Dollhouse 2.04

[meganbmoore]

Wow. Joss Whedon, you just managed to offend me on levels I didn’t know I had while simultaneously boring me to tears. I didn’t know that was possible.

I should mention that this episode is the FOURTH TIME that this show has had a man assault a woman with “good” results. Possibly more. I did skip two episodes, after all. This is particularly

Comments

[lyssie]

(Also…uhm…CAN you drug someone into developing paranoid schizophrenia?)

Possibly? You can certainly drive them insane and make them think weird shit is going down, I'd imagine.

eta: also, every time you talk about this show, my opinion of the people who think it's good goes down just a little more.

[meganbmoore]

At it's best, it's only ever been "less bad" or close to "better than" the rest. Good actors, lots of interesting potential, but all of it's wasted in the name of promoting a rape apologist fantasy.

[lady_ganesh]

Topher himself realizes she didn't really have schizophrenia when he looks at her brain scans, so my guess is that he drugged her into symptoms that looked like paranoid schizophrenia.

[lyssie]

I suppose this means Topher then gave her her real memories back and let her go?

[lady_ganesh]

You got half of it, does that count?

[lyssie]

No. Sadly, it just makes my dislike of Topher more intense.

[lady_ganesh]

Can't blame you there.

[gryphonsegg]

I'm sorry to bring this up after everyone else has moved on, but I initially didn't understand how the paranoid schizophrenia thread fit in with the rest of it. Tell me if I have this right: Topher and DeWitt understand that it is not okay to kidnap a neurotypical person, mind-wipe her, and pimp her out; but they do believe it is okay to do the exact same thing to a person with schizophrenia. They think it is acceptable to force a "cure" on a person with a disability and then force her into prostitution to "pay" for the "cure" that she didn't even ask for. Is that really what was going on in the episode? I was so caught up in the misogyny that missed the absolutely shocking and repulsive ablism. I think I'm going to be sick now.

[lady_ganesh]

It took me a while to catch the full implications of it myself, but yes, that's pretty much completely it. Except that the show bounces between Topher and DeWitt not really caring about anyone and them being shocked, shocked by the current plot development. Topher is supposed to be developing a conscience but I have no idea what DeWitt's 'excuse' is.

[gryphonsegg]

Yeah, and the thing is, even if they were sincerely shocked, I tell you, SHOCKED! to find out that Priya wasn't schizophrenic, that does not make one bit of difference to their moral culpability. What they did to her was profoundly evil, and I don't get how anyone could think it would be any less evil to do that to a person with a disability. I just can't wrap my mind around it.

[lady_ganesh]

Exactly.

[meganbmoore]

Pretty much.

[violaswamp]

Ditto on your last sentence.

[crevanfox]

you can drug someone (ironically with antipsychotics) to exhibit similiar symptoms.