Feminst take on The Dollhouse
Ok so let me start with a few honest truths. I like The Dollhouse and I thought I wouldn't. I'm even beginning to lean towards the idea that the show is feminist friendly, thought I'm not quite there yet. And second truth there will be spoilers. Don't read farther if you haven't seen the first two shows and don't want it to be spoiled.
Cast and Creation of Dollhouse
Sometimes I see a show or an idea and wonder how can an actress have agreed to play that part. I know there's money, there's the whole I'm not portraying reality thing, and there's just a host of people who don't care of believe that there either is equality or that people should be treated differently, but still. Dunno some roles boggle me.
Watching the Dollhouse I knew right away why Eliza Dushku agreed to be Echo. While the backdrop of the Dollhouse might not be glamorous (in Echo's normal state she is a memory-less, thoughtless, feelingless, helpless, "child like" woman waiting for a call to transform into the fantasy girl) the part that gets most of the screen time kicks ass. I can see the pitch in my head. "So every episode I get to be a completely different character and I get to be seen as a highly capable actress from my varied roles on one show, sure, sign me up."
The biggest worry in a show like Dollhouse is that the females (and males, there seems to be an about proportionate number of male extras in the Dollhouse) will always be shown as some kind of freaky kinky sex objects. While the sex element is definately present, it becomes clear right way that most of these calls are not primarily about sex. Indeed we've only witnessed one after sex scene so far (though sex was implied in some flashback and set up calls) and directly afterward the client involved starts to go all "The Most Dangerous Game" on Echo.
Anyhow, the main point I wanted to get at in the cast section here is that while the character Echo has drawbacks, if I was an actress I'd see playing a role like that as largely empowering and a good career boost. It helps that while we only follow Echo's story, we do see other "dolls" and there really does seem to be a proportionate number of men and women in service.
In fact in almost every aspect of casting, I see an almost equal number of men to women. The owner of the dollhouse is female as is the docter while the brain swapper and the two body guards are male.
The two most dissappointing casting decisions (as far as men to women go) is that there seems to be no female police officers (plus the male officer that is hunting the dollhouse is a real dick) and there haven't been any female clients. With the client thing, I know we're following the story of Echo, a female call girl and I'd rather a hetero cast then a tacky excuse for hot lesbian girl on girl action that just boosts ratings. However, since it seems that Echo's calls are rarely (or at least the one featured are) about sex, how come we haven't seen at least a flashback of one female client? I suppose I need to let up a bit on that. Chances are good Josh Whedon will add that element in at least once.
If I had a major complaint about the casting, it's probably that while there is a lead POC in the mix, there really should be a bit more diversity. When you have a shuffle of extras like in Dollhouse, you really should show some different skin tones as well as genders. Is there really that much a higher demand for white men and women over any other color? Dunno, I've seen one other POC besides Harry Lenix, I think. It's possible she was while, I didn't see her very long and her clearly dyed blond hair was distracting. There was a POC client in the first episode, but I don't know that all white male police station could use some diversity. And maybe the people who are looking for Echo (at least I think it's people looking for Echo) could mix it up some too. I don't know, I'm glad Lenix is there, and at the same time, his presence makes it clear to me that he's surrounded in a sea of white and that a lot of the white people there are jerks to him. In fairness, the jerk bit seems to be something that character does to everyone, but I still don't like it, especially since his job (in the show) is key.
Show Content
There is no way to avoid the fact that the show is based around a "call girl" center and that this call girl center goes one step further than usual ones. We see women (just Echo) making the "choice" to be part of an organization that wiped all memories clean and makes you a blanks slate to be filled with whatever a client wants. I say "choice" because it was clear Echo didn't have any other choices. It is implied that the Dollhouse also collects men and women from human trafficking cirlces. Now, as a feminist, I'm not against the sex industry. If an adult of their own free will wants to do whatever for money, as long as no lasting damage is done to anyone, it's all good. That being said sex trafficking is disgusting and more efforts should be dedicated to ending this heinous crime. I find Echo's apparent cohersion and desperation for any out no matter how terrible equally disgusting. Admittedly I don't know the full extend of what's going on in her case, but the scene reminded me many women who "freely" choose prostitution because it's all they can do to make enough money to care for themselves and their familys.
There's also no way to avoid the truth that these people when not given a set of memories of a job are helpless and without character. There have been some scenes that imply they still have some memories of something elsewhere, but right now, helpless is the general feel. While this idea is made more paletable by what seems to be a entire staff of kind care takers, we do see Echo being threatened in one scene by a man who is supposed to be protecting her. We also see that sometimes accidents happen in the memory erease process and a bunch of the call people and staff are killed. It's also been made pretty clear that when on assignment, while no longer helpless, these people are often in danger.
Ok, so faced all that ugliness? Great, let's hit the positives. While an insideous place like the Dollhouse exists, it still isn't legal and while there isn't an appropriately sized task force hunting it down, the guy on the case is determined.
While the chance for significant abuse in the dollhouse is clear, it seems that it would be against policy and the reprocussions for such would be serious. The boss lady of the place, whatever else, recognizes that she is dealing with people at all times and that there is danger in not treating them a certain way, even if her views are otherwised warped and compromised.
Echo gets herself out of her troubles when in the field and she twists the standard of the keeper taking care of her. I seems that Echo and perhaps a mysterious alpha retain some maybe all of their memories somewhere in their head.
The whole memory erase technology is interesting and some of the implications of it seem like it could even do some good.
Whedon knows how to make a fun show.
Cast and Creation of Dollhouse
Sometimes I see a show or an idea and wonder how can an actress have agreed to play that part. I know there's money, there's the whole I'm not portraying reality thing, and there's just a host of people who don't care of believe that there either is equality or that people should be treated differently, but still. Dunno some roles boggle me.
Watching the Dollhouse I knew right away why Eliza Dushku agreed to be Echo. While the backdrop of the Dollhouse might not be glamorous (in Echo's normal state she is a memory-less, thoughtless, feelingless, helpless, "child like" woman waiting for a call to transform into the fantasy girl) the part that gets most of the screen time kicks ass. I can see the pitch in my head. "So every episode I get to be a completely different character and I get to be seen as a highly capable actress from my varied roles on one show, sure, sign me up."
The biggest worry in a show like Dollhouse is that the females (and males, there seems to be an about proportionate number of male extras in the Dollhouse) will always be shown as some kind of freaky kinky sex objects. While the sex element is definately present, it becomes clear right way that most of these calls are not primarily about sex. Indeed we've only witnessed one after sex scene so far (though sex was implied in some flashback and set up calls) and directly afterward the client involved starts to go all "The Most Dangerous Game" on Echo.
Anyhow, the main point I wanted to get at in the cast section here is that while the character Echo has drawbacks, if I was an actress I'd see playing a role like that as largely empowering and a good career boost. It helps that while we only follow Echo's story, we do see other "dolls" and there really does seem to be a proportionate number of men and women in service.
In fact in almost every aspect of casting, I see an almost equal number of men to women. The owner of the dollhouse is female as is the docter while the brain swapper and the two body guards are male.
The two most dissappointing casting decisions (as far as men to women go) is that there seems to be no female police officers (plus the male officer that is hunting the dollhouse is a real dick) and there haven't been any female clients. With the client thing, I know we're following the story of Echo, a female call girl and I'd rather a hetero cast then a tacky excuse for hot lesbian girl on girl action that just boosts ratings. However, since it seems that Echo's calls are rarely (or at least the one featured are) about sex, how come we haven't seen at least a flashback of one female client? I suppose I need to let up a bit on that. Chances are good Josh Whedon will add that element in at least once.
If I had a major complaint about the casting, it's probably that while there is a lead POC in the mix, there really should be a bit more diversity. When you have a shuffle of extras like in Dollhouse, you really should show some different skin tones as well as genders. Is there really that much a higher demand for white men and women over any other color? Dunno, I've seen one other POC besides Harry Lenix, I think. It's possible she was while, I didn't see her very long and her clearly dyed blond hair was distracting. There was a POC client in the first episode, but I don't know that all white male police station could use some diversity. And maybe the people who are looking for Echo (at least I think it's people looking for Echo) could mix it up some too. I don't know, I'm glad Lenix is there, and at the same time, his presence makes it clear to me that he's surrounded in a sea of white and that a lot of the white people there are jerks to him. In fairness, the jerk bit seems to be something that character does to everyone, but I still don't like it, especially since his job (in the show) is key.
Show Content
There is no way to avoid the fact that the show is based around a "call girl" center and that this call girl center goes one step further than usual ones. We see women (just Echo) making the "choice" to be part of an organization that wiped all memories clean and makes you a blanks slate to be filled with whatever a client wants. I say "choice" because it was clear Echo didn't have any other choices. It is implied that the Dollhouse also collects men and women from human trafficking cirlces. Now, as a feminist, I'm not against the sex industry. If an adult of their own free will wants to do whatever for money, as long as no lasting damage is done to anyone, it's all good. That being said sex trafficking is disgusting and more efforts should be dedicated to ending this heinous crime. I find Echo's apparent cohersion and desperation for any out no matter how terrible equally disgusting. Admittedly I don't know the full extend of what's going on in her case, but the scene reminded me many women who "freely" choose prostitution because it's all they can do to make enough money to care for themselves and their familys.
There's also no way to avoid the truth that these people when not given a set of memories of a job are helpless and without character. There have been some scenes that imply they still have some memories of something elsewhere, but right now, helpless is the general feel. While this idea is made more paletable by what seems to be a entire staff of kind care takers, we do see Echo being threatened in one scene by a man who is supposed to be protecting her. We also see that sometimes accidents happen in the memory erease process and a bunch of the call people and staff are killed. It's also been made pretty clear that when on assignment, while no longer helpless, these people are often in danger.
Ok, so faced all that ugliness? Great, let's hit the positives. While an insideous place like the Dollhouse exists, it still isn't legal and while there isn't an appropriately sized task force hunting it down, the guy on the case is determined.
While the chance for significant abuse in the dollhouse is clear, it seems that it would be against policy and the reprocussions for such would be serious. The boss lady of the place, whatever else, recognizes that she is dealing with people at all times and that there is danger in not treating them a certain way, even if her views are otherwised warped and compromised.
Echo gets herself out of her troubles when in the field and she twists the standard of the keeper taking care of her. I seems that Echo and perhaps a mysterious alpha retain some maybe all of their memories somewhere in their head.
The whole memory erase technology is interesting and some of the implications of it seem like it could even do some good.
Whedon knows how to make a fun show.
(Anonymous)
Yes, yes, yes, THANK YOU.
I'm just excited that someone isn't just beating up on the show and taking everything at face value. =)