tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8468699.post5577973644714130997..comments2017-08-04T09:05:49.536-04:00Comments on "...it just says 'M'...": Dollhouse - Week 7Nicholas Grecohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12159802575350677365noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8468699.post-7323732384354614622013-03-18T16:31:21.463-04:002013-03-18T16:31:21.463-04:00I honestly wasn't sure what to make of this es...I honestly wasn't sure what to make of this essay. There did not seem to be an overarching claim or premise to it. The Dollhouse is full of stories, yes, but what kind of point does this observation make? If anything, this essay was more of a highlight reel and recap of the different kinds of stories you see in Dollhouse. <br /><br />These stories do produce an interesting amount of 'play' between their scripts. Ostensibly, the show is about the exploits of Dolls, but these exploits only become meaningful in the face of those who hire the Dolls. Those who work with Dolls provide the 'omniscient narrator' and commentator roles to the story and provide the majority of the world's setting information. Those who would save the Dolls provide the requisite narrative arc conflict, presenting the big clash of antagonist Rossum versus the protagonists, while the Doll stories provide the little arcs. The stories of those who would be free seems to encompass all of the above; every character is looking for a kind of freedom from something.<br /><br />I agree that overall this study presented too much and too little. The parallels it drew too real life were too utopian. As far as being what we want to be, I think we see here Whedon's existential bent relaying one of the great tensions of existentialism, that between free will and facticity - some things are determined for us, but it always our choice to decide how we will work within their limitations.<br /><br />I never read The Shape of Things to Come, but future histories are always interesting for their speculative daring. That said, I prefer alternate histories of the past. <br /><br />I suppose the Atives are the architects of human history in every sense: their existence resulted in the downfall of civilization, their actions ultimately redeemed it, and their memory will preserve all of history (even beyond oral tradition, since their memories can be extracted). <br /><br />I do think applying will, desire, and action to technology is a textbook example of a category error. When Ballard said the Dollhouse was a 'bad place,' Alpha responded that it was a 'good place; bad people, maybe.' Technology is only an amplifying catalyst that plays with the will, desires, and actions of sentient entities. <br />Phil Wiebehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11255460683986550805noreply@blogger.com