He killed Wash.

I have been brooding over this since I saw it, so if the goal was to make me think about the movie, then Mr. Whedon succeeded, but I think at the end of the day I have to come down against the killing of Wash, for two main reasons.

1) The memory of Wash's death, is by far the memory that will stick with me the most. Not Mal sending out the signal, not River kicking but, not even Kaylee and Simon finally hooking up. I wanted my strongest memories of this film to be happy, but instead they are not.

2) Notice I said "he killed Wash," not, "the Reavers killed Wash," or "the big spiky metal thing killed Wash." He killed Wash. Joss Whedon. This is what I thought when it happened, and it took me out of the film. It made me feel as though I were being manipulated. Yes of course movies are all about manipulation, but I don't want to feel manipulated. I feared for the other characters, but I did not fear for them because of the Reavers, I feared for them because of what the writer/director might do.

Though part of my thinks that I may have been biased by the girl who sat behind me and wept audible through the end credits. I may have to see it watch the ting again, and see if I can get a more positive experience without having to worry about the heavy handedness of the author.