“Forget morality. Imagine it’s true. Imagine this technology being used. Now imagine it being used, on you. Everything you believe, gone. Everyone you love, strangers. Maybe enemies. Every part of you that makes you more than a walking cluster of neurons, dissolved at someone else’s whim. If that technology exists, it’ll be used. It’ll be abused. It’ll be global. And we will be over. As a species, we will cease to matter. I don’t know, maybe we should.”
For the uninitiated, here’s the short description: The Dollhouse is a highly illegal organization, the real purpose and extent of which is just now being revealed, which hires out a group of people called “Actives” or “Dolls”. These Actives have willingly (or at least that’s what we’re led to believe) had the memories of their previous life wiped out so they can exist in a child-like state when not in an engagement – which range from crimes, fantasies, to the occasional good deed. When a Doll is hired, he or she is then imprinted with the persona that the engagement requires, which includes memory, muscle memory, skills, and language, and that the Doll fully embodies until the engagement is complete and is again mind wiped (which they call “treatment”) and kept for the next assignment.
For the last five episodes from the series premier, the show has been taking flak from viewers and critics alike that many believe it will not be picked up for a second season. The sixth episode which aired last Friday, Man on the Street, may change all that. The mythology of the show has finally kicked in. Giving up on watching a movie with bad lighting on the TV, I turned to my PC to look for this latest episode (Dollhouse is available on iTunes and Hulu.com for those residing in the US; for the rest of the world, there are other streaming sites online), and, boy, was that a fine hour of television! I finally saw Joss Whedon all over the episode – from the sly, off-handed humor to the dark, thought-provoking tones.
I don’t intend to summarize the episode because it will be pointless for nonwatchers and again pointless for those who are in for the ride. But I leave you with the quote at the beginning of this post to ponder on. The Dollhouse is a bad place, of that we are certain. But is there anything in the world that will make you want to give up your identity, your self-awareness, and your control over your own body? I wouldn’t think so.
I’ve thought about that, giving up my self-awareness and everything else being wiped out, and if I’d be willing to have that. like choosing between living in the matrix or in zion, and i kinda think I’d somehow choose matrix, under some circumstances. is there really something to lose if you’d never find out who you really are? i haven’t made up my mind yet. hehe.
Alam mo, you convinced me to watch Dollhouse. We were looking for a dibidi in Ruins last week kaso out of stock.
mordsith, don’t make up your mind toward that, he he. I still believe our identity/self-awareness is what separates us from the other species. If we lose that, then sabi nga nung quote, we will cease to matter.
rico, baka wala pa to sa ruins. it’s a new series, just six episodes in sa 1st season. I can help with that, but will tell you in person na lang, he he.