(no subject)
So, I just watched Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog for the first time. I'm in love with it, yeah, and it's so short. D= I mean, I'm not a fan of shows that extend forever, especially not webshows, but I'm kind of sad that it wasn't a couple of episodes longer. Still, it's just SO COOL.
As those of you in FListland that met me through fandom may know, I'm a sucker for characters with tragic backstories, particularly villians. The transformation of Dr. Horrible/Billy, the villian who was only a villian in the sense that he wanted to overturn the sick, dysfunctional human society and begin a NWO that would serve to better humanity, to Dr. Horrible, the man who lost everything in an instant and would feel nothing as he took everything away from others, was particularly sad. Up until Act III Scene II, DHSAB had been played mostly for comedy, so having Penny die at the end and effectively take Billy (Dr. Horrible's humanity incarnate) with her was a total gut check.
Also interesting is the character of Captain Hammer, Dr. Horrible's arch nemesis and the supposed "hero." To be quite blunt, he was a complete douchebag. He was only considered a hero, I think, because for all intents and purposes he upheld the status quo without thought to what ills modern society imposes on its own people. He does this not because he feels it's the right thing to do, but because it makes him popular. He dates Penny not because he's interested in her as a person, but because it means taking someone (though Hammer looks at Penny more as "something") important away from Horrible. While Dr. Horrible hesitated to kill Hammer when he had the chance, Hammer had no problem whatsoever firing the death ray at a prone and helpless target, effectively causing the death of Penny when the damaged gun exploded and sent shrapnel flying everywhere. A hero less humane than the villian? Sure, it's been done before, but so rarely that it's still a novel thing and it was particularly well executed in DHSAB.
Penny herself is...difficult to pin down. On the one hand, I feel that the character is more a symbol than a person, a representation of Billy's hope for a better world (though as Dr. Horrible he feels that the only way to bring that about is through force). In order for Dr. Horrible to become a true villian and achieve his goals of world domination, however, he would have to lose that naive idealism; Penny's death was Billy's innocence being stripped away by Captain Hammer, the very embodiment of mainstream society. On the other hand, I feel that she is an excellent and complex character in her own right. She is an advocate for the homeless, volunteering at a local shelter, giving support to and speaking for a group often overlooked by society. She falls in with Captain Hammer initially because of her attraction to what she percieves as the hero that saved her life, but later because of societal expectations--every girl supposedly wants a prince on a white horse, after all. And, even when broken and dying, she expresses concern for the villian and seeks to reassure him that everything would be okay. In a way, she reminds me of Aerith (though that could be because I've been playing/thinking about FFVII too much lately).
Mmm, I love the feeling of new fandoms. ♥
As those of you in FListland that met me through fandom may know, I'm a sucker for characters with tragic backstories, particularly villians. The transformation of Dr. Horrible/Billy, the villian who was only a villian in the sense that he wanted to overturn the sick, dysfunctional human society and begin a NWO that would serve to better humanity, to Dr. Horrible, the man who lost everything in an instant and would feel nothing as he took everything away from others, was particularly sad. Up until Act III Scene II, DHSAB had been played mostly for comedy, so having Penny die at the end and effectively take Billy (Dr. Horrible's humanity incarnate) with her was a total gut check.
Also interesting is the character of Captain Hammer, Dr. Horrible's arch nemesis and the supposed "hero." To be quite blunt, he was a complete douchebag. He was only considered a hero, I think, because for all intents and purposes he upheld the status quo without thought to what ills modern society imposes on its own people. He does this not because he feels it's the right thing to do, but because it makes him popular. He dates Penny not because he's interested in her as a person, but because it means taking someone (though Hammer looks at Penny more as "something") important away from Horrible. While Dr. Horrible hesitated to kill Hammer when he had the chance, Hammer had no problem whatsoever firing the death ray at a prone and helpless target, effectively causing the death of Penny when the damaged gun exploded and sent shrapnel flying everywhere. A hero less humane than the villian? Sure, it's been done before, but so rarely that it's still a novel thing and it was particularly well executed in DHSAB.
Penny herself is...difficult to pin down. On the one hand, I feel that the character is more a symbol than a person, a representation of Billy's hope for a better world (though as Dr. Horrible he feels that the only way to bring that about is through force). In order for Dr. Horrible to become a true villian and achieve his goals of world domination, however, he would have to lose that naive idealism; Penny's death was Billy's innocence being stripped away by Captain Hammer, the very embodiment of mainstream society. On the other hand, I feel that she is an excellent and complex character in her own right. She is an advocate for the homeless, volunteering at a local shelter, giving support to and speaking for a group often overlooked by society. She falls in with Captain Hammer initially because of her attraction to what she percieves as the hero that saved her life, but later because of societal expectations--every girl supposedly wants a prince on a white horse, after all. And, even when broken and dying, she expresses concern for the villian and seeks to reassure him that everything would be okay. In a way, she reminds me of Aerith (though that could be because I've been playing/thinking about FFVII too much lately).
Mmm, I love the feeling of new fandoms. ♥