Dollhouse episodes 5 & 6
Dec. 8th, 2009 11:11 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
seriousficYou know, if you interpret the Dollhouse as the Patriarchy, this episode is saying that feminism (a wronged woman standing up to her oppressors, a man and a woman in a relationship of equals) is just another tool of the Patriarchy (which isn’t so bad BTW, since misogynists are oh so pretty and clever) and that the only way to go is to be in the Patriarchy, using sexist devices (i.e. Eliza Dushku in a dominatrix outfit) to make a vague, not-at-all hypocritical point. Look at our sexy, sexy rape victims, this fall on Fox.
It’s actually stated that Echo has the power of making men love/protect her, thus accounting for Topher, (relax, he’s just ‘friends’ with her) Ballard, and Alpha. I think we can call that ‘looking for Eliza Dushku’. But seriously, Whedon, a female character who inspires love in men with her goodness? WTF is going on with you? And isn't your second season a little late to be trying to make Caroline interesting?
Two seasons in and the only halfway healthy relationship has turned out to be a Doll and his evil handler. Y’know, Joss, most people get over their parents’ divorce.
Likewise, Perrin turning his back on the Dollhouse’s victims and getting in bed with his own rapists because he couldn’t handle inadvertently killing his evil fake wife? Major cop-out. And predictable, since Whedon already spoiled the end of his own show. She pretty much did everything to eat a baby to show she was evil and he still went "OMG I CANNOT LIVE WITH BLOOD ON MY HANDS!" Why can none of these people (looking at you too, Sierra) man up and accept having bad memories as the price of stopping the rape of themselves and others? Is it to keep Echo as the extra-special snowflake? God, this is the one show on TV where my reaction is "I wish the rape victims would be less wussy." Joss Whedon is my master now.[/sarcasm]
(I wrote that tag and it just didn't work, you might see some sarcasm coming on. So sorry.)
So now knocking Echo around is a surefire way to get Echo online? What is she, an analog TV? The Incredible Hulk?
Hey, how many times is this now that Echo has broken her programming and gone rogue? Is there supposed to be some tension that the Dollhouse will find out, because all they seem to punish her with is less sprinkles on her ice cream.
Summer Glau playing a crazy babbling girl? Shocker. At first I thought they were going to riff on her type-casting, since it’s Whedon, but that was Buffy!Whedon and this is Dollhouse!Whedon, so Glau is just playing evil River with extra Howard Hughes. And not even good evil. Diet evil. Just one calorie, not evil enough. And did we really need all the Bond villain tics and quirks to let us know she was cra-cra? She’s attracted to Topher, of course she’s a psycho.
The show really missed its chance to rake Ballard over the coals with November. He gets to go “I didn’t know you were a doll” about their sex life, ignoring the time(s) he totally did know. She should’ve called him on that and that should've been the reason she told him to eff off, since it would have given Ballard's dick move some real repercussions in having her mistrust him, instead of "stupid woman should've listened to a man she barely knows and suspects of rape". If you’re going to give us flawed characters, show, can you at least own their faults?
They actually give Echo the line “Your bad guys are badder than my bad guys.” I thought Whedon wrote for Marvel Comics, not Image. And I don’t see any difference in the two houses. What, does Summer Glau spit on the dolls after they’re sent out to be raped and used? Does Topher give the dolls a lolly after he painfully experiments on them, JESUS? (Thanks for standing there and doing nothing while blood gushed out a woman’s nose, Paul. I’d say he’s a satire of the Nice Guy, but this whole show is a Nice Guy).
It’s actually stated that Echo has the power of making men love/protect her, thus accounting for Topher, (relax, he’s just ‘friends’ with her) Ballard, and Alpha. I think we can call that ‘looking for Eliza Dushku’. But seriously, Whedon, a female character who inspires love in men with her goodness? WTF is going on with you? And isn't your second season a little late to be trying to make Caroline interesting?
Two seasons in and the only halfway healthy relationship has turned out to be a Doll and his evil handler. Y’know, Joss, most people get over their parents’ divorce.
Likewise, Perrin turning his back on the Dollhouse’s victims and getting in bed with his own rapists because he couldn’t handle inadvertently killing his evil fake wife? Major cop-out. And predictable, since Whedon already spoiled the end of his own show. She pretty much did everything to eat a baby to show she was evil and he still went "OMG I CANNOT LIVE WITH BLOOD ON MY HANDS!" Why can none of these people (looking at you too, Sierra) man up and accept having bad memories as the price of stopping the rape of themselves and others? Is it to keep Echo as the extra-special snowflake? God, this is the one show on TV where my reaction is "I wish the rape victims would be less wussy." Joss Whedon is my master now.[/sarcasm]
(I wrote that tag and it just didn't work, you might see some sarcasm coming on. So sorry.)
So now knocking Echo around is a surefire way to get Echo online? What is she, an analog TV? The Incredible Hulk?
Hey, how many times is this now that Echo has broken her programming and gone rogue? Is there supposed to be some tension that the Dollhouse will find out, because all they seem to punish her with is less sprinkles on her ice cream.
Summer Glau playing a crazy babbling girl? Shocker. At first I thought they were going to riff on her type-casting, since it’s Whedon, but that was Buffy!Whedon and this is Dollhouse!Whedon, so Glau is just playing evil River with extra Howard Hughes. And not even good evil. Diet evil. Just one calorie, not evil enough. And did we really need all the Bond villain tics and quirks to let us know she was cra-cra? She’s attracted to Topher, of course she’s a psycho.
The show really missed its chance to rake Ballard over the coals with November. He gets to go “I didn’t know you were a doll” about their sex life, ignoring the time(s) he totally did know. She should’ve called him on that and that should've been the reason she told him to eff off, since it would have given Ballard's dick move some real repercussions in having her mistrust him, instead of "stupid woman should've listened to a man she barely knows and suspects of rape". If you’re going to give us flawed characters, show, can you at least own their faults?
They actually give Echo the line “Your bad guys are badder than my bad guys.” I thought Whedon wrote for Marvel Comics, not Image. And I don’t see any difference in the two houses. What, does Summer Glau spit on the dolls after they’re sent out to be raped and used? Does Topher give the dolls a lolly after he painfully experiments on them, JESUS? (Thanks for standing there and doing nothing while blood gushed out a woman’s nose, Paul. I’d say he’s a satire of the Nice Guy, but this whole show is a Nice Guy).
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no subject
Date: 2009-12-08 07:26 pm (UTC)Amazingly, that was my WTF? moment of the episode. Because, really, Echo's 'bad guys' are NO DIFFERENT and had she actually acknowledged that and maybe, I don't know, gone the route of 'I can manipulate my bad guys' which is what Caroline/Echo's supposed to be doing, it might have made me not want to hit her in the head with a mallet. So yeah, after 18 episodes, the premise of 'women overthrow their partriarchal oppressors.. um, eventually' wears a little thin.
Summer Glau playing a crazy babbling girl? Shocker.
Lol, poor Glau. I think the only time she's been cast as a normal person was for the movie Mammoth. Barring the whole Glau plays crazy (again), I did like the introduction of her as Caroline's nemesis of sorts. Something that should have happened about 12 episodes ago because, good grief, 18 episodes in is kinda late to be doing important backstory ON YOUR LEAD!!
no subject
Date: 2009-12-08 09:38 pm (UTC)I was kinda disappointed.
But it looks like I saved myself a lot of WTFing.
no subject
Date: 2009-12-09 02:49 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-12-12 09:28 am (UTC)