River, who helped him find it.

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