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shadowkatSaw this week's Dollhouse - can't remember what it was called, or the episode number.
By the way this is not a critical review of the episode and will most likely have typos as all my posts do.
In this week's Dollhouse they examined relationships, or rather how we tend to project ourselves onto others, often without realizing it. Specifically the relationship between mother and son, and friends.
The episode starts with Adelle Dewitt imprinting Echo with the personality and memories of her dear friend Magaret who recently died. Apparently each month, Margaret would enter the Dollhouse for an intensive and somewhat painful brain scan. Now we know how Adelle gets these personalities and memories that she imprints upon her dolls. Which makes me wonder who Roger is? Roger for those who skipped the episode that proceeded this one - was a personality imprinted on Victor and met with Adelle on numerous romantic assignations. My curiousity is how she got that personality and why she chose it - is it her fantasy guy or did he actually exist?
Margaret is not, it turns out looking for eternal life nor does she get Echo forever - it is clearly spelled out by Adelle that this is just a loaner for a limited period of time.
Margaret wants to visit her family and go to her own funeral, because she is convinced someone murdered her and wishes Adelle's help in solving it.
Meanwhile Topher asks Boyd Langton, our new head of security, if he can have one of the actives for a brain diagnostic, while the others remain inactive or in sleep mode. Langton agrees and selects Sierra - who has had the least number of imprints of late. Sierra is then turned into Topher's ideal friend. Who as embers_log aptly pointed out in a discussion below, had in effect created a version of himself to play with. When Langton asks Adelle why she tolerates Topher's excursion, she states - it is to help him deal with loneliness and it is only one day out of the year - his birthday.
Margaret/Echo meanwhile discovers much to her surprise that her children did not like her.
The only people who appear to are her brother bill, whom she'd apparently forgiven and her lover/husband who acknowledged her faults, even though he has little idea what to do with the gift of the horses besides sell them. But the main relationship - the one we get the most detail on - is the one between Margaret and her son, Nicholas. Margaret apparently worshipped Nicholas while at the same time pestering him to be more. She even defends him as Echo/Julia
stating that he has potential and don't put him down. She can't see Nicholas for who he is.
She's blind to the fact that he has gambling problem and is basically a parasite, who has no desire to be much more. At the age of 12 - she discovered he was great at math and tried to turn him into a Wall Street tycoon. Margaret like many parents do, projected her own desires onto her son. She put her aspirations for him onto him, without listening to what he wanted.
Often parents won't see their child for the aspirations they have placed upon them.
This is by the way a common theme in Whedon's stories, even though this episode was written by Jane Espeson, Jed Whedon and Jed Whedon's wife whose name I can't spell. Of the series, Angel, probably focused on this theme the most, even though Buffy touched on it. It is to a degree a defining trait of Angel. Liam like young Nicholas rebells against his parent, in Liam's case it is his father - for demanding more than he can deliver. For projecting his aspirations on to him. It is what causes Liam to take off. And like Nicholas in Dollhouse, Liam returns to kill his father and take all his father's worldly posessions. Both kill their parents for asking them to become, well their parents. Liam's father wants Liam to become like him - he has projected himself on to Liam. Much as the Master later projects himself onto Angelus and bids Angelus carve himself into the Master's image. And Angelus ironically carves Drusilla and Spike into his image or attempts to - as both Dru and Spike at different points accuse him of doing. And, as Angel does with Connor - imposing who he is onto his son.
Here, in Dollhouse - the story is much more compact and in some ways a little less simple.
Adelle in order to give Margaret a second chance - has imposed Margaret's personality and memories onto Echo (the blank slate). Margaret in turn discovers Nicholas killed her because of how she tried to turn him into what she wanted, her image of him. Not herself - but rather someone she could be proud of. When he rebells, she continues as her daughter puts it to turn a blind eye and provide him with assistence in the hopes that he will become what she thinks he should. She never sees her son until it is far too late.
Topher has in turn created a friend, but the friend much like Margaret's Nicholas is not real. A construct that he pulls out for his birthday to stave off lonliness. Their reasons are different. Margaret strives towards immortality through her children - to see a portion of herself go on, to construct a legacy. Like Liam's father and the Master - she sees Nicholas as continuing her line, continuing her legacy - it's not love so much as pride. Pride that blinds her to her daughter's accomplishments and her daughter's love of her, and to her son's short-comings. Her desire for immortality to be remembered well - is also seen in her visits to the Dollhouse - where she goes through painful brain-scans to perserve memories and ensure a semblance at least of eternal life - as well as the ability to revisit her family after she is gone to see how they regard her.
Langton asks Adelle if this makes sense - are they providing a means for eternal life and at what cost? Do you just jump from body to body? And what about the former inhabitants of those bodies? If you do that - are you anything less than a vampire? There's a rather good horror novel written by Jonathan Carroll about vampires - where the vampires take the lives of others, they don't suck blood and they don't suck energy - what they do is steal someone else's happiness and that elongates their own. It's entitled the Marriage of Sticks. In a way this reminds me a bit of that concept. The idea of taking over another's body to live out your own fantasy, your own life. Again hardly new to Whedon - he did it before in the Buffy episode Who Are You - where Faith switches bodies with Buffy in order to have what Buffy has.
To get the second chance.
Adelle states no, that is not their intent and not what they plan. This is just a favor, an one time deal and it is only a loan. Margaret understands that if she tries to take off in Echo's body, she will be stopped - by Boyd Langton. And as it turns out, Boyd does not have to stop her, Margaret returns on her own - stating that she had her chance and she doesn't want to continue. It is the only remorse we get from Margaret, that and her new will, in which she sort of apologizes to those she left behind for her own blindness and foibles.
Her legacy if there is one, now rests with her daughter.
Meanwhile - Ballard has discovered that he can't trace Novemember's prints - they are erased from the database and that he has become in a way a new client of the Dollhouse. Miele/November is his Doll. He has no idea how to deal with her. Angry at her for being a doll yet at the same time sympathetic. Is this his fantasy? Saving the girl? A girl who can't be saved?
The episode ends with Margaret's memories being pulled from Echo, her life flashing before her eyes a second time. And Topher ...celebrating his birthday with himself superimposed on Sierra - the perfect friend who does not, cannot exist.
A few days ago I read an article about how increasingly narcissitic and me oriented our society is becoming, partly due to social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook where people spend the entire day sharing things like what they did for lunch. And it being about well what they care about, and what they need. I wonder sometimes if that may well be true.
This constant flashing of our dreams, our desires onto others. If it doesn't interest us - we don't care. If it isn't about us, we ignore it. IF it doesn't further our goals, our needs, our wants, our dreams, or our legacy - it has no point. And if it doesn't validate us, why look at it. And if the majority fits or answers what we want or goes against what we want...
is the majority right depending on how they validate our own wishes?
Have we become little more than Narcissus falling into the lake reflecting our own beautiful image back at ourselves? An illusion, not real. Is that the danger that all this technology brings?
Or is it something else? Is involvement on the net another way to communicate, to become more aware of other views, other cultures, and other ideas that may and most certainly do differ from and compete with our own?
I don't know. But it is something I've been pondering lately.
By the way this is not a critical review of the episode and will most likely have typos as all my posts do.
In this week's Dollhouse they examined relationships, or rather how we tend to project ourselves onto others, often without realizing it. Specifically the relationship between mother and son, and friends.
The episode starts with Adelle Dewitt imprinting Echo with the personality and memories of her dear friend Magaret who recently died. Apparently each month, Margaret would enter the Dollhouse for an intensive and somewhat painful brain scan. Now we know how Adelle gets these personalities and memories that she imprints upon her dolls. Which makes me wonder who Roger is? Roger for those who skipped the episode that proceeded this one - was a personality imprinted on Victor and met with Adelle on numerous romantic assignations. My curiousity is how she got that personality and why she chose it - is it her fantasy guy or did he actually exist?
Margaret is not, it turns out looking for eternal life nor does she get Echo forever - it is clearly spelled out by Adelle that this is just a loaner for a limited period of time.
Margaret wants to visit her family and go to her own funeral, because she is convinced someone murdered her and wishes Adelle's help in solving it.
Meanwhile Topher asks Boyd Langton, our new head of security, if he can have one of the actives for a brain diagnostic, while the others remain inactive or in sleep mode. Langton agrees and selects Sierra - who has had the least number of imprints of late. Sierra is then turned into Topher's ideal friend. Who as embers_log aptly pointed out in a discussion below, had in effect created a version of himself to play with. When Langton asks Adelle why she tolerates Topher's excursion, she states - it is to help him deal with loneliness and it is only one day out of the year - his birthday.
Margaret/Echo meanwhile discovers much to her surprise that her children did not like her.
The only people who appear to are her brother bill, whom she'd apparently forgiven and her lover/husband who acknowledged her faults, even though he has little idea what to do with the gift of the horses besides sell them. But the main relationship - the one we get the most detail on - is the one between Margaret and her son, Nicholas. Margaret apparently worshipped Nicholas while at the same time pestering him to be more. She even defends him as Echo/Julia
stating that he has potential and don't put him down. She can't see Nicholas for who he is.
She's blind to the fact that he has gambling problem and is basically a parasite, who has no desire to be much more. At the age of 12 - she discovered he was great at math and tried to turn him into a Wall Street tycoon. Margaret like many parents do, projected her own desires onto her son. She put her aspirations for him onto him, without listening to what he wanted.
Often parents won't see their child for the aspirations they have placed upon them.
This is by the way a common theme in Whedon's stories, even though this episode was written by Jane Espeson, Jed Whedon and Jed Whedon's wife whose name I can't spell. Of the series, Angel, probably focused on this theme the most, even though Buffy touched on it. It is to a degree a defining trait of Angel. Liam like young Nicholas rebells against his parent, in Liam's case it is his father - for demanding more than he can deliver. For projecting his aspirations on to him. It is what causes Liam to take off. And like Nicholas in Dollhouse, Liam returns to kill his father and take all his father's worldly posessions. Both kill their parents for asking them to become, well their parents. Liam's father wants Liam to become like him - he has projected himself on to Liam. Much as the Master later projects himself onto Angelus and bids Angelus carve himself into the Master's image. And Angelus ironically carves Drusilla and Spike into his image or attempts to - as both Dru and Spike at different points accuse him of doing. And, as Angel does with Connor - imposing who he is onto his son.
Here, in Dollhouse - the story is much more compact and in some ways a little less simple.
Adelle in order to give Margaret a second chance - has imposed Margaret's personality and memories onto Echo (the blank slate). Margaret in turn discovers Nicholas killed her because of how she tried to turn him into what she wanted, her image of him. Not herself - but rather someone she could be proud of. When he rebells, she continues as her daughter puts it to turn a blind eye and provide him with assistence in the hopes that he will become what she thinks he should. She never sees her son until it is far too late.
Topher has in turn created a friend, but the friend much like Margaret's Nicholas is not real. A construct that he pulls out for his birthday to stave off lonliness. Their reasons are different. Margaret strives towards immortality through her children - to see a portion of herself go on, to construct a legacy. Like Liam's father and the Master - she sees Nicholas as continuing her line, continuing her legacy - it's not love so much as pride. Pride that blinds her to her daughter's accomplishments and her daughter's love of her, and to her son's short-comings. Her desire for immortality to be remembered well - is also seen in her visits to the Dollhouse - where she goes through painful brain-scans to perserve memories and ensure a semblance at least of eternal life - as well as the ability to revisit her family after she is gone to see how they regard her.
Langton asks Adelle if this makes sense - are they providing a means for eternal life and at what cost? Do you just jump from body to body? And what about the former inhabitants of those bodies? If you do that - are you anything less than a vampire? There's a rather good horror novel written by Jonathan Carroll about vampires - where the vampires take the lives of others, they don't suck blood and they don't suck energy - what they do is steal someone else's happiness and that elongates their own. It's entitled the Marriage of Sticks. In a way this reminds me a bit of that concept. The idea of taking over another's body to live out your own fantasy, your own life. Again hardly new to Whedon - he did it before in the Buffy episode Who Are You - where Faith switches bodies with Buffy in order to have what Buffy has.
To get the second chance.
Adelle states no, that is not their intent and not what they plan. This is just a favor, an one time deal and it is only a loan. Margaret understands that if she tries to take off in Echo's body, she will be stopped - by Boyd Langton. And as it turns out, Boyd does not have to stop her, Margaret returns on her own - stating that she had her chance and she doesn't want to continue. It is the only remorse we get from Margaret, that and her new will, in which she sort of apologizes to those she left behind for her own blindness and foibles.
Her legacy if there is one, now rests with her daughter.
Meanwhile - Ballard has discovered that he can't trace Novemember's prints - they are erased from the database and that he has become in a way a new client of the Dollhouse. Miele/November is his Doll. He has no idea how to deal with her. Angry at her for being a doll yet at the same time sympathetic. Is this his fantasy? Saving the girl? A girl who can't be saved?
The episode ends with Margaret's memories being pulled from Echo, her life flashing before her eyes a second time. And Topher ...celebrating his birthday with himself superimposed on Sierra - the perfect friend who does not, cannot exist.
A few days ago I read an article about how increasingly narcissitic and me oriented our society is becoming, partly due to social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook where people spend the entire day sharing things like what they did for lunch. And it being about well what they care about, and what they need. I wonder sometimes if that may well be true.
This constant flashing of our dreams, our desires onto others. If it doesn't interest us - we don't care. If it isn't about us, we ignore it. IF it doesn't further our goals, our needs, our wants, our dreams, or our legacy - it has no point. And if it doesn't validate us, why look at it. And if the majority fits or answers what we want or goes against what we want...
is the majority right depending on how they validate our own wishes?
Have we become little more than Narcissus falling into the lake reflecting our own beautiful image back at ourselves? An illusion, not real. Is that the danger that all this technology brings?
Or is it something else? Is involvement on the net another way to communicate, to become more aware of other views, other cultures, and other ideas that may and most certainly do differ from and compete with our own?
I don't know. But it is something I've been pondering lately.
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no subject
Date: 2009-04-26 10:31 pm (UTC)I have to say that this show really seems to cut closer to the bone than most, making me really ponder a lot of ideas and beliefs, nothing is easy and clear cut.
If you were allowed to take over a new young body from the Dollhouse, would you be you or would you be simply taking over the body's life (you would lose all your family & old friends after all)? How satisfying would that end up being? And of course that wasn't even one of the plots in that episode (it is a fantasy I've had before, because I'm strange).
no subject
Date: 2009-04-27 12:18 am (UTC)I think that's why she chooses to come back to the Dollhouse. As she tells Adelle - this is not her, while she likes the new body, she isn't quite herself without the old one. Our bodies do make us who we are.
They do to an extent inform our personalities. Margaret came across differently as Echo. It was a younger body, 15 years younger than Adelle as opposed to 10 years older. It had not been through what Margaret had, did not have the same scars.
I agree...it's an interesting episode. And I'm beginning to really hope that Dollhouse surivives to next season. Curious to see what the writers come up with next.
no subject
Date: 2009-04-27 12:25 am (UTC)Not sure I said that right, sort of watching tv at the same time as I write this.
The problem with a tv show being cancelled before the writers intended - is it is a bit like reading half a book or seeing just half the movie. You don't get the whole story that was in the writer's head.
With both Angel and Buffy - and Firefly - we got the whole story. Firefly - got both a comic and the film - so you do know where the writer wanted to take it. And Angel, well you get the season final, after they found out it was cancelled and was written knowing it was cancelled - as well as a plotted comic written by Lynch but co-plotted by Whedon. Plus lots of commentary and interviews. So you know where the writers were headed. You can do an analysis without a lot of guesswork.
With only 13 episodes - you have to fill in a lot of gaps and make a lot of assumptions, that may or may not be accurate and there is no way of knowing if they are.
From a literary/textual analysis perspective - I think you need it to be renewed, otherwise your ability to do an accurate and meaningful analysis is somewhat limited.
no subject
Date: 2009-04-27 02:00 am (UTC)Joss meant there for to be three movies, 'Serenity' is NOT the whole story. He hasn't even told the rest of the story in comic book form since he couldn't bear to give up the idea that he might get to tell it someday with the actors...
(he said that in a radio interview two years ago)
but he is breaking down and will tell Book's back story in a comic book coming out late this year, because evidently he is losing heart about the chance to tell the rest of the story with the actors.
I hope he gets a chance to show a lot more of Dollhouse than he did of Firefly, because he has a lot of interesting ideas that he has only begun to touch on (he said he had ideas to go through five seasons!).