Whedonism

How Dollhouse Toyed With the Idea of How People and Institutions are Formed

A Dollhouse entry in The AV Club’s “Very Special Episode” feature.

Topic: Dollhouse

Coverage: Episode 2.6 “The Left Hand”

Type: Analytical Essay

Best Feature: Clips from the episode to illustrate the arguments in the essay.

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Much Ado About Nothing Official Trailer

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It’s a whip-smart ensemble comedy. It’s an honest examination of the growing pains of adolescence. It’s a thankfully unpredictable discombobulation of gender roles and sexual identity. It’s an unblinking consideration of mortality. It revels in the relationships of one of television’s most compelling surrogate families.

— Jason Bailey, “Why Netflix Thinks ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ is a Guilty Pleasure - And Why It Isn’t”, Flavorwire, March 4th 2013

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Mark Watches...

Detailed reaction/analysis to every episode of every Whedon show.

Topic: All of Whedon’s shows…plus a bunch of other series

Coverage: All seasons

Type: Blog

Best Feature: Mark watches… and rewatches. So you can see his perspective as a newbie and an experienced viewer

Tags: Buffy The Vampire Slayer buffy angel firefly dollhouse whedon joss Josswhedon blog

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Because then, there’s Topher, the programmer, who is responsible for constructing the artificial personalities and implanting them in the dolls, who is a dorky blonde guy just like Whedon and who speaks in distinctly Whedonian cadences and lines, and who we are encouraged to dislike more than almost anyone else in the series. What you hear, when you hear Topher speaking about how difficult it is to construct a believable personality, how all of his creations have to be full and nuanced and have reasons for how they behave, how achievement is fueled by lack and he gave her asthma because that made her a more complete person and blah blah blah, is noted feminist auteur Joss Whedon reflecting, very consciously and very obviously, on his life’s work - hiring gorgeous women and making them into who he wants them to be - and saying that sometimes, he feels kind of icky about it. It’s a beautiful thing: brave, and self-questioning, and radical…in a way I trust more than I’m used to trusting my entertainment, and in a way that I’ve come to expect from the show as a whole.

— Tiger Beatdown: Dollhouse, Joss Whedon, and the Strange and Difficult Path of Feminist Dudes: Some Thoughts

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