laceblade | Dollhouse, 2.4

Watching Topher Brink suffer through his "moral crises" is like listening to Whoopi Goldberg struggle to explicate the difference between "rape" and "rape-rape."

Other people have already written extensively about why this ~~episode~~ show is made of fail.

I don't really feel the need to justify my continuing to watch it. Every week it's like another dose of, "Okay, so who mind-wiped Joss Whedon?" It's almost fascinating to watch. Also, at some point in the future, I intend to make a post analyzing why people only value the opinions of others regarding TV shows/books/etc. if the person has question has "seen all of it." Clearly, in order for someone's opinon to matter, they must have seen every single episode, or read every page, etc. This was a key component in the breakdown of RaceFail: people's opinions being undervalued because they were not informed "enough." Fandom is a really weird place. But back to Dollhouse.

It's almost hilarious to read other people accuse those of us who critique the show scramble, saying that we're "missing the subtext" or "we're trying to find the worst in this show."
I hate to brag (okay, that's a lie, I love to brag), but I've been reading at a college level since the 5th grade and I chose English as one of my majors at one of the best public universities in the world*. I'm not missing any subtleties here, and in fact I am trying really hard to like the show, because in the past I have adore Whedon-shows. Don't insult with me any excuses, people. My critique is valid. Everyone's critiques are valid.

Mostly it's unsettling because Buffy means a lot to me, and I'm wondering increasingly whether it meant anything to Mr. Whedon, or if he was just trying to sell an image.

*And another point of future analysis! How come people like me always defend their critiques as valid by pointing to their education? WTF does that matter? Arguing amongst geeks: Results in annoying habits.

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Dude, what you said. I walk right away from conversations about Dollhouse when someone says my opinion doesn't count because I haven't seen it all. SO WEIRD. Also, if this is the ep about Sierra, I have read a lot of reactions about it and it sounds pretty heinous. What the hell kind of story are they trying to sell?

Also, did you see that Dollhouse is on the cover of Curve??

That *really* threw me, the cover of one of the biggest lesbian magazines! What are they thinking!

(edited to embed image)

One would think that the episode is about Sierra, because she's in most of the scenes and the episode reveals her backstory.

In fact, the episode is about Topher and HIS angst about Sierra being a doll [it was totally okay when he thought she was a paranoid schizophrenic, because apparently raping disabled people is helping them....but when he found out that she was not a paranoid schizophrenic, IT WAS NO LONGER OKAY!].

Dollhouse being on the cover of Curve is EXTREMELY WTF.

Are you suggesting that all lesbians are feminists? Because basing someone's philosophic views on their sexual orientation seems...inaccurate.

I'm just saying.

The show portrays absolutely 0 queer people in a positive way. At least, that was most of the source of my own WTF.

Edited 2009-11-02 12:55 (UTC)

My critique is valid. Everyone's critiques are valid.
I hate when this kind of weapon is used in debates. It's rude and disrespectful and far too easy.

Mostly it's unsettling because Buffy means a lot to me, and I'm wondering increasingly whether it meant anything to Mr. Whedon, or if he was just trying to sell an image.

I don't think that Dollhouse's stumbles/problems mean that his other work lacks merit. Feminists fail sometimes, sadly, and he's long been committed to producing work that critiques societies, structures, roles, and the like. Buffy meant/means a lot to me too. Though I haven't worked out everything I think and feel about Dollhouse, I understand everyone's criticisms and appreciate the fact that Whedon has this following: these smart critics who won't even let an inspiration like Whedon pass through without a healthy dose of analysis. I guess, I just want to say that he may have made a mistake (or many) with this show, but that it does not negate his other work. It can't. I mean, he's had a long history of producing solid, complex, and charged work that pushes the envelope so subtly that people didn't really notice right away (well, by people, i mean the masses, you know).

I will disagree, because I have the right to. And I will point out that pointing out that you've been reading at college level since you were in fifth grade is kind of hypocritical when you go on a tirade about people insisting upon defending their critiques by mentioning their education.

That out of the way though, I think that it's interesting to see so many critiques immediately point to Joss Whedon's 'feminism' and cry foul because one of his works doesn't follow their expectations.

To me, Dollhouse is a great narrative about a group of people who are involved in a seriously messed up situation. To me, the fact that the dolls are developing into 'people' is irrelevant. The show is about how those involved, who I would consider to be a fair representative of societal views, deal with the bastardised world that they have created.

In my recent recollection, I'm fairly sure that Joss has referred to himself more commonly as a humanist as opposed to a feminist, (a term I prefer to label myself as well) and as far as I'm concerned, the show brings to light moral and ethical issues that are not dealt with in everyday television. More than that, they're dealt with in ways that are not always politically correct. My perspective is clearly different to yours, but the thing that I love about Dollhouse is that when I watch it, my mind is constantly torn between whether the things that happen in the Dollhouse are okay or not. It's an interesting experiment in morals that occasionally I'm shocked at what I end up deciding.

I'm not well-versed in feminist philosophy, and I'm a devoted Whedon fan, but I think it's fair to say that when he screws up, I'm willing to admit it. I think the assertion that Buffy was purely a feminist text is flawed, and that academically, Dollhouse appeals to my brain at a much more significant level. To me, 'watching Topher suffer through his moral crisis' was a delight, because it demonstrated the struggle that those of us who live in a morally indefinite world go through on a regular basis. His of course was more extreme, but we live in a world built of shades of gray, not black and white, and to suggest otherwise would be a fallacy.

That's it. I'm done now.

'Tirade' is overly harsh. I take it back. Let's just go with 'you state'.

My tirade about people insisting upon defending their critiques by referencing their education was meant to be self-deprecating, but I understand that I didn't make that clear in the post.
It's a point I intend to return to in a later post, because I'd like to meditate on this fandom tendency of "you're not analyzing it in the right way unless you've seen every episode/are educated enough." I know that it's messed up.

Thanks for your view, though. With this post, I created a pretty hostile environment to express it, and I appreciate it. I'm still watching the show too, and hearing from people who are liking it and still analyzing it helps me reconcile in my mind why I continue to watch it each week.

It's hard for me personally to watch people struggle morally against a backdrop of human trafficking/rape, but perhaps in the future I'll try to be more concrete about what exactly bothers me.

[Also also, I totally agree that Buffy is not a purely feminist text.]

Dollhouse, 2.4

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