the_other_sandy (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
the_other_sandy) wrote2009-02-20 09:06 pm
the_other_sandy) wrote2009-02-20 09:06 pm
Entry tags:
Dollhouse Ep: The Target
I'm starting to find this show offensive.
Last week, I compared Dollhouse to Gunslinger Girl because both featured female characters who were implanted with a new personality and sent on field assignments with a handler. The favorable difference that I saw last week was that the Dollhouse actives volunteered, while the operatives in Gunslinger Girl were not only children, they also had no say in becoming part of the project. In both cases, it may be true that becoming part of their respective projects was preferable to the alternatives.
The unfavorable difference that I saw this week was that the girls in Gunslinger Girl were only used as weapons against criminal targets. Even though the girls were programmed to please their handlers, the handlers' minds were always on the job and they never took advantage of their operatives. I was expecting the same sort of thing from Dollhouse given the hostage negotiation in last week's episode. But it also turns out that the Dollhouse programs their actives to be the perfect date and then pimps them out. This is where it all falls down for me. Echo wasn't sent out undercover and didn't use sex to gain information. She was literally programmed to be the best inflatable date ever. Are the male actives pimped out like this too? We may never know, because we only ever see the male actives in the background. The camera never focuses on the men when they're in their helpless and childlike state, but it lovingly follows the completely submissive women around. So far, male characters have only had significant parts to play on the show if they're in a position of power (top executives, clients, handlers, and the guy who controls the implanted personalities and therefore controls who the actives are and what they think).
Joss has a history of writing strong female characters, so I'm trying very hard to give him the benefit of the doubt, especially now that Echo is remembering things that occurred before her previous treatments. But the fact that she killed her sociopathic serial killer john in no way changes the fact that she was programmed and pimped out to him in the first place. I don't think she meant to volunteer for that when she signed up for the program.
Last week, I compared Dollhouse to Gunslinger Girl because both featured female characters who were implanted with a new personality and sent on field assignments with a handler. The favorable difference that I saw last week was that the Dollhouse actives volunteered, while the operatives in Gunslinger Girl were not only children, they also had no say in becoming part of the project. In both cases, it may be true that becoming part of their respective projects was preferable to the alternatives.
The unfavorable difference that I saw this week was that the girls in Gunslinger Girl were only used as weapons against criminal targets. Even though the girls were programmed to please their handlers, the handlers' minds were always on the job and they never took advantage of their operatives. I was expecting the same sort of thing from Dollhouse given the hostage negotiation in last week's episode. But it also turns out that the Dollhouse programs their actives to be the perfect date and then pimps them out. This is where it all falls down for me. Echo wasn't sent out undercover and didn't use sex to gain information. She was literally programmed to be the best inflatable date ever. Are the male actives pimped out like this too? We may never know, because we only ever see the male actives in the background. The camera never focuses on the men when they're in their helpless and childlike state, but it lovingly follows the completely submissive women around. So far, male characters have only had significant parts to play on the show if they're in a position of power (top executives, clients, handlers, and the guy who controls the implanted personalities and therefore controls who the actives are and what they think).
Joss has a history of writing strong female characters, so I'm trying very hard to give him the benefit of the doubt, especially now that Echo is remembering things that occurred before her previous treatments. But the fact that she killed her sociopathic serial killer john in no way changes the fact that she was programmed and pimped out to him in the first place. I don't think she meant to volunteer for that when she signed up for the program.