Imagine if you could script the perfect date, what happened,
where you go, who goes with you, how they act, how they look. What if all you
had to do was type out your dream date or perfect afternoon into a computer and
that became a reality.
The television show Dollhouse is based off of this premise. A
corporation arranges for your exact specifications and all you have to do is
pay their fee. And how do they do this? They program people.
The corporation finds people who are desperate; they might
be desperate for a new life, an escape or maybe just money. The corporation offers
them this. All they have to do is sign their life away for five years. If they
enter into this agreement, their minds are wiped, with no memory of their previous
life. They become the “tabula rasa,” the blank slate. The Dollhouse then imprints
the specified personality into the person and sends them out on their “engagement.”
Could there be any greater objectification? The majority of
the “dolls” are young, thin, attractive women, who in their doll state have no
personality and no knowledge, they are children. The distinction between who
they are in their doll state, innocent, and who they are in their “active”
state, usually sexual, is pretty extreme.
It is interesting to note that a television show such as
this made it on to network television and in popular culture. So what was Joss
Whedon getting at? Did he intentionally bring up this subject?
I think this might be the case since his other main
television show, “Buffy, The Vampire Slayer” has a very strong female
protagonist. Although it is interesting to note that although Buffy is supposed
to be a strong and powerful, independent woman, the main conflicts in the show
are often emphasized by the “boy problems” which arise from Buffy and her
boyfriend. She is rarely without a significant other. She is also often times
shown with having little power or strength when it comes to guys.
Point being, Joss Whedon loves to put stereotypical characters
in very not stereotypical situations.
I would say that what you said about the corporation seeks out those who are desperate can be linked to the way that often corporations today, who feed on the idea that people constantly want to change their bodies. look at how many different diets are out there and gyms pop up like Starbucks.Feeding in to the desperate desires for a different life or body is what makes the business of cosmetic surgery a booming industry even in tough economic times.In a twisted way we live in a dollhouse.
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