Friday, October 9, 2009

Why Others Don't Watch Dollhouse

This originally started as a post over at Whedonesque, but at the last minute I decided to put it over here instead, cuz it got too long. I left a bit of this over there, but I wanted to get into more detail so I moved most of it here.

Dollhouse flies without a net. It's got limitations built into it that Buffy and the other shows didn't have. Dollhouse is more down to Earth which you'd think would make it more relatable to a wider audience, but it's more in your face about things without using metaphors like vampires or reavers to talk about uncomfortable subject matter.

That is for me its strength. It may also be what keeps some away. Dollhouse cuts very close to the bone in regards to the fragile nature of humanity. Many don't like to accept the fact that we are ultimately just conditioned animals with a vague sense of self-awareness. If we are conditioned properly, we'll see reality not as it is, but as whatever conditions us wants us to see it.

It's why we still believe in gods. The naked truth is far too painful.

Please let me preface this by saying I love Dollhouse. I plan to stay with it come hell or high water cuz I'm seeing it as an unique experiment in television storytelling. Something that I haven't seen before and I fear may never come again. Grey Hour. True Believer. Man On The Street. Epitaph One! How can these be episodes of the same show? They're different shows with a remarkably different feel to each of them, but under the same umbrella.

I hope Dollhouse stays with us a long time. I fear I may know why it won't. I also fear I may know why so many fans of Whedon's previous efforts seem to not warm up as quickly to his latest effort.

What makes Dollhouse better than any of Whedon's previous efforts (Yeah you heard me right. Better than Buffy) is that he's got no crutch. With Buffy and Angel he had magic mumbo jumbo to fall back on to explain stuff that shouldn't do what it does. With Firefly he used some technobabble but mostly it was just "it's the future. in space. by now we'll figure out how to do X" Gravity on a starship for example. Or how terraforming multiple moons made everything look like east Texas.

With Dollhouse there's very little of that. Granted "the chair" is a little technobabbley, but when you accept the concept that the human brain is just another computer, you're done. All the other pieces fall into place, at least for the first season. The scifi tech of the show isn't a crutch. It's not far fetched enough to be a crutch (as is evident when they add to it things like remote sensing causing blindness in Echo, or the silly lactating thing). It's more like a widget that helps set up the story but you can't put a lot of weight on the scifi tech of the series cuz it'll easily break. We're talking about technologies not as far fetched as one might think. We understand a lot more about how the human brain works than we did even a decade ago, and there's already tools that can rudimentarily allow direct control from brain to computer. We may be twenty years from being able to let a computer tell a body what to do. Maybe less than that. Concepts like hypnosis, brainwashing, conditioning, and voluntary (or not so voluntary) submission have been with us for awhile. The audience doesn't have to jump as far to get on board, unlike his previous work.

But along with a premise a wee bit closer to home comes limitations. Joss Whedon can't suddenly turn Echo into a rat or give her the powers of a god without upsetting the delicate world he's already fabricated. The rules of Dollhouse are more restrictive, and it's far easier for writers to paint themselves into corners where they can't get out.

It's more difficult for audiences to relate to characters whose personalities can go away never to come back in less time than a commercial break. I enjoy Amy Acker's work on Dollhouse, but I'm concerned it's all for naught. And the fact it's not by now all for naught has me concerned. Why didn't Topher wipe Whiskey before she left? Dr. Claire Saunders' is obviously glitching. She's figured out that she's not the original Dr. Saunders, but she's no longer just an Active named Whiskey. And she's got no idea who Whiskey was before she became Whiskey. So she doesn't even know what she is but she's self-aware, so Topher's torn about whether or not to deactivate her - wipe her and start fresh.

But last season it was established that Topher has no real moral compass. So the fact he's not 'fixing' Whiskey doesn't make sense within the confines of the structure that Dollhouse has already built around itself. This is just one of many little things about Dollhouse that I fear makes it difficult for some old viewers to ride out, and new viewers to jump on board.

Even a show as absurd and over the top as Doctor Who has within it very specific rules that it doesn't break. There's ways that the laws of physics work in that show which while crazy have an internal logic, a method to the madness. Buffy had that. Angel had that. I fear Firefly really didn't but there's not enough episodes really to prove that one way or the other (how many planets? how many stars? moons? where were they in relation to one another? the astrogation of Firefly is completely unrealistic. and don't get me started on the very concept of planet terraforming. or ship propulsion.)

I question whether or not the internal logic built early on in Dollhouse's first season is being kept consistent, or if its being thrown out in favor of making Echo lactate. Cuz each week we need something startling to keep the audience guessing. I question whether or not Dollhouse can hold up to its own scrutiny, and stick to its own inner logic.

If Dollhouse can't be true to itself, audiences can smell that, and like a dog can smell fear or sharks can smell blood, the end result of that gut reaction to a TV series lying to itself is.. well, it's never pretty.

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Why I Watch Dollhouse

Over at Why I Watch Dot Com people are saying why they keep coming back for more Dollhouse, so I submitted my own reasons which I'm reposting here for completeness and cuz I haven't thrown up a blog entry in awhile. Dollhouse is on FOX on Fridays by the way, at least at the moment. Someone is spreading rumors that once again the show is under threat of cancellation. The ratings aren't great, so once again I find myself looking at a great show that presumably no one is watching. Well, I am, and here's why.

Why do I watch? I watch cuz Joss Whedon has never steered me wrong yet, but that's not why you should watch.

Other people might tell you Dollhouse deals with deep and meaningful subject matter while posing poignant questions that are pertinent and applicable to these difficult times humanity is facing in this century. Screw that. Sure it's deep and meaningful and all that crap. It's also fun! In the first few moments of the first episode, two people drive their motorcycles onto a dance floor. Why? I don't know why. It's crazy! You might scuff up the wood. But who cares? It's television! It's fun!

I watch cuz you don't know what to expect from this show. Why watch a show that's predictable?

I watch cuz the women are hot and the men kick ass.

I watch cuz the men are cool and the women kick ass.

I watch cuz Enver Gjokaj can say anything with a straight face.

I watch cuz I enjoy Eliza Dushku playing dress up.

I watch cuz Tahmoh Penikett can throw down a mean fight scene.

I watch cuz Fran Kranz knows how to do justice to WhedonSpeak.

I watch cuz Dichen Lachman surprises me every other time she appears on screen, and when she's not surprising me, she's dazzling me. She's got a smile that if properly weaponized could bring about world peace.

I watch cuz Harry Lennix exudes confidence, wisdom, and you can't tell from one second to the next if he's gonna make some pithy remark or take the other person's head and shove it into electronic equipment.

I watch cuz Olivia Williams has taken the most morally twisted and disturbing character Joss Whedon has ever conceived and breathed a life into her that makes her as real as the next new friend you will make.

I watch cuz Miracle Laurie had my heart at "lasagna."

I watch cuz this show is flying without a net. It's taking risks and going where other shows don't dare. Yes it's not perfect. You want your TV formulaic? Watch the news. Yes sometimes the writing falls flat on its face, but sometimes it soars beyond the stratosphere.

I Watch cuz I like my entertainment fearless.

I watch cuz it's a show that doesn't dumb it all down for me, even though sometimes I wish it would.

I watch cuz at first I thought The Attic was A Place, and then I realized it's more of A Condition. Then I thought it meant being dead. Then I thought it meant being physically dead but mentally cooped up on a hard drive. I thought maybe it's both A Place and A Condition. Then someone showed up in Epitaph One who shouldn't have been there, and now I don't know what to think.

I watch cuz it doesn't insult my intelligence, and it challenges that intelligence in ways that sometimes make me feel kinda stupid. But it's all good.

I watch cuz it looks great. It sounds great. It feels great. It's Dollhouse. It's on Friday nights on Fox. You should watch it too.

...while you still can.