Joss Whedon's Dollhouse
(click on photo to enlarge)
There is a good interview here at the LA Times blog where Joss is talking about episode #6, " Man on the Street" which is supposed to be the big kick ass amazing episode of Dollhouse:
You know, there may have been a negative side to it because people may have said, 'The first five episodes are crap," which I don't believe. But I do believe there's the negativity of somebody saying, "Well, now he's blaming the network" for the other episodes. No, no, no. We did our best to try and figure out how to put the show over as a new paradigm under the gun while we were in production or, occasionally, out of production. And what happened with "Man on the Street" - it came to me as a concept really quickly. And for the first time, there was a real simpatico. They were like, "Oh, yeah, we get that." And it was a very simple thing. I wrote it faster than anything I've ever written. It just poured out of me. All of that brewing we'd been doing became the soup for that episode. It really was a game changer for us on set and in production. The cast and the staff read it and a lot of tumblers fell into place. That's how we felt about the episode. There may be a negativity associated with hyping it. But a lot of the following episodes really work on the model of "Man on the Street." It was a big moment for us. We found a new level and were really proud of it. Other people may feel differently, but we walked away from shooting that episode going OK, we've just added a layer and we feel pretty excited about it.
I'm really looking forward to seeing this episode (this Friday, March 20th on Fox)! I hope a lot of people come to check this out, because I think that this will be the episode to judge the Dollhouse series on, not that first episode (Ghost), not that I hated that one... because I haven't hated any of them.
edited to add: Joss just posted at Whedonesque about the VERY important issue that has been tearing apart the Dollhouse fan base:
Hi guys. Just stopped in to talk seriously for a minute about this issue that is tearing at the very fabric of my fanbase: shoes.
Dr. Saunders: Didn't notice. Spent a lot of time with Costume God Shawna Trpcic talking about Amy's wardrobe; Shawna loves dressing her and was constantly designing fabulous dresses for her. It was my job to tell her when she'd gone too far and to remind her that all of these fabulous dresses would be covered by a (subtlely fabulous) labcoat. Wardrobe is one of my favorite departments, and just seeing those bolts of fabric lying about and knowing Shawna was cooking up something elegant and new for Amy filled me with a kind of peace. But I never noticed the shoes, because, well, Amy doesn't exactly stumble about.
Eliza: Yeah, she's wearing some pretty intense boots, particularly as Taffy. That's Eliza. She absolutely likes to turn up the heat wherever she thinks it's appropirate -- or close enough -- and it's part of her persona. My girl flaunts. I got no problem with it.
Mellie: She's just really tall. How were we gonna have Lubov menace her if she towers over him? And yes, her character is all about the vulnerable and the comforting. Paul, dude, notice her! (What's wrong with that boy?) But mostly: tall.
Now you have the inside scoop on the shoe scandal of '09. Coming soon: Sierra infiltrates the NSA in a ridiculous pair of pumps! TV is funny!
Sincerely, -j.
At least I've been seeing it come up in just about every discussion for every one of the episodes!
oh and then Joss went on to actually discuss feminism and the writers' intention:
I wasn't going to touch the whole feminism debate, but I'm wacky sometimes. All I'll say is this: what I say about myself and my intentions should have nothing to do with your experience of my work. As Hitchcock said, "Trust the tale, not the teller." Some 'feminist' works reinforce stereotypes, some 'exploitive' works provide textured kick-ass female roles. Mostly everyone does both. If you view a piece solely from the perspective of the writer's INTENTION -- or one specific part of that intention -- it's harder to have a true response to how the work makes you feel. In this age of total disclosure (you know EVERYTHING about the shoes now!) that kind of pure watching is hard to come by. PITFALL is a startlingly bold Noir from a feminist viewpoint, but does that make Andre DeToth a feminist director? I don't know, but I do know it was much more exciting finding that movie without any preconception of what the writer or director intended. I have tried to hide in my work, and even bloging on feminist issues felt like a dangerous trap for me because once I take a stand as a public figure, that purity of watching is gone. Let the debate about me rage on: "I don't care what you think, as long as it's about me" -- yes, I just quoted Fall Out Boy -- but that debate should really ignore what I say in these, my morning-cup-of-tea postings. We are only the sum of our actions. Or our art.
So, in summary: please ignore me/pay attention to me, and judge my work on its own merits unless it has none in which case give me a pass 'cause I said I was a feminist.
Hmm. I might need stronger tea.
I can only think that Joss has some time on his hands this morning.... but that is always okay with me!