Finally watched the final episode of Dollhouse (a week late I know).
random thoughts:
Overall I was very pleased I thought it delved into some interesting issues and gave us resolution on some things (I liked the verbal and then visual backstory on Alpha's break).
Someone linked to a nice bit of meta about Dollhouse as a metaphor for consent (and I can't remember where I found the link, does anyone have it?). That's been swimming around my head for a while and I think it's a fascinating lens through which to consider the show. It was really driven home by Ballard and Boyd hunting for Echo. The two men who care for her both trying to save her while being complicit in her condition. I love how it shows the power of the institution, the one man outside the Dollhouse is so easily brought right into it.
Why did Ballard choose Echo and not Caroline to be set free (other than for practical reasons, if the show continues Eliza Dushku is the lead)? Because Echo is the no. 1 active? Because his hero narrative for Caroline was somehow compromised (even though he did catch "her")? So that she can remain in the Dollhouse and he can keep saving/protecting her like Boyd? Being in the Dollhouse might ultimately give him what he desires: not really her freedom, her autonomy, but the possibility to continue fixating on Echo/Caroline. And that is hella creepy. Another option might be that November reminds him of how he was manipulated, and then how he took knowing advantage of a doll. It'd be too hard to have *that* reality around him all the time, easier to have the fantasy of "perfect" Echo/Caroline.
I think the show poses the question is memory a necessary condition for abuse? If you don't remember what happened to your body (when you weren't even in your body so not your mind isn't just repressed, it's absent) does that count as abuse? While the Rossum company clearly lands on the "no" side the show says "yes" (see Echo/Omega's comment about slavery).
There also seems to be a willing ignorance of physical/body memory. Even if you don't remember something in your mind won't your legs instinctively kick, your hands instinctively move, your body flinch if you're touched a certain way after something traumatic happens? Can those memories really be erased? I'm not sure what to make of Ballard's soul comment but it seems that just plain structural differences in people's brains (not to mention hormones and other chemicals and whatever else) could have some effect on cognition or personality or something. (Neuroscientists do you buy the show's conceit?)
I like how the show dramatizes the intellectual division we make between mind and body. (Philosophy majors where are you? I feel like you would have a field day here.) I loved Caroline talking to the imprinted version of herself and then to Echo/Omega. But that post-knowledge version of Caroline is dead, the Caroline in the wedge never had that conversation. If we separate our mind and our body where do we reside? In earlier episodes (like the one with Adele's dead friend) it seemed to say that it's our mind, even if she existed as sort of a "ghost". But what if our body understands what's happening, and has some sort of global view of the situation like Echo/Omega? That "person" presumably also doesn't exist now, unless Topher created that wedge for research purposes. The show seems to be arguing that we have some sort of constant in us and that's the basis of our humanity. But that's as problematic as it romantic.
It creates some fascinating moral dilemas: if Echo's original Caroline wedge is destroyed who should reside in her body after her contract is up? If her body is destroyed should she be put in someone else's? What about Victor? When he's done his body can't be returned "as is". Should he get a new body? If there was a doll (a mechanical doll, not someone else's body) that could be imprinted would it be moral for Alpha to keep imprinting the mannequin with Caroline's memories in order to kill her over and over again. Would this be a "safe" way for him to act on his murderous impulses without killing "real" women, or would it be murder over and over again, even as Caroline's consciousness remained in the wedge never aware of it? (Also hella creepy.)
Another disturbing thought: how different (in kind, obviously different in extent) is Alpha's fixation on Echo as compared to Ballard's? (Or maybe also Boyd's although circumstances are slightly altered there.) Both are based solely on seeing her external physical self, both deem her as special and in need of saving. More creepy.
There has been some discussion about the first half of the season v. the second half. I agree that once we got into arc stuff I found it more interesting, but I still liked the first half. I've seen people say that it was creepy because we're seeing into Joss's kinks, but I think that it's broader than that. It seems like Joss was trying to hit general kinks. What kinds of things do 21st c. Americans want? What is socially unacceptable (shooting women in the woods) or seemingly lost (surprising the dead wife with the new house) or inconvenient/dangerous to do with real people (the cult compound)? What happens when the dolls do good (seemingly just for children). I just think Joss was externalizing his perception of a general societal ID and then showing us how closely that matches up with much of existing television (which is why we found it a little boring) and that boring quality and also the underlying creepy is very hooked in to the show's larger themes. (Plus we got a longer warm up to some of the major plot points and greater introduction to the characters which is always nice.)
Other stuff I liked:
-Alan Tudyk: evilcrazy (or crazyevil) Alan Tudyk, love! And he's still free so he can come back. More love!
-Whiskey's self-realization and the quiet rejection of her "original" self in favor of who she feels herself to be. Interesting that she questions Topher on why she is programmed to hate him, but not on her own self-hatred. Or are we supposed to see that as part of her newly developed self consciousness?![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
kass wrote that Whiskey hating Topher was an externalization of his own self hatred and I think that's right on.
-the moment when we see Ballard's saving November and not Echo. A genuine surprise and I was glad to see it.
-Whiskey/Dr. Ballard giving Victor the lollipop at the end. Poor Victor! Interesting to see Whiskey embracing the maternal/wise person role.
-What's up Echo touching Topher at the end? I really like Topher and hope we learn more about him.
-the creepiness of the underground lair and how the spiffiness and spa-like quality of the Dollhouse assuages guilt over what is happening there. It's harder to call it evil without the visual "evil" markers.
I have to say I missed Sierra in this episode. I wanted more of her and hope she's back next season.
I really hope there is a season 2!!!
random thoughts:
Overall I was very pleased I thought it delved into some interesting issues and gave us resolution on some things (I liked the verbal and then visual backstory on Alpha's break).
Someone linked to a nice bit of meta about Dollhouse as a metaphor for consent (and I can't remember where I found the link, does anyone have it?). That's been swimming around my head for a while and I think it's a fascinating lens through which to consider the show. It was really driven home by Ballard and Boyd hunting for Echo. The two men who care for her both trying to save her while being complicit in her condition. I love how it shows the power of the institution, the one man outside the Dollhouse is so easily brought right into it.
Why did Ballard choose Echo and not Caroline to be set free (other than for practical reasons, if the show continues Eliza Dushku is the lead)? Because Echo is the no. 1 active? Because his hero narrative for Caroline was somehow compromised (even though he did catch "her")? So that she can remain in the Dollhouse and he can keep saving/protecting her like Boyd? Being in the Dollhouse might ultimately give him what he desires: not really her freedom, her autonomy, but the possibility to continue fixating on Echo/Caroline. And that is hella creepy. Another option might be that November reminds him of how he was manipulated, and then how he took knowing advantage of a doll. It'd be too hard to have *that* reality around him all the time, easier to have the fantasy of "perfect" Echo/Caroline.
I think the show poses the question is memory a necessary condition for abuse? If you don't remember what happened to your body (when you weren't even in your body so not your mind isn't just repressed, it's absent) does that count as abuse? While the Rossum company clearly lands on the "no" side the show says "yes" (see Echo/Omega's comment about slavery).
There also seems to be a willing ignorance of physical/body memory. Even if you don't remember something in your mind won't your legs instinctively kick, your hands instinctively move, your body flinch if you're touched a certain way after something traumatic happens? Can those memories really be erased? I'm not sure what to make of Ballard's soul comment but it seems that just plain structural differences in people's brains (not to mention hormones and other chemicals and whatever else) could have some effect on cognition or personality or something. (Neuroscientists do you buy the show's conceit?)
I like how the show dramatizes the intellectual division we make between mind and body. (Philosophy majors where are you? I feel like you would have a field day here.) I loved Caroline talking to the imprinted version of herself and then to Echo/Omega. But that post-knowledge version of Caroline is dead, the Caroline in the wedge never had that conversation. If we separate our mind and our body where do we reside? In earlier episodes (like the one with Adele's dead friend) it seemed to say that it's our mind, even if she existed as sort of a "ghost". But what if our body understands what's happening, and has some sort of global view of the situation like Echo/Omega? That "person" presumably also doesn't exist now, unless Topher created that wedge for research purposes. The show seems to be arguing that we have some sort of constant in us and that's the basis of our humanity. But that's as problematic as it romantic.
It creates some fascinating moral dilemas: if Echo's original Caroline wedge is destroyed who should reside in her body after her contract is up? If her body is destroyed should she be put in someone else's? What about Victor? When he's done his body can't be returned "as is". Should he get a new body? If there was a doll (a mechanical doll, not someone else's body) that could be imprinted would it be moral for Alpha to keep imprinting the mannequin with Caroline's memories in order to kill her over and over again. Would this be a "safe" way for him to act on his murderous impulses without killing "real" women, or would it be murder over and over again, even as Caroline's consciousness remained in the wedge never aware of it? (Also hella creepy.)
Another disturbing thought: how different (in kind, obviously different in extent) is Alpha's fixation on Echo as compared to Ballard's? (Or maybe also Boyd's although circumstances are slightly altered there.) Both are based solely on seeing her external physical self, both deem her as special and in need of saving. More creepy.
There has been some discussion about the first half of the season v. the second half. I agree that once we got into arc stuff I found it more interesting, but I still liked the first half. I've seen people say that it was creepy because we're seeing into Joss's kinks, but I think that it's broader than that. It seems like Joss was trying to hit general kinks. What kinds of things do 21st c. Americans want? What is socially unacceptable (shooting women in the woods) or seemingly lost (surprising the dead wife with the new house) or inconvenient/dangerous to do with real people (the cult compound)? What happens when the dolls do good (seemingly just for children). I just think Joss was externalizing his perception of a general societal ID and then showing us how closely that matches up with much of existing television (which is why we found it a little boring) and that boring quality and also the underlying creepy is very hooked in to the show's larger themes. (Plus we got a longer warm up to some of the major plot points and greater introduction to the characters which is always nice.)
Other stuff I liked:
-Alan Tudyk: evilcrazy (or crazyevil) Alan Tudyk, love! And he's still free so he can come back. More love!
-Whiskey's self-realization and the quiet rejection of her "original" self in favor of who she feels herself to be. Interesting that she questions Topher on why she is programmed to hate him, but not on her own self-hatred. Or are we supposed to see that as part of her newly developed self consciousness?
kass wrote that Whiskey hating Topher was an externalization of his own self hatred and I think that's right on.-the moment when we see Ballard's saving November and not Echo. A genuine surprise and I was glad to see it.
-Whiskey/Dr. Ballard giving Victor the lollipop at the end. Poor Victor! Interesting to see Whiskey embracing the maternal/wise person role.
-What's up Echo touching Topher at the end? I really like Topher and hope we learn more about him.
-the creepiness of the underground lair and how the spiffiness and spa-like quality of the Dollhouse assuages guilt over what is happening there. It's harder to call it evil without the visual "evil" markers.
I have to say I missed Sierra in this episode. I wanted more of her and hope she's back next season.
I really hope there is a season 2!!!
Tags:
From:
no subject
From:
no subject