I think the interpretation of that scene got skewed due to the shuffling of the air-date. If we had seen "Serenity" first as it was meant to be seen, we'd have seen more gradual development of the River/Simon relationship (although "Serenity" has the scene of Simon enfolding naked River in his arms and later on of River stroking Simon's lips with her fingers, so maybe not) and the hodgeberry scene would not have felt so jarring.
I think a lot of it is the archetypal postures; Simon kneeling at River's feet, River feeding the fruit to Simon. A woman offering a fruit to a man codes for sexual temptation, and she's feeding the berries directly to his lips. Because we hadn't seen them interacting much as 'brother and sister' until then (and remember that "Safe" was aired very early in the original broadcast--I think it was the 4th one to air) the scene took on a weird subtext. Also, I think Summar Glau and Sean Maher have this intense and not-quite-sibling-y chemistry.
Or it may be that I'm a perv.
I've been finger-fed by kids. It's them being imitative of their caregivers. Simon is River's caregiver, and she's throughout the episode she's very much in Kid Mode. I think it's just the fact that Summer's in her early twenties that's causing the hangups. Child behavior being manifested by adults seems to cause this sort of reaction.
Lord knows her IMDB picture's causing me a reaction. Yeesh.
Then, of course, there's the deleted scene where River claims to be having Simon's baby...
What age is River supposed to be? I think I figured it out at some point, but I don't recall.
The film says (white-fonted because while I doubt anyone cares about this, I'd rather err on the side of not getting stabbed) 17.
ETA: Very very sorry. Didn't put "color" in "font color=" the first time.
Cool, thanks. I won't ask about how long it is after the series, but, well, I'm anti-hodgeberry-subtext anyway.
I really didn't read any sexual tension in that scene at first airing. But, as with so many things, the Buffistas corrupted me for subsequent viewings.
Didn't put "color" in "font color=" the first time.
Did you know about the quick-edit for spoiler font? Put a lower-case "s" at the beginning of a new line and what follows (until you hit enter again) is automatically whitefonted, without the risk of inadvertent spoilage by mistyped tag.
