I’m going to quote at length here from one part of this Cracked article about Jews in science fiction movies. Specifically, where it addresses the character of Mr. Universe from the movie Serenity.
Mr. Universe is the ultimate tech geek, and he lives alone on a moon. Oh wait, not alone. He’s married to a robot wife, because clearly he’s less than a man. Oh, and how do we know he’s Jewish? Well, for one, he’s portrayed by David Krumholtz.
The second bit of evidence is that we’re shown footage of Mr. Universe’s wedding, where he wears a yarmulke and breaks a glass as per Jewish tradition. Oh, and he exhibits that classic Firefly Jewish trait — he caves under pressure instantly. Yep, Mr. Universe bends over for “The Operative” faster than Whedon can remove his female protagonist’s shoes. Is that racist? No. Is it awful? No. But it’s just weird that two characters who cave under evil are revealed to be Jews, even though their religion is completely irrelevant to the plot.
Here’s the thing: This actually is not what happens in Serenity, and actually not what Mr. Universe does.
Rather, surrounded by Alliance forces and held at sword-point by the Operative, Mr. Universe plays the part of caver, or betrayer, but in reality tips off Mal and his crew to the fact that the Alliance already awaits them at his moon-based communications complex.
What he does, specifically, is say this to Mal.
Bring it on bring it on bring it on! From here to the eyes and ears of the ‘verse, that’s my motto, or it might be if I start having a motto.
…
You’re gonna get caught in the ion cloud, it’ll play merry hob with your radar, but pretty pretty lights and a few miles after you’ll be right in my orbit.
So what?
Well, to begin with, Mr. Universe does have a motto, as established earlier in the movie: “You can’t stop the signal.” Pretending he doesn’t have a motto, and then rephrasing the one he has in an awkward and clumsy fashion is Mr. Universe’s signal (no pun) to Mal and his crew that something’s wrong, that they’re flying into a trap. Going out of his way to mention how the ion cloud will interfere with their radar just reinforces the warning. Paraphrasing: “Mal, you won’t be able to see all these ships waiting for you.”
What’s more, once Mal succeeds in reaching the now-dead Mr. Universe, his lovebot Lenore plays a recorded message for Mal, one in which Mr. Universe explains that there’s a backup transmitter undiscovered by the Operative and his Alliance troops.
On the surface, Mr. Universe does what the Operative demands, but in reality and underneath, he does precisely and deliberately the opposite. He warns the crew, and tells them how to succeed in their mission, all without the Operative or the Alliance knowing he’s doing it.
Mr. Universe in fact is single-handedly responsible for warning Mal and the crew of Serenity of the dangers ahead of them. Nowhere in the ‘verse would that be considered caving under the pressure of evil.
It’s why he deserves that honored place beside Shepherd Derrial Book and Hoban “Wash” Washburne.
Postscripts
- After sending this message, Mr. Universe turns to the Operative and decidedly compares himself to Judas, but this isn’t because he betrayed the crew. It’s because he needs the Operative to believe he has.
- Mr. Universe, through these warnings to Mal, in fact is the living embodiment of his actual motto. Even under duress and threat, his coded signal to the crew will not be stopped.
- In case anyone hadn’t remembered that Mr. Universe in fact did have a motto, it’s repeated again — twice, actually — in his recorded message to Mal via Lenore.
Postscripts 2
- It occurs to me only later that, oddly, this all is relevant to a short Serenity comic I once outlined, intended for the dormant Serenity Tales fan site but never produced.