# FIREFLY question: where did the image of River in a box come from?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefly-question-where-did-the-image-of-river-in-a-box-come-from/613670>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [February 22, 2012, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefly-question-where-did-the-image-of-river-in-a-box-come-from/613670 "2012-02-22T22:01:32Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Alka\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Alka\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alka_Seltzer)\
**Post date:** [February 26, 2012, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefly-question-where-did-the-image-of-river-in-a-box-come-from/613670/21 "2012-02-26T11:17:26Z")

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Sounds like a case of convergent evolution to me. If you’re going to put a girl in a box, putting her in a fetal position seems a fairly obvious bit of symbolism. The only other choice is flat on her back, which might lead the audience to think “that’s a suspiciously coffin-shaped piece of luggage.” River in the box is a reveal. The position also makes it possible to show a bit of nudity, which makes it even more of a surprise.

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**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\
**Post date:** [February 26, 2012, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefly-question-where-did-the-image-of-river-in-a-box-come-from/613670/22 "2012-02-26T17:34:43Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> As a fan of both (albeit one who hasn’t seen OS since around when Firefly came out), I don’t really think there are.

As someone who’s never seen _Outlaw Star_, I’ll take your word on it-- All I know about the comparison is what I’ve seen others say on the Internet.

> [@](#):
>
> Sounds like a case of convergent evolution to me. If you’re going to put a girl in a box, putting her in a fetal position seems a fairly obvious bit of symbolism. The only other choice is flat on her back, which might lead the audience to think “that’s a suspiciously coffin-shaped piece of luggage.”

The fetal-position box is also more compact: You use less material in making it, and it fits in a cargo hold better with a bunch of other mostly-cubical crates. Even aside from being symbolic, it’s _practical_. Of course, this compactness is the reason why fetuses are in the fetal position to begin with.

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**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\
**Post date:** [February 26, 2012, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefly-question-where-did-the-image-of-river-in-a-box-come-from/613670/23 "2012-02-26T22:10:19Z")

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> [@FinnAgain](#):
>
> “naked teenage girl in suspended animation, in a box”, somewhat less so.

As I said, when an image is so very popular, then it’s not surprising to see it come up in lots of different circumstances, including in suspended animation in a box.

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