The new series Dollhouse is off to a slow start. Many have complained that this really isn’t the Joss Whedon quality we are accustomed to. I wasn’t hot about the first episode, but with each week the show is getting progressively more interesting. Press reports and reviews are hinting that the March 20 (written by Whedon) and other near future episodes are awesome and shouldn’t be missed. If you weren’t watching the show before, now is the time to start.
The program’s protagonist is Echo, who works as and Active (also called a Doll). An Active is a person that can have their personalities wiped and can be imprinted with a new persona and skill set. These Dolls can be hostage negotiators, backup singing bodyguards, master thieves or blind cult members. People come to the Dollhouse if they have a problem and the Active is given the personality and skills to complete some objective. The Actives have voluntarily chosen this lot in life, although there is an element of slavery here, it has a more pronounced prostitution vibe. Echo and the other Dolls are slowly becoming self-aware and start to inch their way out of this mandated conformity.
Dollhouse works on many levels, on the surface you can view the program as procedural—Echo is needed for X, therefore she is programmed for Y to solve X and wackiness ensues. But when you examine it at a more critical angle, you find that it is a story of domination and a powerful institution that can turn you into anything they want you to be.
Other works of Whedon are stories that are often framed from a critical theory perspective. Critical theory is the study of oppressive practices that need to be changed. The examination of power in many forms is just one theme that is evident throughout the Whedonverse.
Many scholars and critics see Buffy the Vampire Slayer as a feminist narrative, as a young woman is underestimated by society and many patriarchal institutions (school, government, military, Watcher’s Council) and yet she is full of inner strength and physical power. Buffy doesn’t fit within these established structures and some of the show’s drama comes from this tension. Although on the surface, she fits the hegemonic notion of what a girl should be (attractive, thin, enjoys shopping and cute boys), Buffy is much more than what is expected. She is not a perfect feminist icon and that is part of what makes her story so compelling.
On Angel, the misuse of legal and corporate power is shown through the institution of Wolfram and Hart. In seasons 1 through 4, Angel fights against the employees and actions of this evil law firm. We learn that Wolfram and Hart is an organization that doesn’t care about people or justice, since they are too busy working on gaining more power. The 5th and final season of Angel, we see him working inside Wolfram and Hart. We see through this storyline that power is seductive and even those with the best intentions can be corrupted through corporations. This is illustrated in surface and metaphorical ways. Characters in the narrative mention that Angel has become a corporate puppet through his role at Wolfram and Hart, later in the season he literally becomes a puppet, with a felt body and a tear away nose. The character of Fred is also a victim to the corporation, as she is hollowed out and becomes a “shell” of the person she once was as she is transformed into the demon, Illyria. The Angel series finale is about battling a big bad institutionally based power structure, even though chances of winning are small. The goal isn’t to win; it is to show the powerful that heroes don’t back down-- they fight.
The series Firefly and the movie Serenity also share this critical theory theme. The Alliance is the most oppressive power in the ‘verse. There was a war and the Browncoats fought against the Alliance, the characters of Mal and Zoe were soldiers fighting for independence. The Browncoats are seen as outsiders and are subjected by the powerful Alliance and are forced out into outer planets or the margins of society. The character of River was used as a subject by unethical Alliance doctors and scientists to mold her into the ultimate weapon; this was all done without her consent. In the movie Serenity, they find out how Reevers (cannibalistic and animalistic people) were created. The people on the planet Miranda were given a drug to make them peaceful, compliant and non-aggressive. This made most of the population super lazy and they eventually just died because they gave up. A tiny segment of the population had the opposite effect to the medication and turned into the ultra violent Reevers. The Alliance denies all knowledge of this and worked hard to cover it up.
One thematic undercurrent of Dr. Horrible’s Sing a Long Blog is making societal changes. All of the main characters strive to make changes in the world, through computer mediated communication (Dr. Horrible/ Billy’s Blog), community activism (Penny’s work with the homeless) and arrogant heroism (Captain Hammer’s good deeds). Dr. Horrible talks a lot about unequal power structures. In one of his first blog post he makes these goals for social change known, “it’s not about making money. It’s about taking money. Destroying the status quo, because the status is not quo. The world is a mess and I just need to rule it.” He also has a distain for the corporate system. In the first act he sings, “all that matters, taking matters into your own hands. Soon I’ll control everything my wish is your command.” He calls Captain Hammer a “corporate tool” as he represents conformity, militarism and traditional forms of masculinity. In a conversation with Penny, Billy tells her about his worldview, “I’m talking about an overhaul of the system. Putting the power in different hands.”
In Dollhouse, the corporate machine molds the Actives into personas that have a functional purpose. The first 5 episode shows a world where everything and anything is for sale. The clients of the Dollhouse pay for their services and the more life threatening the task, the more they can charge for it. Ethics and morals are out the window where people are products, the ultimate sign of corporate greed and human comodification. In the real world, it seems like overly capitalist corporate interests are not the least bit humanistic and the Dollhouse echoes this philosophy. Many of the employees at the Dollhouse have no problem with this as they view the Actives not as people, but as tools to accomplish a task. Laurence Dominic is worried that Adelle DeWitt, the manager of the Dollhouse, likes Echo. That is that some part of her acknowledges Echo’s humanity and that is dangerous. Other characters like Boyd Langton, Echo’s handler/mentor has true affectation for her and desperately cares for her well being.
The concept of Dollhouse can be used to play out some existential dilemmas through a television narrative. Dollhouse brings up some thought provoking ideas about what makes a person a person and shows a dystopian universe where people are transformed into human robots. In the Doll’s non-working states, they are childlike and docile and they can never assert any agency or uniqueness. Anything that is unseemly or problematic is taken out as a measure of control. People are dehumanized when freedom of choice and thought are taken away and shows that even in the harshest dictatorships the soul or strength of the human condition can prevail as the Dolls have shown glimpses of individuality even with this level of repression. The mysterious Alpha, a rouge Active, went into a murderous rage (I think we’ll find more about this on Friday’s episode), but others are showing other signs of defiance (Victor’s feelings towards Sierra and Echo’s unpredictableness during missions).
Even though I haven’t been wowed yet, Dollhouse is an interesting concept that can bring up lots of thought provoking scenarios. I’m waiting to see how this season evolves, before I decide if it is worthy of the Whedon cannon.
The program’s protagonist is Echo, who works as and Active (also called a Doll). An Active is a person that can have their personalities wiped and can be imprinted with a new persona and skill set. These Dolls can be hostage negotiators, backup singing bodyguards, master thieves or blind cult members. People come to the Dollhouse if they have a problem and the Active is given the personality and skills to complete some objective. The Actives have voluntarily chosen this lot in life, although there is an element of slavery here, it has a more pronounced prostitution vibe. Echo and the other Dolls are slowly becoming self-aware and start to inch their way out of this mandated conformity.
Dollhouse works on many levels, on the surface you can view the program as procedural—Echo is needed for X, therefore she is programmed for Y to solve X and wackiness ensues. But when you examine it at a more critical angle, you find that it is a story of domination and a powerful institution that can turn you into anything they want you to be.
Other works of Whedon are stories that are often framed from a critical theory perspective. Critical theory is the study of oppressive practices that need to be changed. The examination of power in many forms is just one theme that is evident throughout the Whedonverse.
Many scholars and critics see Buffy the Vampire Slayer as a feminist narrative, as a young woman is underestimated by society and many patriarchal institutions (school, government, military, Watcher’s Council) and yet she is full of inner strength and physical power. Buffy doesn’t fit within these established structures and some of the show’s drama comes from this tension. Although on the surface, she fits the hegemonic notion of what a girl should be (attractive, thin, enjoys shopping and cute boys), Buffy is much more than what is expected. She is not a perfect feminist icon and that is part of what makes her story so compelling.
On Angel, the misuse of legal and corporate power is shown through the institution of Wolfram and Hart. In seasons 1 through 4, Angel fights against the employees and actions of this evil law firm. We learn that Wolfram and Hart is an organization that doesn’t care about people or justice, since they are too busy working on gaining more power. The 5th and final season of Angel, we see him working inside Wolfram and Hart. We see through this storyline that power is seductive and even those with the best intentions can be corrupted through corporations. This is illustrated in surface and metaphorical ways. Characters in the narrative mention that Angel has become a corporate puppet through his role at Wolfram and Hart, later in the season he literally becomes a puppet, with a felt body and a tear away nose. The character of Fred is also a victim to the corporation, as she is hollowed out and becomes a “shell” of the person she once was as she is transformed into the demon, Illyria. The Angel series finale is about battling a big bad institutionally based power structure, even though chances of winning are small. The goal isn’t to win; it is to show the powerful that heroes don’t back down-- they fight.
The series Firefly and the movie Serenity also share this critical theory theme. The Alliance is the most oppressive power in the ‘verse. There was a war and the Browncoats fought against the Alliance, the characters of Mal and Zoe were soldiers fighting for independence. The Browncoats are seen as outsiders and are subjected by the powerful Alliance and are forced out into outer planets or the margins of society. The character of River was used as a subject by unethical Alliance doctors and scientists to mold her into the ultimate weapon; this was all done without her consent. In the movie Serenity, they find out how Reevers (cannibalistic and animalistic people) were created. The people on the planet Miranda were given a drug to make them peaceful, compliant and non-aggressive. This made most of the population super lazy and they eventually just died because they gave up. A tiny segment of the population had the opposite effect to the medication and turned into the ultra violent Reevers. The Alliance denies all knowledge of this and worked hard to cover it up.
One thematic undercurrent of Dr. Horrible’s Sing a Long Blog is making societal changes. All of the main characters strive to make changes in the world, through computer mediated communication (Dr. Horrible/ Billy’s Blog), community activism (Penny’s work with the homeless) and arrogant heroism (Captain Hammer’s good deeds). Dr. Horrible talks a lot about unequal power structures. In one of his first blog post he makes these goals for social change known, “it’s not about making money. It’s about taking money. Destroying the status quo, because the status is not quo. The world is a mess and I just need to rule it.” He also has a distain for the corporate system. In the first act he sings, “all that matters, taking matters into your own hands. Soon I’ll control everything my wish is your command.” He calls Captain Hammer a “corporate tool” as he represents conformity, militarism and traditional forms of masculinity. In a conversation with Penny, Billy tells her about his worldview, “I’m talking about an overhaul of the system. Putting the power in different hands.”
In Dollhouse, the corporate machine molds the Actives into personas that have a functional purpose. The first 5 episode shows a world where everything and anything is for sale. The clients of the Dollhouse pay for their services and the more life threatening the task, the more they can charge for it. Ethics and morals are out the window where people are products, the ultimate sign of corporate greed and human comodification. In the real world, it seems like overly capitalist corporate interests are not the least bit humanistic and the Dollhouse echoes this philosophy. Many of the employees at the Dollhouse have no problem with this as they view the Actives not as people, but as tools to accomplish a task. Laurence Dominic is worried that Adelle DeWitt, the manager of the Dollhouse, likes Echo. That is that some part of her acknowledges Echo’s humanity and that is dangerous. Other characters like Boyd Langton, Echo’s handler/mentor has true affectation for her and desperately cares for her well being.
The concept of Dollhouse can be used to play out some existential dilemmas through a television narrative. Dollhouse brings up some thought provoking ideas about what makes a person a person and shows a dystopian universe where people are transformed into human robots. In the Doll’s non-working states, they are childlike and docile and they can never assert any agency or uniqueness. Anything that is unseemly or problematic is taken out as a measure of control. People are dehumanized when freedom of choice and thought are taken away and shows that even in the harshest dictatorships the soul or strength of the human condition can prevail as the Dolls have shown glimpses of individuality even with this level of repression. The mysterious Alpha, a rouge Active, went into a murderous rage (I think we’ll find more about this on Friday’s episode), but others are showing other signs of defiance (Victor’s feelings towards Sierra and Echo’s unpredictableness during missions).
Even though I haven’t been wowed yet, Dollhouse is an interesting concept that can bring up lots of thought provoking scenarios. I’m waiting to see how this season evolves, before I decide if it is worthy of the Whedon cannon.
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4 comments:
Natalie: Enjoyed your musings on Dollhouse et al and found several interesting points and nice interweavings of show concerns. I've been looking at episode by episode points on livejournal (whedongeek1.livejournal.com) if you'd like to look at/comment on those. I've been thinking Dollhouse fits with the issue of (mis)use of power, too. I hope the episode tonight will be more Whedonesque.... Tamy B. also had some great points on the SW/TX SciFi pages on Facebook in the Dollhouse area.
Hi Natalie: I agree with whedongeek - you're very nicely articulated some of the great thematic connections between Whedon's shows. I've been writing on Firefly this week and thinking a lot about issues of power, abusive power structures, etc. Are you more wowed now that you've seen ep 6?
Whedongeek, thanks for your comment. The power issue is just one thing that you think about and it is all over the Whedonverse. It is the magic of Joss, you pick a theme and you can find it everywhere.
I checked out your stuff on Live Journal and it was very good. Tamy made some interesting points as well. I need to re read and will make comments real soon.
I wanted to post this before I saw episode 6 (it was awesome).
Thanks Tamy!
I love to look for connections in all of Whedon’s shows.
After I saw episode six I was wowed. I wish they would’ve done some of this stuff earlier in the season.
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