Dollhouse Eulogy
Well, it came as a shock to probably nobody that Joss Whedon's and Eliza Dushku's science fiction series Dollhouse was officially canceled last week. I guess what is more surprising is that they decided to renew it in the first place for a second season, and then only to cancel it four episodes in.

A friend of mine in the sixth grade told me her gauge of whether or not a movie or TV show was "great" was whether or not she was still thinking about it the next day, and it's actually served me as a pretty good rule of thumb ever since. Yeah, there's a few horrible shows that left me still pissed off and picking them apart the next day, but I guess great can be either good or bad.

I mention it because the most recent episode of Dollhouse really left me thinking. "Belonging" - directed by "Commander Riker" Jonathan Frakes - was probably the most violent and disturbing and brain-twisting episode of the series so far. And possibly the best.

And it made me realize: Dollhouse is great science fiction, but it is not so great television. It does what science fiction is supposed to do - ask questions about humanity and our relationship with the world and universe in a hypothetical context. In the case of Dollhouse, it very pointedly asks - and in a way, has answered (for itself) the question of what makes us who we are. Are humans merely computers with brains that can be reprogrammed? A set of behaviors generated by chemicals working through a neural network of learned responses? Is there a soul that is more than pure chemistry and physics at work?

The implied answer is "yes." So I guess Dollhouse did its job there. Human beings are programmed like computers - given brand-new personalities and skills for whatever their assignments may be. A new, custom person is created inside an old body. But - repeatedly - aspects of their "true" nature - their deep-seated desires, quirks, loves, and hatreds - keep coming through.

But it is never clear if this is something truly metaphysical, or simply some glitch or unmapped bit of brain that the Dollhouse / Rossum Corporation hasn't figured out yet. But it's been a very interesting bit of exploration - not just for the dolls themselves, but an exploration of how people treat or react to these reprogrammable people. And all the other questions it raises about morality, free will, and so forth. It's a very smart show, and it's good SF.

But good television? The "dolls" don't really have any character, because their personalities are constantly changing (which really shows off the actor's abilities). And the staff and ancillary characters? They are all, to some degree, morally corrupt. It's hard to get away from the knowledge that they are basically operating an extremely expensive prostitution / slavery ring. Sure, some of the 'dolls' may have originally signed up of their own free will, but after that nothing is consensual. They have surrendered control of their bodies completely to the corporation, which will make them do anything - even kill - without their knowledge.

So it's kinda hard to like these guys. They aren't the good guys. That's the point. It's deliberately morally ambiguous (at best). But it makes it very hard to relate or care about any of the characters. And that's why it kinda fails as a television show.

I'm gonna miss it. I do like the show. But unlike, say, Firefly ... I do understand why it's getting the axe.

Labels: Geek Life, television

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