Moral Dilemmas on the Small Screen
May. 4th, 2009 06:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
deird_ljI have a confession for you all.
...one which most of you won't care about in the slightest, and the rest of you will probably disagree with me about.
But here it is, for what it's worth:
I don't think that Dollhouse is morally simple (black/white, good/evil)
- but if it is, I'm on the side of the bad guys.
See, here's the thing. Sierra's handler does something insanely evil? Adelle finds out? I cheer as Adelle kills the bastard in a very ironic manner.
Dominic is secretly working for the NSA against the Dollhouse? Adelle finds out? I cheer as Adelle sends him to the attic.
Paul breaks into the Dollhouse to get Caroline out?
...he takes down Topher, and I gasp in horror.
...he opens November's pod, and I want to hit him.
...he smashes through Victor's pod, and I want to hit him harder.
...he takes on Boyd, and I hope desperately that Boyd wins.
...he tries to take Echo outside, and I shriek "No! You bastard! Poor Echo!"
...he gets punched by Boyd, and I think about poor Topher, lying tazered and unconcious upstairs, and clap Boyd enthusiastically.
...Echo pulls him down the stairs, and I cheer!
...Adelle ties him up in her office and smiles nastily at him, and I cheer some more!
This has never happened to me before.
I liked Jack Harper, but I still wanted him to lose to Tru every week.
I loved Lilah Morgan, but I still wanted Wolfram & Hart's schemes to fail.
But, you see, I care about the Dollhouse employees.
Adelle is lovely (if insanely ruthless and more than a little bitchy), and she does seem to think that they're doing altruistic work.
Ditto with Topher.
Claire and Boyd? They're protecting the dolls, more than anything else. (Plus, Claire wins major woobie-points for her face.)
And the actives themselves are just cute as anything.
...whereas Paul is basically an utter bastard. Who is slowly going insane.
So, if you insist that it's a black and white situation, with "Paul demolishes the Dollhouse, and sets Caroline, et al, free (thus sending the others to jail, and dissolving the Doll personalities as the real people resume their lives)" on one side, and "Adelle, Topher, Claire, and Boyd all continue to run the Dollhouse, the Dolls continue to paint and go swimming, and Paul goes down" on the other side, I'm going to be lining up on the Evil side of the equation.
I just care so much more about those people...
...one which most of you won't care about in the slightest, and the rest of you will probably disagree with me about.
But here it is, for what it's worth:
- but if it is, I'm on the side of the bad guys.
See, here's the thing. Sierra's handler does something insanely evil? Adelle finds out? I cheer as Adelle kills the bastard in a very ironic manner.
Dominic is secretly working for the NSA against the Dollhouse? Adelle finds out? I cheer as Adelle sends him to the attic.
Paul breaks into the Dollhouse to get Caroline out?
...he takes down Topher, and I gasp in horror.
...he opens November's pod, and I want to hit him.
...he smashes through Victor's pod, and I want to hit him harder.
...he takes on Boyd, and I hope desperately that Boyd wins.
...he tries to take Echo outside, and I shriek "No! You bastard! Poor Echo!"
...he gets punched by Boyd, and I think about poor Topher, lying tazered and unconcious upstairs, and clap Boyd enthusiastically.
...Echo pulls him down the stairs, and I cheer!
...Adelle ties him up in her office and smiles nastily at him, and I cheer some more!
This has never happened to me before.
I liked Jack Harper, but I still wanted him to lose to Tru every week.
I loved Lilah Morgan, but I still wanted Wolfram & Hart's schemes to fail.
But, you see, I care about the Dollhouse employees.
Adelle is lovely (if insanely ruthless and more than a little bitchy), and she does seem to think that they're doing altruistic work.
Ditto with Topher.
Claire and Boyd? They're protecting the dolls, more than anything else. (Plus, Claire wins major woobie-points for her face.)
And the actives themselves are just cute as anything.
...whereas Paul is basically an utter bastard. Who is slowly going insane.
So, if you insist that it's a black and white situation, with "Paul demolishes the Dollhouse, and sets Caroline, et al, free (thus sending the others to jail, and dissolving the Doll personalities as the real people resume their lives)" on one side, and "Adelle, Topher, Claire, and Boyd all continue to run the Dollhouse, the Dolls continue to paint and go swimming, and Paul goes down" on the other side, I'm going to be lining up on the Evil side of the equation.
I just care so much more about those people...
no subject
Date: 2009-05-04 07:21 pm (UTC)