The Trials and Tribulations of Joe Dizzy

Dollhouse... more thoughts

Sat, 12 Dec 2009 12:28:02 GMT

I'm starting to get a little disappointed with Dollhouse. There are some interesting ideas buried in there, but something just feels off about the whole thing. It's like the entire show has a self-defeating approach to its own ideas.

Season One seemed to go for moral ambiguity of what the Dollhouse is and does. The problem of course was that there was no ambiguity about it. The Dollhouse was the evil conspiracy, even if its participants were sometimes deluding themselves that they were doing something for the greater good. The episode with Patton Oswalt made it explicit. The cloying sentimentality of the character's past didn't create a moral ambiguity or even a moral dilemma. It just made him more pathetic.

Then came Epitaph One, which I'm starting to think has killed the entire bigger picture of the show. Fast-forwarding to the show's post-apocalyptic future where society - as in LA - has broken down and there are psychopaths casually murdering each other, pretty much destroys any possibility of moral ambiguity. There's nothing ambiguous about what you do, if it directly leads to gleeful mass murder. I grew up in Germany, I should know.

Season Two seems to set itself up as a grand epic drama with characters slowly approaching their inevitable downfall. Unfortunately that is really only true for Topher. Everybody else only ends up slightly hardened by whatever happens between now and the Epitaph era. So Topher Brink becomes the heart of the show in season two. Or rather, he becomes the only out-and-out tragic character, whereas everybody else is off into action-adventure-thriller-land and busy plotting, scheming and growling at each other menacingly.

I remember reading somewhere that the show tried to make the audience uncomfortable in a way. And it does. But not because of the questions it asks, which I think are neither challenging nor uncomfortable (and in most cases simply indecipherable), but because the whole show is slowly becoming a misery pile. One misfortune, betrayal and painful twist of fate/plot heaped upon another essentially punishing the viewer for emotionally investing into any character on the show. What was great about Whedon's shows was that they stood out from the exposition-heavy-plot-only shows and portrayed characters you could empathise with. They were not just huge empty canvasses with 2 or 3 character traits on demand, depending on this week's plot (*coughHOUSEcough*), but fully realised characters with lives, ambitions, a past and an ever developing personality based on the experience they accumulate during the show's run. Whedon's shows are appealing because they are about characters you feel with. And this is undoubtedly the main appeal of today's television narratives: emotional responses and vicarious experiences.

But when it comes to Dollhouse, these responses and experiences are miserable. They make the viewer - that is: me - uncomfortable and miserable. Now, do not misunderstand me, I don't demand that stories always leave me in my comfort zone and that nothing bad should happen to characters I like. (I do to a certain extent of course, that's a necessary part of empathising with a fictional character: being invested in their well-being. But not so much that I ignore the writer's desire to express something.) But I do think that there should be a point to all this misery. There should be something to glean from watching characters you like go through emotional, physical or spiritual hell. If it's not a bigger argument about human nature, society, etc. then at least some catharsis.

And this is ultimately where Dollhouse has shot itself in the foot with Epitaph. There is no catharsis, because everything is just going to get worse. The reason has already been spelled out. The over-arching argument has already been made. The show's basic statement is already wrapped up. What is left for season two, is just filling in the blanks (both plotwise and thematically) how to get from here to there.

That, and of course the grand tragedy of Topher Brink. Characters in the show have called him utterly amoral, which I think is false. He is inexperienced, but not amoral. The fact that he is suffering as much as he does in Epitaph One just shows it. (I am reminded of Spike in Buffy's early seventh season, who went through the same arc, and arguably came out a better and more interesting character than the other Vampire with a soul... but I digress.)

The title of amoral bastard definitely goes to Boyd, who has no qualms - and arguably a lot of experience - with getting rid of a human being. Boyd seems to me the ultimately amoral character, who has seemingly constructed his entire set of ethics around some murky, as yet unrevealed principles. Certainly unlike Topher (and to certain extent Echo, even though she is intellectually incapable of grasping the concept) who is developing ethics and morals like human beings do: through empathy and not rules.

So all in all.. the show seems unclear and murky about what it is about, what it is saying and what purpose its characters serve. (Except maybe Echo, who is becoming the "action heroine carrying the world on her shoulder"-type, I've already grown tired of back during Buffy's fourth season.) But there are some intriguing ideas in there... or rather attempts at intriguing ideas which I'm starting to think counts for more than their execution. Especially when one considers how much unambitious TV is flooding the channels these days.

Twittericous

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 23:06:24 GMT

23:16 just about done with season 1 of #Dollhouse. it took a while to find its voice, but it's really quite nice. #

Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter

Twittericous

Thu, 03 Dec 2009 23:03:46 GMT

13:00 this is both hillarious and awesome. bit.ly/6vQjUd #
19:39 theory: to never play a game again, buy card sleeves for it. both BSG and Chaos in the Old World have been collecting dust since. #
23:15 the bullet, it has been bitten. and the #WFRP3 it has been ordered. should show up on my doorstep sometime in January. #

Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter

Twittericous

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 23:02:44 GMT

14:44 and now the flat and the room I grew up in have gone as well. apparently getting older means that your past bedgins to vanish bit by bit. #
15:50 much like your ability to type. #

Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter

Twittericous

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 23:02:19 GMT

13:28 slowly crawling back towards the land of the living. fever is down, cold is fading. sweating like a pig though. #

Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter

Twittericous

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 23:00:17 GMT

10:28 back home again. Brought a running nose, sore throat, headache and a low fever with me. #

Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter

Twittericous

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 23:02:21 GMT

13:13 found a cafe with free wireless. i love fring! Also, lloret in november isnt too bad #

Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter

Twittericous

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 23:02:30 GMT

18:28 are couple noises from the room next door meant as a challenge? i'll go out on a limb and guess no. #

Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter

Twittericous

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 23:06:06 GMT

14:27 have successfully shaved off the moustache. am now back in the 90s with my bushy goatee. also.. flying to spain for 5 days on sunday #
15:21 @yothales has to be cancelled. alternatively we could play a game of Chaos in the Old World on saturday at the office? in / out? #
23:25 so how exactly do people get google wave invites? #

Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter

Twittericous

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 23:05:07 GMT

01:19 just got back from Das Weisse Band by Michael Haneke. Not for people who like to think for themselves. #

Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter

Twittericous

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 23:04:07 GMT

12:17 i dont have the time or the money to get into WFRP3. but it just looks so fantastic. ARGH! #
20:21 chaos in the old world cards have been successfully sleeved. am now ready to corrupt and ruin the old world with 3 other chaos gods again. #

Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter

Twittericous

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 23:02:32 GMT

00:20 @yothales i remember having a look at the book, it's real purdy. also thick. but mostly real purdy. #
00:20 embarassingly late to the party but... i think Arctic Monkey's first album is really quite good. a tad too noisy and hectic, but good. #

Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter

Twittericous

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 23:01:54 GMT

22:44 chaos in the old world is a remarkably entertaining game. even though i had victory stolen from under me by khorne & given to somebody else #

Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter

Twittericous

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 22:03:35 GMT

11:38 flying back from Essen. bought a load of stuff. expect guilty conscience later. #

Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter

Twittericous

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 22:02:31 GMT

16:44 #angermanagement repeat 100 times: my collegues are immature and socially inept narcissists. but it's ok, the money's good. #

Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter

Twittericous

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 22:03:32 GMT

22:54 @bookdepository #tbdfreebies Rosie didn't think she could take that, but she was wrong. As most people are. #

Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter

Twittericous

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 22:02:47 GMT

16:32 trying to will myself to like certain people I work with. it's not as easy as it sounds. #
23:07 my life with master is not an easy game to run. still trying to figure out how to handle the rules, pace the fiction and make it grabby. #
23:08 without turning it into tasteless cheap shocks and general sleaziness. #

Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter

Twittericous

Sat, 10 Oct 2009 22:01:07 GMT

17:27 rock band beatles party at my place tonight? could be. who knows? #
22:47 3 songs of rock band beatles turned to indian food turned to a game of citadels, then bug bluff, then chez geek and finally fluxx. #

Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter

Twittericous

Mon, 05 Oct 2009 22:03:01 GMT

13:16 3 days of gaming! saturday 5-player #Junta, sunday #Dominion (2x), #MrJack, #ShearPanic, #MysteryoftheAbbey and today My Life with Master. #
13:44 I cannot believe how quiet my new keyboard is. Except for the clacking space bar. I know it's terribly geeky, but I love writing on it. #
18:22 my life with master might have to be switched with another dose of boardgaming, not sure what i think of that #
22:33 dungeoneer is a snooze and a bore. mr jack on the other hand rocks on toast. that is all #

Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter

Twittericous

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 22:04:12 GMT

22:39 Started #Dollhouse. the gender politics are terribly overbearing, but I'm sticking it out, because apparently it gets much better later. #

Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter

Twittericous

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 22:04:11 GMT

14:30 called of tutoring for today. have returned to writing my papers. my degree might not yet be lost. #

Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter

Twittericous

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 22:00:44 GMT

23:39 #MLWM started off very sluggish, so we postponed the actual play to next week and opted for some beatles #rockband instead. which was fun. #

Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter

Offer to any native speakers

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 12:26:15 GMT

Hello everybody.

If you are reading this, and happen to be a native speaker of English, I have an offer for you. Sarah (my girlfriend) is currently writing her thesis paper and is looking for somebody to proofread her work. She's writing it in English and it's about linguistics. Alhough as far as I can tell the jargon is kept at a very reasonable level.

She'd like for somebody who is a native speaker to go through the text, which is going to be about 80 pages, and check for spelling or grammar mistakes and clean up the phrasing whereever necessary. A thorough understanding of linguistic theory isn't necessary.

Since proofreading 80 pages is quite a bit of work, you would of course get paid for it. If you have the time to go through the text (the deadline is in mid November, I believe), let me know. Either by leaving a comment, or by e-mail. We can sort out the details, either by phone or this fancy new internet gizmo called "chatting".

Twittericous

Sun, 27 Sep 2009 22:00:27 GMT

00:52 finally decided on what to run at this year's Odyssee-convention My Life with Master #mlwm, #poisond, #coldcity and #paranoia. yay me! #
15:49 just finished season one of #MadMen. very entertaining melodrama. looking forward to season 2 in late october. #

Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter

Twittericous

Sat, 26 Sep 2009 22:00:22 GMT

00:40 it seems #WFRP3 game design has chosen to take one step forward and two steps back. pointbuy-chargen. it's the 90s all over again. #

Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter