Many of Dollhouse’s feminist criticisms stem from the “rape” idea that, critics argue, is being downplayed by the fact that the imprinted actives give their consent because they are “programmed” to do so. Some believe that Whedon normalizes and idealizes rape by integrating it subtly in the show and showing it without the consequences. One feminist blogger wrote, “The rape scenes on Dollhouse are rarely shot as rapes. The horror is intellectual, not yet on screen — at least not often. This isn’t about subtlety for me, it’s about a lackluster use of the medium. The shots are too glammy. The editing doesn’t make you question what’s going on.” (Palma, 2009)
While these critics have a point about the subtle and undermined rape concept of the show, there are actually many other scenes that are blatantly anti-feminist. Many viewers choose to focus on and critique the whole premise of the show, when there are many little snippets in the episodes that evidently show real horrific situations and not just a subtle, symbolic one.
*After writing this, or something similar to it, I plan to describe the two scenes that I will be basing most of my evidence for arguments on: the exchange between Paul Ballard and his co-worker, and the actual rape scene of Sierra and Hearne. I don’t plan to focus too much on the prostitution/rape concept of the show, and intend to only touch on it in the paragraph above. I really need to fix my outline and figure out the flow of my paper, because right now all my ideas are all jumbled up.
Again, I will tell you that if this is argument your making, you need to mention that they do the same thing with men. Episode 9, Dewitt "rapes" Victor even though he gave her consent because he was programmed to.
ReplyDeleteI just said in the last part that I won't be focusing on the rape concept of the show like everyone else does, plus i haven't watched episode 9 so i'm basing all this blog stuff on the episodes i have watched
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