Deena Larsen subtitles Firefly with the
phrase "180 degrees of separation." It has already been established
that there are 180 different ways to physically read this poem which is
where the number 180 comes from. The phrase "degrees of separation"
however, has a meaning which reflects upon the poem as well.
This phrase, made popular by a
movie
of the same name, describes the theory that each person in this world
is somehow connected to any other person by only going through 6 people
in between. In other words, if Friend A is only one degree of
separation away from Friend B, then Friend A is only two degrees of
separation away from any of Friend B's friends, therefore each person
on Earth is no more than six degrees of separation from anyone else in
the world. This theory's main statement is that the Earth itself is not
such as tremendous as it seems if everyone can be connected through
everyone else by going through only 6 people.
This theory is reflected in Firefly because the 180 different ways of
reading the poem still lead the meaning to read virtually the same
thing. As the theory goes, one reading of this story or Meaning 1 can
be connected to the meaning of another reading of this story, or
Meaning 2 through 180. This subtitle is somewhat a play on words
because there are 180 ways of reading this poem and while each is
slightly different, the story of a girl's silent, hopeful approach
towards a firefly and her slightly disappointed departure is not lost.
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