Dollhouse thoughts
May. 8th, 2009 11:48 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
meganbmooreSo, I thought LJ gave you a few more icons when you renewed your paid account? I just renewed and they didn’t! I had icons picked out and everything! Anyway…
So, tonight is the season finale of Dollhouse. When the first episode aired, I mentioned that the series, while deeply problematic, had a lot of my narrative kinks. This remains true, though the problems have only intensified. In the early, Rapist of the Week driven episodes, the series had a moderate amount of self-awareness, though this self-awareness manifested itself as “you know this is wrong and we know this is wrong, and since you know that we know it’s wrong, it’s ok for us to go ahead with it full force.” Once we reached the magical episode 6 where we supposedly got past the Fox mandated episodes and to what Whedon and Co. really wanted to do, however, that limited self-awareness started deteriorating. Yes, it’s wrong, and they know it’s wrong, but the series is so caught up in sending A Message and showing how utterly fascinating this makes people that, by episode 9, the self-awareness was pretty much completely gone. (Which is a pity, because a better approach and handling could make this premise kinda awesome.) It’s also a case of taking shades of grey way too far. Buffy and Angel? Had shades of grey and complex characters. Ditto for Firefly. Dollhouse’s characters may be complex, but it’s so busy making them complex that it’s difficult to really have anything solid on the characters.
Anyway, thoughts on two points, specifically, why I can’t convince that we aren’t supposed to like and sympathize certain characters, and where the show seems to be going with the actives in the finale. This includes spoilers for all of Dollhouse and the last two seasons of Buffy and Angel.
Disclaimer: I love both Buffy and Angel. Doesn’t mean they’re perfect.
Regarding whether or not we’re supposed to like Boyd and Topher, or still see Ballard as a good guy: You know, I want to agree that we aren’t, but there are several things that stop me based on past history:
1. Spike was still the love interest. In season six of Buffy, Spike attempts to rape Buffy in her bathroom after she tells him she doesn’t want anything else to do with him. In season seven, he’s still presented as a love interest, and his narrative all but overtakes Buffy’s own. I’m not talking about what it meant in terms of Spike’s character arc or whether or not he stopped himself or the fact that they had a sexual relationship in the past or whether Spike’s a good character or loved Buffy or if Buffy still had feelings for or wanted him. I’m talking about the fact that a man entered a woman’s home, assaulted her in her bathroom and attempted to force her to have sex with him, thinking it would convince her that she wanted to. And that, later, he was still presented as a valid love interest.
2. Andrew was crashing at Buffy’s and in charge of Slayers. In season 6, Andrew is introduced as Warren Mears’sboyfriend flunky, who, IIRC, are introduced turning Warren’s ex-girlfriend into their brainwashed sex toy. Cue a season of the trio hatching increasingly misogynistic plots against Buffy, until Warren murders Tara while trying to kill Buffy, and Andrew and Jonathan, the other member of the Trio, flee. In season 7, Andrew returns, hits rock bottom, then gets the character growth arc until, by necessity, he he’s a tentative member of Buffy’s inner circle by the end of the season. Then we get to season 5 of Angel, where he’s staying with Buffy and Dawn and Europe and apparently gets to boss around a couple dozen Slayers. Again, I’m not talking about Andrew as a character or whether or not he grew or redeemed himself. I’m talking about the fact that, within 2 years of being an active participant in using a brainwashed woman as a toy, Andrew is a part of Buffy’s inner circle and granted some degree of authority over young Slayers.
3. Ballard is Xander. Most people won’t agree with me on this or even see where I’m coming from, simply because, well, most people love Xander. I hate him. He is, honestly, the only Buffyverse character I can be said to truly despise. In early seasons, I found him dull and sometimes tolerably funny, but could at least understand why people liked him, even if I couldn’t see it myself. Then we got to the part where he said the woman he dumped at the altar was filth and subhuman because she (AFTER the altar dumping) had sex with someone he didn’t like, then turned on the woman who had repeatedly made it clear that her romantic and sex life was none of his business and acted like she had cheated on him. Not to mention that just before that, he was beating on a person who literally could not fight back, thanks to the chip Xander knew about perfectly well. At that point, I fail to see how anyone could possibly still like him. (Defenses of Xander will be ignored. I’ve heard them before and they only make me think about how a female character who did the same would instantly become the most hated character in the fandom.) Anyway, needless to say, the Xander in my head is a hateful, judgmental jerk. And when Ballard talks about Caroline and the Dollhouse and treats Mellie badly, I hear Xander judging everyone who doesn’t fit his exactly standards and letting people badmouth his girlfriend while barely putting up a token protest and his constantly judging Buffy’s love life and his not noticing Willow as an attractive girl until they were both dating other people.
#3 I know most won’t agree with me on. I mostly put it out there in hopes that it will help people understand why I can’t be convinced we’re still meant to see Ballard as a good guy. But can you really look at the first two and dismiss the idea that, yes, we really are supposed to like these characters?
Then there’s the idea of a composite, and the Echo who woke up at the end of episode 11. When the idea of a composite was first introduced, I loved it. At the time, however, I was thinking of a composite in terms of the original person retaining the skills and knowledge of imprints. Now, however, it looks like a composite is actually created entirely of remnants of the various imprints, and that’s probably the Echo we saw at the end of episode 11.
Those remnants? Are leftovers of the tools used to victimize, objectify and exploit the person the body belongs to. Caroline’s body belongs to Caroline. Priya’s body belongs to Priya. Sam’s body belongs to Sam. These are the three Dolls whose origins with the Dollhouse we know. Caroline was hunted for two years and, as far as we know, given no other choice. Priya was sold to the Dollhouse. Sam was given “sign up or get disappeared.” Even if you can argue that signing the contract is permanent consent (which is like saying that saying sex with someone once gives them the right to do whatever they want with your body, whenever they want) NONE OF THEM can be said to have truly consented to joining the Dollhouse, because none had any other choice. And so, if the person who woke up in episode 11 is not Caroline, or if Echo is a being composed of remnants of the imprints, that means that the heroine of the tale is not Caroline, the activist who wanted to do everything, but an entity created through Caroline’s exploitation and victimization.
Don’t think there’s a precedent?
1. The demon made Cordy sleep with the closest thing she had to a kid so it could birth itself. In season 3 of Angel, Cordy’s visions are literally killing her, and she’s given the choice to give up the visions, which will reduce Angel’s ability to get to people who need help, or to become part demon so that her body will be able to withstand the visions. She chooses to become part demon. In season 4, we learn that the demon became Cordy. It’s stressed that she isn’t possessed, it now IS Cordy. And it wants a body of it’s own, so it has Cordy sleep with Angel’s son, Connor, to whom Cordy was essentially a mother to before he was abducted and taken to another dimension where he was raised to hate Angel and came back grown up and angsty. Oh, sorry. Digression. Anyway, there is “incest in all but blood” sexxoring, Cordy gets pregnant. Then she gives birth to a full blown Gina Torres and, now that the demon is through with her, she falls into a coma, coming back once in season 5 to set Angel back on the right track and then die.
2. Fred ceased to exist. Cordy was the first female lead of Angel. Then Fred came along and they were co-female leads, and then Cordy was in a coma and Fred was the female lead. So there’s this guy who works for them who worships an ancient demon named Illyria. He wants to bring his god back, and decides to honor Fred by having her body serve as a host for Illyria. Except Illyria can only take a body over by eliminating the host soul from existence. Again, it’s stressed that Fred does not die, that her body is not just possessed, her soul is extinguished. Winifred Burkle no longer exists. Yes, there are hints later on that Illyria either has Fred’s memories or incorporated bits of Fred into her, but the show ended with it still in effect that Fred ceased to exist. It doesn’t help that this happened immediately after Wes/Fred/Gunn was permanently resolved in a scene where Gunn effectively turns Fred over to Wes. Also note that the tool used to remove her from existence had no say in her murder or in possessing her body, just like in Dollhouse. (Yes, I like Illyria. I think everyone likes Illyria. That doesn’t make what they did to Fred any better.)
Can anyone really blame me for not having much faith in what’s going to be done in Dollhouse in this regard?
Do not post spoilers for the finale-including the trailer-in the comments. Do not warn for spoilers for the finale and then spoil. Yes, I do know what “I saw this in the trailer but I’ll pass it off as conjecture” looks like. Don’t do it.
So, tonight is the season finale of Dollhouse. When the first episode aired, I mentioned that the series, while deeply problematic, had a lot of my narrative kinks. This remains true, though the problems have only intensified. In the early, Rapist of the Week driven episodes, the series had a moderate amount of self-awareness, though this self-awareness manifested itself as “you know this is wrong and we know this is wrong, and since you know that we know it’s wrong, it’s ok for us to go ahead with it full force.” Once we reached the magical episode 6 where we supposedly got past the Fox mandated episodes and to what Whedon and Co. really wanted to do, however, that limited self-awareness started deteriorating. Yes, it’s wrong, and they know it’s wrong, but the series is so caught up in sending A Message and showing how utterly fascinating this makes people that, by episode 9, the self-awareness was pretty much completely gone. (Which is a pity, because a better approach and handling could make this premise kinda awesome.) It’s also a case of taking shades of grey way too far. Buffy and Angel? Had shades of grey and complex characters. Ditto for Firefly. Dollhouse’s characters may be complex, but it’s so busy making them complex that it’s difficult to really have anything solid on the characters.
Anyway, thoughts on two points, specifically, why I can’t convince that we aren’t supposed to like and sympathize certain characters, and where the show seems to be going with the actives in the finale. This includes spoilers for all of Dollhouse and the last two seasons of Buffy and Angel.
Disclaimer: I love both Buffy and Angel. Doesn’t mean they’re perfect.
Regarding whether or not we’re supposed to like Boyd and Topher, or still see Ballard as a good guy: You know, I want to agree that we aren’t, but there are several things that stop me based on past history:
1. Spike was still the love interest. In season six of Buffy, Spike attempts to rape Buffy in her bathroom after she tells him she doesn’t want anything else to do with him. In season seven, he’s still presented as a love interest, and his narrative all but overtakes Buffy’s own. I’m not talking about what it meant in terms of Spike’s character arc or whether or not he stopped himself or the fact that they had a sexual relationship in the past or whether Spike’s a good character or loved Buffy or if Buffy still had feelings for or wanted him. I’m talking about the fact that a man entered a woman’s home, assaulted her in her bathroom and attempted to force her to have sex with him, thinking it would convince her that she wanted to. And that, later, he was still presented as a valid love interest.
2. Andrew was crashing at Buffy’s and in charge of Slayers. In season 6, Andrew is introduced as Warren Mears’s
3. Ballard is Xander. Most people won’t agree with me on this or even see where I’m coming from, simply because, well, most people love Xander. I hate him. He is, honestly, the only Buffyverse character I can be said to truly despise. In early seasons, I found him dull and sometimes tolerably funny, but could at least understand why people liked him, even if I couldn’t see it myself. Then we got to the part where he said the woman he dumped at the altar was filth and subhuman because she (AFTER the altar dumping) had sex with someone he didn’t like, then turned on the woman who had repeatedly made it clear that her romantic and sex life was none of his business and acted like she had cheated on him. Not to mention that just before that, he was beating on a person who literally could not fight back, thanks to the chip Xander knew about perfectly well. At that point, I fail to see how anyone could possibly still like him. (Defenses of Xander will be ignored. I’ve heard them before and they only make me think about how a female character who did the same would instantly become the most hated character in the fandom.) Anyway, needless to say, the Xander in my head is a hateful, judgmental jerk. And when Ballard talks about Caroline and the Dollhouse and treats Mellie badly, I hear Xander judging everyone who doesn’t fit his exactly standards and letting people badmouth his girlfriend while barely putting up a token protest and his constantly judging Buffy’s love life and his not noticing Willow as an attractive girl until they were both dating other people.
#3 I know most won’t agree with me on. I mostly put it out there in hopes that it will help people understand why I can’t be convinced we’re still meant to see Ballard as a good guy. But can you really look at the first two and dismiss the idea that, yes, we really are supposed to like these characters?
Then there’s the idea of a composite, and the Echo who woke up at the end of episode 11. When the idea of a composite was first introduced, I loved it. At the time, however, I was thinking of a composite in terms of the original person retaining the skills and knowledge of imprints. Now, however, it looks like a composite is actually created entirely of remnants of the various imprints, and that’s probably the Echo we saw at the end of episode 11.
Those remnants? Are leftovers of the tools used to victimize, objectify and exploit the person the body belongs to. Caroline’s body belongs to Caroline. Priya’s body belongs to Priya. Sam’s body belongs to Sam. These are the three Dolls whose origins with the Dollhouse we know. Caroline was hunted for two years and, as far as we know, given no other choice. Priya was sold to the Dollhouse. Sam was given “sign up or get disappeared.” Even if you can argue that signing the contract is permanent consent (which is like saying that saying sex with someone once gives them the right to do whatever they want with your body, whenever they want) NONE OF THEM can be said to have truly consented to joining the Dollhouse, because none had any other choice. And so, if the person who woke up in episode 11 is not Caroline, or if Echo is a being composed of remnants of the imprints, that means that the heroine of the tale is not Caroline, the activist who wanted to do everything, but an entity created through Caroline’s exploitation and victimization.
Don’t think there’s a precedent?
1. The demon made Cordy sleep with the closest thing she had to a kid so it could birth itself. In season 3 of Angel, Cordy’s visions are literally killing her, and she’s given the choice to give up the visions, which will reduce Angel’s ability to get to people who need help, or to become part demon so that her body will be able to withstand the visions. She chooses to become part demon. In season 4, we learn that the demon became Cordy. It’s stressed that she isn’t possessed, it now IS Cordy. And it wants a body of it’s own, so it has Cordy sleep with Angel’s son, Connor, to whom Cordy was essentially a mother to before he was abducted and taken to another dimension where he was raised to hate Angel and came back grown up and angsty. Oh, sorry. Digression. Anyway, there is “incest in all but blood” sexxoring, Cordy gets pregnant. Then she gives birth to a full blown Gina Torres and, now that the demon is through with her, she falls into a coma, coming back once in season 5 to set Angel back on the right track and then die.
2. Fred ceased to exist. Cordy was the first female lead of Angel. Then Fred came along and they were co-female leads, and then Cordy was in a coma and Fred was the female lead. So there’s this guy who works for them who worships an ancient demon named Illyria. He wants to bring his god back, and decides to honor Fred by having her body serve as a host for Illyria. Except Illyria can only take a body over by eliminating the host soul from existence. Again, it’s stressed that Fred does not die, that her body is not just possessed, her soul is extinguished. Winifred Burkle no longer exists. Yes, there are hints later on that Illyria either has Fred’s memories or incorporated bits of Fred into her, but the show ended with it still in effect that Fred ceased to exist. It doesn’t help that this happened immediately after Wes/Fred/Gunn was permanently resolved in a scene where Gunn effectively turns Fred over to Wes. Also note that the tool used to remove her from existence had no say in her murder or in possessing her body, just like in Dollhouse. (Yes, I like Illyria. I think everyone likes Illyria. That doesn’t make what they did to Fred any better.)
Can anyone really blame me for not having much faith in what’s going to be done in Dollhouse in this regard?
Do not post spoilers for the finale-including the trailer-in the comments. Do not warn for spoilers for the finale and then spoil. Yes, I do know what “I saw this in the trailer but I’ll pass it off as conjecture” looks like. Don’t do it.