Dollhouse and body issues: actually way deeper than Miracle Laurie's cleavage!

[pocochina]

Not that it takes a lot of prodding for me to be thinking about Dollhouse, but me_llamo_nic ’s recent poll and post about body issues in the Jossverse (which I highly recommend, along with all of the other links below) got me thinking about one of the reasons that I really love the show. And that- despite the eventual fail that me_llamo_nic  points out in his incisive

Comments

[eowyn_315]

Huh. Interesting stuff. I'd noticed some of it - like Mellie cooking food she doesn't eat and talking about herself as a commodity - but not the implications of the Actives' meals. (I also probably saw that differently because my issues with food are very much about choice, in that I see my weight as my personal failing. I sometimes think I'd prefer to be told what to eat and not have a choice, because then it's not my fault.)

The one counterpoint I'd raise, though, is that although Mellie is selected specifically to attract Paul, ultimately it is Caroline that he's obsessed with, and Echo that he falls in love with, which I think undermines the idea of his "dream girl" because in the end, Mellie isn't enough to win him over. He cares for her, and feels protective of her once he realizes she's an Active, but when push comes to shove, it's Echo that he wants and always has been.

[pocochina]

although Mellie is selected specifically to attract Paul, ultimately it is Caroline that he's obsessed with, and Echo that he falls in love with, which I think undermines the idea of his "dream girl"

Totally, and I do think that the show does fall down a bit on body issues. But that doesn't change the fact that the Dollhouse, who are experts on seduction, have their pick of TV-skinny Actives to send to Paul, but they go with November, and she gets the job done. That's a pretty strong authorial statement, regardless of how the plot goes from there. And Paul's affection for Mellie is, all told, quite healthy for him; his obsession with Echo gets him dragged into the Dollhouse, clinically dead, and then Dolled up himself - I'm not so sure that relationship is brushed off in favor of the perpetually unsettling Echo/Paul situation.

Body issues are so cruel on any level.

[eowyn_315]

And Paul's affection for Mellie is, all told, quite healthy for him; his obsession with Echo gets him dragged into the Dollhouse, clinically dead, and then Dolled up himself - I'm not so sure that relationship is brushed off in favor of the perpetually unsettling Echo/Paul situation.

Maybe meant to symbolize our unhealthy obsession with TV standards of beauty? It's obvious that Mellie is better for him, but he can't stop chasing Echo, whom he's built up in his mind as being the answer, symbolic of everything he wants to achieve in bringing down the Dollhouse, perfection that doesn't really exist.

[pocochina]

Holy shit! That's brill. I totally didn't think of it like that, but you're absolutely right, it fits perfectly.

[me_llamo_nic]

Chillingly accurate assessment

[pocochina]

Yeah. I mean, I think S1 was a lot more subtle in its dissection of power dynamics and exploitation, when it was allowed to be, but I really love that the show ripped that away and shows the viewer that no matter how you dress it up - and a lot of viewers, particularly in the first few episodes, were taking kind of a Topherian stance toward the whole enterprise - this is heading somewhere bad. Really radical television, in a lot of ways.

I think some of the body issues stuff was going to be there no matter what - the Actives being the embodiment of emphasized femininity - but the text and Joss' own words in commentary and interviews make it clear that they wanted to go here specifically as a part of the exploration of gender and power and how (as Topher says in the original pilot) we're all imprinted.

And you're welcome! It was a great post, and it totally helped me get together these ideas I've been meaning to put down since, hmmm, was it Briar Rose? aired.

[me_llamo_nic]

Topher's speech in the pilot was brilliant. I wish it had made it to air. I also liked the one guy in 'Man on the Street': "You think it's not happening. You think they're not controlling you. ... Just sit back and wait for them to tell you what to buy."

[pocochina]

Yeah, that unaired pilot was a mighty fine hour of television. I mean, I can't imagine the show unfolding other than it did, and it makes the reveal of the exploitation story that much more powerful in MotS, but you couldn't have gotten a clearer mission statement than that little exchange. From the author avatar, no less.

"You think it's not happening. You think they're not controlling you. ... Just sit back and wait for them to tell you what to buy."

Man, there was not a moment of that episode that didn't warrant serious philosophical consideration. And it was so plotty and fantastic.