mskatej said what I was thinking, here (http://mskatej.livejournal.com/295202.html?thread=10621730&format=light#t10621730).
And no, I did not miss the token male "dolls" - but that's a drop in the bucket of sexist fail that is the entire rest of the show. The "dolls" are being purchased for more than eye candy - the purchase options include sex and therefore manages to combine prostitution *and* rape (because their minds are blanked, how can they possibly give consent?) in a very unlovely package. And yes, I get that he's saying it's wrong, and The Dollhouse is not supposed to be a fine institution or in any way the good guys, but any faith I may have had that the trope was going to be subverted was severely undermined by such things as the multiple scenes of scantily clad (female) "dolls" in titillating poses or gyrating on the dance floor, etc. etc. And yes, we can only hope that that was the result of Fox's meddling (as I am assuming were the horrible commercials with Summer Glau and Eliza Dushku saying, "We're created just for you... we'll do whatever you want"). But you know what? I don't really care. If Joss can't get Fox to air his shows without messing with them, then he should just go to another network already. I don't want to watch a show that slaps me across the face with its pilot, in the hopes that 7 episodes later he'll kiss it and make it better.
I'm beginning to think that Joss has an abusive relationship with Fox, and the fans perpetuate/buy into this by continuing to support his creative projects on the network. And we also have an abusive relationship with Joss, ourselves. We always hope that this time it'll be different.
I used to think Buffy was a feminist show. In retrospect it is very problematic in a lot of ways. Lip service to feminist ideals doesn't make up for anti-women execution.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2009-02-18 04:49 am (UTC)And no, I did not miss the token male "dolls" - but that's a drop in the bucket of sexist fail that is the entire rest of the show. The "dolls" are being purchased for more than eye candy - the purchase options include sex and therefore manages to combine prostitution *and* rape (because their minds are blanked, how can they possibly give consent?) in a very unlovely package. And yes, I get that he's saying it's wrong, and The Dollhouse is not supposed to be a fine institution or in any way the good guys, but any faith I may have had that the trope was going to be subverted was severely undermined by such things as the multiple scenes of scantily clad (female) "dolls" in titillating poses or gyrating on the dance floor, etc. etc. And yes, we can only hope that that was the result of Fox's meddling (as I am assuming were the horrible commercials with Summer Glau and Eliza Dushku saying, "We're created just for you... we'll do whatever you want"). But you know what? I don't really care. If Joss can't get Fox to air his shows without messing with them, then he should just go to another network already. I don't want to watch a show that slaps me across the face with its pilot, in the hopes that 7 episodes later he'll kiss it and make it better.
I'm beginning to think that Joss has an abusive relationship with Fox, and the fans perpetuate/buy into this by continuing to support his creative projects on the network. And we also have an abusive relationship with Joss, ourselves. We always hope that this time it'll be different.
I used to think Buffy was a feminist show. In retrospect it is very problematic in a lot of ways. Lip service to feminist ideals doesn't make up for anti-women execution.