Joss Whedon’s Serenity is often called a space western, but, it is not a film that can be relegated to one shelf. It is science fiction and drama, a thriller and a Western that draws elements from Chinese epics. This idea follows through in the use of color within the film, drawing overlapping elements from different cultures to create a blend of cultures that would exist in a world beyond an overpopulated and contaminated Earth.

It is not a pure science fiction film, nothing like the Star Trek that modern audiences know, closer to Blade Runner with it's almost grungy feel. It is nothing like the clean metal of Star Trek or the stylized richness of Star Wars. It is dirty, it is emotion in its most natural form, it is human. The film is the outside of that which is constantly presented by science fiction films, the opposite of all the cold gleaming metal surfaces and technological advances. Serenity, both the film and the namesake, a near derelict spaceship that is barely held together, are the opposite of that vision. It is closer to the gritty and dark visual style of Ridley Scott’s neo noir film Blade Runner. 

Within the long spanning history of the films and television shows of Star Trek, the colors have always been quite clear. Everything to do with the color palette, for the protagonists of the films/shows, are on the lighter side of the color spectrum. The Federation, the advanced government within the home world of Star Trek, is shown having beautiful, crisp and cold environments of gleaming metal. It is just as the presentation of the Alliance in Serenity, a totalitarian and highly advanced government. That is the opposite with Serenity, those with the lighter color palette, the pale blues and grays, are the antagonists and villains of the situation, having created the monsters known as Reaver through their own meddlesome actions. 

The darkness apparent in Blade Runner, the grittiness throughout the dystopian world, that is what is reflected within Serenity. It is the darker side of humanity in the future, in a future that is not only gleaming and wonderful, but cold and cruel. It shows that humanity is not simply that which glitters the brightest, but also that which is dull and drab. 

Within the scenes of the school, when River is dreaming or having a vision, the prominent colors are blues, whites, and, oranges. There is green in the background, that of the foliage and flora, but it is almost too real, the green does not feel real. Everything is oversaturated, almost technicolor and hazy in appearance. The color white, within the scene, is almost blinding and surrounded by a halo, mimicking it’s Western definition of purity and innocence while, at the same time, contrasting it’s Eastern definition of being the color of mourning and death. A fitting comparison when, towards the end of the first school scene, the teacher stabs River in the forehead with a blade, and, in the second scene, when all the students lay down and turn into mummified corpses before River’s eyes.

Sickly blues, greens, and, grays dominate the Alliance lab scene where River is being experimented on. There is an unhealthy sheen to the skin of the characters within this scene, almost as if they were monsters or even corpses. The Alliance itself, whenever present, is represented by those hues along with white. The records room, in which the Operative is reviewing River’s escape from the Alliance lab, is primarily neutral in color. The only contrast within the room’s color palette are the red lights on the shelves, the red stripe on the floor, and, the blood of those that the Operative slaughtered. 

For Serenity, the spaceship that is called home by the majority of the characters of the film, is filled with warmer colors, denoting that it is a safe place. Even though the inside of the ship is gray or light blue metal and there are areas that are coolly lit, the general feel is that of safety due to the warm hues decorating the interior. The most prominent of those colors being yellows, reds, and, browns. 

As the albatross that the Alliance seeks to silence, River is clad in regal colors. Dark blues, purples and reds are the colors that she is always seen in. She is both a psychic and an engineered weapon. The red symbolizes the death she is able to bring down upon others in an instant, the purple being the symbol of her metaphysical abilities, and, the blue referencing the nobility of her birth.

The abandoned planet known as Miranda is, as is the norm within this film for dangerous locations or moments of dramatic importance, depicted in lighter colors. All the colors, of everything found on that abandoned planet, are cold and icy. Steel grays, icy blues, and, whites cover the screen within the scenes on Miranda. There is no variety of color but for the corpses of the former inhabitants of Miranda. There is nothing that lends to the belief of life existing on the planet.  

Serenity does not follow the story of what would be considered the counterpart of Star Trek’s Federation, the Alliance in this case, nor does it follow the noble cause of the rebel forces in Star Wars. Rather, it’s story follows the path of a ragtag group of honest thieves who live aboard a derelict spaceship bearing the name of Serenity. The symbolic albatross of the film is a young girl, River Tam, daughter of a high ranking family within the Alliance, psychic, and, lab rat of the the Alliance. Before her brother, Simon, managed to rescue her from the Alliance laboratories, she unearthed a truth from within the minds of the leaders of the Alliance that burned her mind. It is for that secret that she is hunted by the Alliance, to prevent the truth of the tragedy of Miranda from reaching the mass public. It is for that reason she and her brother managed to hide themselves within a small band of thieves, who, are led by a former rebel captain.

River herself is no longer just a brilliantly gifted child. By the hands of the Alliance, she has become a weapon. Mentally unstable, her movements and appearance throughout the film reflect this. At times, she appears unearthly, her skin too pale or even glowing within certain scenes. The camera follows her motions, and, when she is especially disturbed, it is reflected in the manner of editing. There are moments when she is reading the minds of others and the camera portrays this through the use of an extreme Dutch angle, intent on causing disorientation and discomfort, mimicking what River herself would feel. When she has visions of the Reavers, those unlucky humans who have fallen into darkness and madness by the hands of the Alliance, there are close ups and rapid camera movement that mimics their chaotic movements and thought patterns. 

The movements of the Reavers, especially when fighting, are chaotic and out of control. Fitting with their background, being the few survivors of Miranda who had gone mad due to the secret experimentation of an entire planet by the Alliance in the attempt of creating a docile and malleable populace. The Alliance soldiers, in contrast, when moving, are stiff and methodical. They are organized, playing to the knowledge of the Alliance being cool and calculating when it comes to any and every thing. On the other hand, River, she plays to her name. She is graceful in both battle and in her daily movements, almost as if she were dancing or even simply a leaf on the wind with the delicacy of her appearance and movements. 

It is a dance, the entirety of the plot and aesthetics of the film. River and her protectors shying away from the ever reaching hand of the Alliance as they move further and further to the edge of humanity. It is simple and complex, a moment in time that is repeated throughout each scene of the film. River is, after all, an albatross aboard a rudderless ship that follows the wind. 

That, perhaps, is how Serenity can be summed up: a leaf on the wind. 

Works Cited

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Kempley, Rita. "Blade Runner." Washington Post. Washington Post, 11 Sept. 1992. Web. 2 Dec. 2015. <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/bladerunnerrkempley_a0a2e1.htm>.

Orr, Christopher. "The Movie Review: 'Serenity'" The Atlantic. Atlantic Media Company, 27 Dec. 2005. Web. 2 Dec. 2015. <http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2005/12/the-movie-review-serenity/69420/>.

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Serenity. Dir. Joss Whedon. Universal Pictures, 2005. Film.

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