Joss as the Broken-Hearted Shiva - Dollhouse 2.13 Epitaph 2: Return
Joss as the Broken-Hearted Shiva
Dollhouse 2.13 "Epitaph 2: Return"
Welcome to Postmodern Antifeminism - your instructor today is Joss "Wee-Wee" Whedon. He has revealed his inner misogynist with Dollhouse, if Dr. Horrible wasn't plain enough. I've been watching despite myself - cursing at my screen - just waiting for it to be over so I could see if Joss really had some grand plan to pull something brilliant out of his ass that would magically retcon the entire series into being non-misogynistic. Of course not. I wonder what story Joss thought he was telling, and how he convinced himself it was even remotely non-sexist. We already know he doesn't call DH a feminist show. Random thoughts in vague chronological order:
- Topher the tragic white manchild tears down world, brainwashes everyone, then realizes his sins and sacrifices himself to bring it back1
- Echo tough girl kicking ass on behalf of said tragic manchild, how progressive
- Echo - who has seemingly fought so hard for her independence and has kept Ballard (aka "her man"2) at arms's length for 10 years - is devastated that he died before she could say she loved him, loses her shit, which makes Priya realize she "needs" to reconcile with her own man and introduce their child to his father3
- Echo - who spent most of series brainwashed to varying degrees, used as a sex doll without Caroline's consent, and sleeping in a box - breaks free and saves world, then ends series by absorbing her man's memories to keep him with her always and getting back in her box - because this is the postfeminist patriarchy talking and we don't just have to do what it says, we have to act like we like it4
- Adele, the evil Mommy figure, has developed a heart/conscience, "forgives" and is maternal towards Topher. The reason Topher is supposed to be a tragic figure is because it's not his fault, he didn't mean to enslave them. He's just a child playing with his toys - which until the collapse, included people
- if Topher is Joss's self-insert - which is obviously true even if it's not officially confirmed - then this is how Joss sees his own role as creator - too brilliant for his own good. He makes these worlds (shows) and creates the characters (dolls) and toys with life and death (making us love them, then killing and hurting them in horrible new ways5) but it's not his fault (see above)
Footnotes:
1 - See also Wash - another Joss self-insert who met a tragic end fighting for the side of right. I think Joss sees himself as a Browncoat, that he's in an epic battle against the Executives of the Blue Hand Fox Network
2 - Her man who made this whole investigation into Rossum seemingly out of obsession with her, and she was nothing but a blank slate (literally! with the doll-state and the constant wiping) he did not actually know her at all. His dream that she "rewarded" all his hard work with sex shows where he's really coming from there. Ballard, who also had sex with Mellie - who was programmed to be in love with him, Madeline could not have given consent - afer he found out she was a doll and thus raped her. Shows his true nature towards women.
3 - Because of course the antidote to The Man is to get married and live simply off the land and bear his babies, this is what every woman secretly wants.
4 - Could it be any more obvious? You can take your toys (women) out of their boxes but no matter how hard they fight it, eventually they'll always end up back inside, going willingly of course to make it seem superficially slightly less creepy. They like to be oppressed!
5 - I have a whole theory about Joss, that he has become warped by the constant network meddling and killing his precious shows, to the point that he is trying to take it out on the audience by taking beloved characters and/or actors and injuring or killing them in the most horrifying, senseless way. Examples: Tara, Anya, Mal -> Caleb, Zoe -> Jasmine, Wash -> Alpha, Fred -> Illyria, Fred -> Whiskey/Dr. Saunders, River -> Bennett Halverson, Mellie/November. And he developed this masochistic or self-pitying/aggrandizing complex about maiming or killing his self-inserts as well: Xander, Wash, Topher. Or maybe he was always a sadist - it's very telling that he said about Willow (back in S2 of Buffy IIRC) that she was the one you had to hurt to get to the audience, because she was helpless and vulnerable and no one could hate her.
