So are there Operative Veterans for Truth?

I hadn't thought of Wash and Book being the most independent of the crew. I can see the argument, but I don't think that they are in the same sense that the movie talks of Independents. Their Independents aren't really independent. In fact, watching Mal and Zoe shows that they are very interdependent within the group, just desiring independence from the overarching government, the larger whole. I can still buy Wash being one of the most independent in the sense that Whedon used, but I don't think I see Book there.

In terms of true independence, I think Jayne is perhaps the most independent. Several places in the movie illustrate this. Two come to mind right off: when Jayne says he would like to run the ship, showing his lack of concern for the leadership structure; and when he replies that he might survive when all the rest likely wouldn't, in the final reavers attack. In this second instance, I don't think anyone else in the crew would even allow themselves to think this way, even if it were true, because, unlike Jayne, they were all so committed to the whole.

I think Jayne is perhaps the most independent...

Maybe the distinction between "independent" and "self-centered" is all in my mind.

I will cop to this: People like Zoe and Wash, who are coming from a place closer to commitment to another human, seem more Independent to me.

I think Jayne is perhaps the most independent...

Maybe the distinction between "independent" and "self-centered" is all in my mind.

Jayne is utterly dependent on the crew of Serenity for - how to say this? it may be beyond me - community, maybe? without them, he is thoroughly anti-social, quite possibly in a clinical sense. His only other tie of loyalty is to his mother (he does love his mother, why else would he be so happy with that hat) but having cut the apron-strings, he is entirely adrift. With previous, er, associates, he has zero loyalty, zero connection. As amoral as he is within on Serenity, there is some touchstone, loadstone, glimmerings of moral compass there for him, that is entirely absent in his life otherwise.

He just thinks he is independent.

I don't think community is as important to Jayne as it is for the others, at least not most of the time. Kaylee, and occasionally Mal, have been able to break through. It certainly is more important to him than he'll admit to himself (as is seen when he joins the rescue team on WS, and in other places). But I still think that the interdependence is less important to him than to the others. So, while he is dependent on the crew for any sense of community that he has, that sense is less important to him, in his own eyes anyway.

Jayne is a human being, and it's very rare to have a human who is completely independent. But I think he's the closest to it of the crew.

Found the Firefly soundtrack at the Evil Empire (read: Wal-Mart).

Man, I love Greg Edmondson.

tian, the Firefly soundtrack? Or the Serenity soundtrack?

Only the Firefly soundtrack is by Greg Edmonson. [link]

Did we even know the Firefly soundtrack was out? Very cool! t adds to wish list

Went to Walmart yesterday and noticed Serenity DVD posters on my way out.