Comments | highandrandom: Very, very long analysis of Dr Horrible

highandrandom

Very, very long analysis of Dr Horrible

Jul 19, 2008 17:01

( Why I Love Dr Horrible - Spoilers Galore (it's also very, very long) )

Comments 29

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highandrandom July 19 2008, 09:39:31 UTC

Thanks for reading. I don't think you can help but feel for Billy. Especially when you see him sacrificing his only shot at happiness to become part of the system that he always fought against.

whollyuncertain July 19 2008, 09:25:12 UTC

Even if it was long, I read this (followed the link from the comm), and I loved it because I utterly agree. On my first watching of Act III, I felt sort of neutral, but after a few more watches, it really started grabbing at my heartstrings. I think what really breaks me is that one last scene, and you wrote about that so poignantly by saying "Billy is banished to the blog, a tiny and devastatingly unhappy fragment of what could have been." Because it's so true. The look on his face just shattered me inside, and the fact that it was Billy who ended it with the last two words ( ... )

highandrandom July 19 2008, 09:31:27 UTC

I agree with the 'Penny's last words' thing. That said - I think that Penny still deeply believed that even if Hammer was a dick, he still fought on the right side. She didn't seem to be able to connect the Doctor to Billy (one saving grace) and to her - they simply needed a hero.

Thanks for the comment :)

sockschan July 19 2008, 09:28:08 UTC

in a way, you could say that the murder that really got Dr. Horrible into the Evil League of Evil was the murder of Billy.

highandrandom July 19 2008, 09:33:06 UTC

Indeed. It was very much a "sacrifice everything you need to achieve anything you want" aspect. Poor Billy.

cosmic_celery July 19 2008, 10:06:17 UTC

It was Penny that was the major motivator for Billy to stay Billy. When he's about to kill Captain Hammer, it's the thought of her that makes him pause. So, with her gone, all that's left for him is Dr. Horrible. That's why that last scene really hits hard (and is completely needed) is because he's, as you put, a "devastatingly unhappy fragment of what could have been." The pain transforms him, but that shred of him is still there.

So then, is this a cautionary tale?

highandrandom July 19 2008, 10:21:58 UTC

I don't know if it's a cautionary tale as much as a fable with a moral. Cautionary implies "don't follow this example", and I think Whedon's implying more strongly that there is beauty in the world - no matter how bleak, and it's up to us to find it.

As I said - I've only had one viewing each of the last acts and I need to watch it consecutively to give it a proper analysis.

There's also just the statement by Penny: "Everything Happens". I (like Joss) follow an existentialist philosophy. Stuff happens without reason, we are the ones that make the decisions, and the world we create for ourselves is simply a result of that. Unfortunately, Billy made some bad decisions.

cosmic_celery July 19 2008, 10:36:53 UTC

I'll be interested in what you have to say later on, but I think you've got the heart of it here.

Anyhow, thanks for the analysis, it helps me put words to a few things.

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highandrandom July 19 2008, 10:40:42 UTC

Heh. Sorry about that.

Someone on Whedonesque commented that now we can see why the Doc starts wearing his goggles over his eyes...to hide the tears...

I didn't tear up when I saw it, but I've been sitting here with that 'burning behind your eyes' feeling for most of the night.

My father actually walked past and commented "You've been really quiet tonigh--oh Dr Horrible ended tonight didn't it."
*nod*
"Jossed?"
*nod*

I've taught him well.