Dollhouse 1x01

[oyceter]

Dear Joss,

While it's nice that you have an Actual Asian Person (TM) in your cast, it would be even better if you would stop using things like Asian teapots, hotels, clothes, and geisha (who seem to, like all the others, act as scenery in your world) while populating the surroundings with all white people.

No love,
Another Actual Asian Person (TM)

Spoilers

I will probably keep watching for now, because despite the extremely sketchy premise, the amnesia and the doll bits are right up my manga kink alley.

On the other hand, WOW sketchy racial politics! We have Latino victim/businessmen, threatened by a Latino gang, disembodied Asian artifacts set in a world of white people, and even more white people with all the power and control! And another white person investigating. (see ETA)

And a single black man, who though I like so far as a character, have almost zero faith in his development.

I know I read as very cynical and angry. I love Buffy, but I feel that with each continuing product, Joss gets more and more problematic, like he spent all his feminist cred on Buffy (hello, Angel) and then basically just stopped thinking about anything past what floats his own boat, id-wise. It's lucky for us that some of it involves women with guns, but at this point, I'd like a little less crazy brunette and a little more of something else.

Also, the writing in Dollhouse wasn't so great—clunky As-You-Know-Bob's, not much humor or wit, and characters who I feel I've seen in many other Joss shows before (hello Warren! hello damaged brunette out to get her abuser! hello Lilah! hello Wolfram & Hart! hello police guy who vaguely looks like Nathan Fillion!).

ETA: Wait, FBI guy is Helo? Wow, I am out of it fannishly. OK, another plus for a POC actor, and I am crossing my fingers that they are not doing the "multiracial person coded as white" and actually write the agent as POC.

ETA2: And apparently the Spanish is not so much with the grammatical! Why am I not surprised?

Comments

[laurashapiro.livejournal.com]

I noticed the teapot, but I missed the Asian influence in the rest of the decor/clothing -- except for the geisha heading off to her "engagement". I think you could *hear* my eyes rolling.

I am not sure that the casting of the subplot was problematic, though. I was actually pretty pleased to see a Latino of power, wealth, and sensitivity in the parental role. And the gang seemed to be mixed white and Latino, but I could be totally reading that wrong. I'd like to hear more of your thoughts on this aspect being sketchy.

Boyd is my favorite character, and he already seems pretty uncomfortable, ethically, with what he's doing, so I have some hope we'll get some character development from him.

I don't disagree with you that Joss has been coasting on his Buffy feminist cred for a while now. I wish I still felt like I could trust him, but I don't. Not after Dr. Horrible.

[magicnoire.livejournal.com]

I really didn't like the pilot at all. It wasn't even the sketchy racial politics or skanky premise -- which, mind you, I find both sketchy and skanky! -- I just thought the writing was really bad! I know pilots have a history of being shaky and bad with the writing and execution, but this is the first thing of Joss's I've seen since Firefly/Serenity (didn't watch Dr. Horrible and didn't want to after I read more about it) and I feel like he's lost something in the intervening years.

[oyceter]

OMG the Asian hotel! Full of partying white people! It was so bad! So bad! And random people in the Mandarin collars and frog button things! And the geisha! WTF? Also, to be nitpicky, from a quick glance, her kimono did not look particularly authentic—too loose and foldy and draped, with the obi being not at all stiff enough.

I did like seeing the Latino character as a man of power and wealth and sensitivity (although also annoyed with the Asian decorations in his house! For a while, I was trying to figure out if the actor was multiracial to explain the framed kanji and the bamboo), but I really didn't like that he basically was only there as plot fodder, that he gets shot and has absolutely nothing to do with the rescue of his daughter, and then is out of the picture for the rest of the show. And the egregious accent on the kidnapper over the phone! And that even with the kidnapping gang, the white guy is in power!

I like Boyd the most as well and really hope I am wrong re: his character development.

I don't know. I am just angry and cynical and tired. And the egregious Asian trappings SO did not help.

[oyceter]

Yeah! Well, I am basically thinking the pilot was probably rewritten a bazillion times, a la Firefly, which would explain the horrible clunkiness... like, even without the sketchy politics, there were too many expository scenes that served no purpose save exposition.

[magicnoire.livejournal.com]

I was commenting in someone else's LJ that the only character that really interests me right now is Amy Acker's character. I mean, I like Echo's handler but I don't have high hopes. I've learned not to.

[laurashapiro.livejournal.com]

Oh, wait, yes! The neon pagoda! How could I miss the neon pagoda! ::facepalm::

Although I admit I was too busy being horrified by Echo's just-below-the-hairline minidress to notice the Mandarin collars and such.

My sense is that all the Engagements are going to be plot fodder for a while, but I understand your frustration about the father being taken out of the way so the white people could get their heroic on. Not to mention the guy on the phone's accent. Jeez.

[oyceter]

Yeah, I did like her character. Although I kind of wish Joss had gone with casting a 40-50 year old woman (or at least, so says Wikipedia) as opposed to Amy Acker; it would be really nice to have an older woman to contrast with the largely 20-some Actives and the still rather youngish woman in charge.

I think right now I want to know the most about Boyd, about his police background and why he accepted this stint in the first place.

[oyceter]

The Mandarin collars I think were on the uniforms of some of the Dollhouse staff? Most of the costuming in the neon pagoda was teeny party clothes (and yes to the horror of the minidress!).

I.. yeah. I mean, I get that there is going to be a lot of Monster of the Week with the Engagements, but that is why it would be nice if some more of the regulars were POC. Sigh. (Not angry with you; angry with the casting.)

[shewhohashope.livejournal.com]

I don't think I've heard anything good about this show.

[morgan-dhu.livejournal.com]

Aside from all the things that you and other people have mentioned here, from the recyling of tropes to the questionable portrayal of POC to the Asian artefacts in a vacuum and the somewhat clunky writing, what bothers me the most is actually the structure of the series as I see it now.

Frome Dushku's perspective as an actor, I bet it's a wonderful opportunity - she can play a huge range of characters and be one or more different people every single episode.

But... I find myself so far completely unable to engage with the vacuum in the centre of the series which is Echo's non-character. I need to see more of who she was before she becomes a tabula rasa, because there's nothing now to make me care, other than my basic philosophical/ethical objections to what is happening to all of the Actives. And while that's important, it's not enough to get me involved at a gut level.

Plus, I find myself thinking that while Echo appears to be the central character, a lot of the actual arc-level plot development is going to happen around Boyd and the obsessed cop, and I'm not sure how I feel about that. I want her to take back her own reality, not have men do it for her.

Also, there was enough women/girls in refrigerator imagery to last a long time, and while I'm sure Whedon thinks he knows what that means, I wonder if he really gets what that means.

[minim_calibre]

Joss gets more and more problematic, like he spent all his feminist cred on Buffy (hello, Angel) and then basically just stopped thinking about anything past what floats his own boat, id-wise.

I'd probably feel less like cringing at everything he's done post-Buffy if he hadn't somehow, by quasi-empowering the tiny blonde, gained some kind of rep for HAVING cred that people take on faith (and argue loudly), even when his works are seriously problematic.

[morgan-dhu.livejournal.com]

I don't know how he identifies, but the actor playing the cop obsessed with proving that Dollhouse exists, Tamoh Penniket, is partly of First Nations ancestry (his mother is a member of the White Horse Nation).

[oyceter]

I just realized that after reading other comments and feel dumb! I am very much hoping that the show writes his character as POC.

[oyceter]

Aiiyeaaaaah.... I am hoping some of the clunky writing was Pilot Issues and hoping that some of the problematicness is set up to be deconstructed, but I am really not sure Joss will deconstruct as much as I want, given the track record.

[oyceter]

I am actually, strangely, ok with the central structure, but that is because I have a big amnesia thing and am therefore inherently interested, which I realize is extremely idiosyncratic. But mostly, yes, I am very unsure that the show will end up deconstructing as opposed to attempting to deconstruct and actually reinforcing gender stereotypes.

Which is sad, because although the premise is sketchy, I think it could have been very interesting with more male Actives and with an examination of the way gender informs who we are (or how things are imposed upon us due to gender). Or it could be a bitingly angry feminist denouncement. Or ... something. But right now, I am not seeing that. Like, I see the straw man being set up with the computer geek/Warren analogue, but that's the easy target.

[oyceter]

Yeeeeeees. This! And I love Buffy and Angel, despite the sometimes skanky gender issues and the totally skanky race issues!

[morgan-dhu.livejournal.com]

I am very much hoping that the show writes his character as POC.

It would be nice, yes. I'm not sure, but I think that the First Nations/American Indian perspective is not explored as often in US media as it is in Canadian media (not that what we do here is necessarily adequate, or always well-done). So to have the perspective of an urban First Nations person (who doesn't "look the part") would really be interesting.

Not that I believe Whedon is going to do it.

I mean, I liked Buffy, and Angel, and Firefly and Serenity despite many manifest problems, but... he's never been very good with race issues.

[morgan-dhu.livejournal.com]

Which is sad, because although the premise is sketchy, I think it could have been very interesting with more male Actives and with an examination of the way gender informs who we are (or how things are imposed upon us due to gender). Or it could be a bitingly angry feminist denouncement. Or ... something.

That's another thing - I can see how much really fascinating deconstruction someone could do in this show, given this premise and the network support to carry it out. But I'm not at all convinced that Whedon has engaged in feminist analysis to the degree necessary to pull it off (see how badly Firefly handled what could have been a great reworking of the sex worker paradigm). nor that any network would actually let him do it if he actually did know how to do it.

[lady-ganesh.livejournal.com]

That is awesome, and I'm pleased, especially since I sort of like him.

[cofax7]

I would be very very surprised if they did so.

[lady-ganesh.livejournal.com]

I've said this before, but hell, I'll say it again: Joss reminds me of someone who takes, like, one Women's Studies course in college, decides he knows everything, and refuses to listen to anyone else or learn further, because he took that one course! And it was really awesome!

[lady-ganesh.livejournal.com]

I find myself so far completely unable to engage with the vacuum in the centre of the series which is Echo's non-character. I need to see more of who she was before she becomes a tabula rasa, because there's nothing now to make me care, other than my basic philosophical/ethical objections to what is happening to all of the Actives. And while that's important, it's not enough to get me involved at a gut level.

That's been my chief plot/watchability concern from the start, and I have to say the pilot didn't really help with that, aside from the few glimpses of her memories "Echo" gets.

THEY LITERALLY PUT A GIRL IN A REFRIGERATOR. JOSS, IF YOU THINK YOU'RE BEING CLEVER, YOU ARE WRONG.

[lady-ganesh.livejournal.com]

The show suffered doubly from being after SCC, I think, which actually has an interesting Asian woman who has more agency in her brief appearance than almost anyone in the whole episode.

I linked to your review in my post, hope you don't mind.

[morgan-dhu.livejournal.com]

THEY LITERALLY PUT A GIRL IN A REFRIGERATOR. JOSS, IF YOU THINK YOU'RE BEING CLEVER, YOU ARE WRONG.

Yes. Exactly.

And then echoing (pun intentional) that image when the Actives go to sleep in their comfy little vegetable-fresher compartments.

[morgan-dhu.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, that's it exactly!