ABOUT THE DOLLHOUSE DYSTOPIA...
| | | STORY ELEMENTS | DOLLHOUSE | Backstory on a cracker:
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| | Location/Year: |
| | Dystopian themes: | lack of freedom (dolls),
| | Societal condition(s): |
| The Protagonist:
| Echo
| | The Oppressed: | The Dolls
| The State:
| US, so far
| | Corruptive factor(s): | Organization that works the Dollhouse
| | How does this reflect on society today? | The way in which technology is used for not so nice purposes. Freedom or lack of.
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NOW COMPARE AND CONTRAST...
| | VS | 
| Total Recall
| 1990
| Philip K. Dick
| Sci-fi
| | | | STORY ELEMENTS | Total Recall: "We Remember it Wholesale"
| Backstory on a cracker:
| "They stole his mind, now he wants it back." | Location/Year:
| Earth and Mars 2084 A.D | | Dystopian themes: | Hopelessness, Corporate Greed, Government/Corporate corruption
| | Societal condition(s): | Technology has advanced, but the working class (Mars Mine Employees) are marginalized.
| The Protagonist:
| Douglas Quaid
| | The Oppressed: | The new refugees on Mars--mineworkers that became mutants.
| The Oppressor:
| Vilhos Cohaagen (Ronny Cox), corporate dictator of Mars. | | Corruptive factor(s): | Morally bankrupt corporation, government agencies, and puppet company Rekall Inc.
| | How does this reflect on society today? | Corporations that rule or are more powerful than the government control technology and value profit and power more than the people they claim to serve or represent.
| | COMMONALITIES WITH DOLLHOUSE: | Philip K. Dick's Rekall technology and Cohaagen's company are very much like Rosum Inc. Echo and Quaid are very similar as protagonists. There are even similar elements of social revolution and perhaps a wild card/misunderstood protagonist in the form of a violent rebellion leader: Alpha and Kuatto. Joss Wedon, like Phillip K. Dick, often weaves a theme about the dangers of corporatism as nefarious and hidden evil in their stories. Angel and Firefly both had diabolical puppet-master corporations manipulating the oppression. Dick does this over and over whether it be Tyrell in Blade Runner or the nefarious government agencies or their corporate contractors in Screamers, Paycheck, Imposter, Next, Miniroty Report, etc. . .
Dick often referred to himself as a "fictionalizing philosopher."
While Whedon is just getting started, Dick was writing before Whedon was born, we can already see a similar focus as a societal whistle blower in much of his work as well.
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| | VS |  | Y The Last Man
| 2002- 2008
| | Brian K. Vaughan, Pia Guerra | Adventure, Sci-Ii, Thriller,
| | | | STORY ELEMENTS | Y The Last Man | Backstory on a cracker:
| "Did you know Elvis had a twin brother" | | Location/Year: | 2002 mostly set in USA | | Dystopian themes: | Mass Death, Lack of control, Extremist cults, Discrimination. | | Societal condition(s): | Everyone with a "Y" chromosome is dead (men), except for one man and his pet monkey. The government is obviously changed and finds ways to adapt and retake control of the country throughout the series. | The Protagonist:
| Yorick Brown | | The Oppressed: | Men, common people | The State:
| Mostly set in the USA, but the whole world is affected. | | Corruptive factor(s): | coupe of the white house and much more... | | How does this reflect on society today? | This shows how good people can do bad things, for both right and wrong reasons. | | COMMONALITIES WITH DOLLHOUSE: | its good entertainment that everyone should check out. | | |
| | VS | 
| 1984
| 1949
| George Orwell
| Dystopian and political
| | | | STORY ELEMENTS | 1984
| Backstory on a cracker:
| 2+2=5
| | Location/Year: | European supernation of Oceania/1984
| | Dystopian themes: | Overpowered Government/Upper class, Mind control, Poor lower class (Proles), Sexual Repression, Censorship
| | Societal condition(s): | Oppressed and unintelligent lower classes guided by a fictitious dictator that allows the upper class to run the nation. Cameras everywhere - Big Brother is watching you. | The Protagonist:
| Winston Smith | | The Oppressed: | Lower and Middle Class
| The State:
| An all encompassing government controls a nation in constant war.
| | Corruptive factor(s): | Totalitarian Government | | How does this reflect on society today? | The people should control the government, not the other way around.
| | COMMONALITIES WITH DOLLHOUSE: | The theme of fighting back mind control as well as an organization that controls the way people think and feel. In 1984, the State wins in the end. Will this be the fate for Echo and the other Dolls?
Surreptitious communication - In the same way that Smith must pass notes with his girlfriend without being seen interacting with her, Echo knew enough in "Stage Fright" to not let Sierra talk to her where they could be seen together | | |
| | VS |  | Neuromancer
| 1984
| | William Gibson | Cyberpunk (Sci-Fi, Drama)
| | | | STORY ELEMENTS | Neuromancer
| Backstory on a cracker:
| Is life cheap... or just a dream?
| | Location/Year: | Chiba, Crystal Palace, other megaplexes / 20?? (Futuristic)
| | Dystopian themes: | massive overpopulation, cheapness of life, corporate control
| | Societal condition(s): | endemic near-poverty, rampant shadow economy
| The Protagonist:
| Case, with supporting actress Molly
| | The Oppressed: | all of society, as represented by complete control exerted over Case and Molly
| The State:
| Corporations have subsumed control far beyond nation-states in all but name
| | Corruptive factor(s): | The wealthy have de facto absolute power, daily life for 'common man' all but requires illegality
| | How does this reflect on society today? | Hyperbole for the wealth divide, AI emergence as parallel for humans enslaved by wealth / power / corporate control
| | COMMONALITIES WITH DOLLHOUSE: | Molly's back story includes work as a "doll", a cyber-controlled prostitute who takes on whatever pesonality is needed by her employers, but her personal changes cause her to awaken and drastically react to the lifestyle to which she has unwittingly aquiesced.
| | |
| | VS |  | The Prisoner
| 1967-1968
| | Patrick McGoohan | Espionage, Science Fiction
| | | | STORY ELEMENTS | The Prisoner
| Backstory on a cracker:
| A captured spy is subjected to increasingly bizarre and ingenious mind games in order to make him crack.
| | Location/Year: | "The Village", 1960s.
| | Dystopian themes: | Dehumanization, deindividuation.
| | Societal condition(s): | The Village was an outwardly pleasant place, with balmy weather and friendly residents. Only when #6 tried to resist or escape was he confronted with goons, brainwashers, and the unstoppable "rover".
| The Protagonist:
| The captured spy, known only as "#6".
| | The Oppressed: | The individual, as epitomized by #6.
| The State:
| The Village, as overseen by its leader, #2. The person in the role of #2 changed every episode, but his goal was always the same: To break #6 and his will to resist.
| | Corruptive factor(s): | The collective will, society, progress without check.
| | How does this reflect on society today? | The Prisoner is more true today than it was when it was made. The passage of time has only increased the rate of unquestioned "progress" by society, and made more impotant the need to conform.
| | COMMONALITIES WITH DOLLHOUSE: | The masters of the village subjected #6 to all sorts of psychological torments. From implanting agents into his dreams, to imitating number #6 in order to make him question his own identity, The Prisoner was a show about identity and resilience in the face of constant psychological assault. Like Echo, #6 was monitored at every turn, an individual without privacy.
From the pilot, other similarities are hinted at...
In the pilot episode of The Dollhouse, we see that The House's doctor bears the marks of a recent adventure herself. Perhaps she's another active, implanted with a skillset and personality that will be useful around the Dollhouse while she heals enough to go on assignment again. The Village was a home for old spies, populated by retired agents, some of whom returned to take control themselves, seemingly. For all we know, the Dollhouse operates the same, with actives wearing different hats at different times to run the internal affairs of the Dollhouse as well as its external business. For all we know, the keepers themselves are dolls, implanted with long-running personalities to make them ideally suited to the job. Like The Village, The Dollhouse could run itself for years without the intervention of the outside world.
When #2 wanted #6 to reveal information from his past, they brought in another agent and had him copy #6 perfectly, based on their extensive files. At the same time, they conditioned #6 to act unlike himself. The plan almost worked. #6 nearly let slip the information #2 craved, just to remind himself of who he was. How much more completely could the Keepers of The Dollhouse accomplish the same with Echo or another active, if the need arose? For them, copying Echo's original personality from file into another active is an easy task. From there, they need only set another Doll to tail her and see where she goes and who she talks to. What agent could be more suited to tail faux-Echo than Echo herself? | | |
| | VS |  | Dark Angel
| 2000-2002
| | James Cameron | Genre sci-fi, drama. thirller
| | | | STORY ELEMENTS | Dark Angel | Backstory on a cracker:
| A group of genetically enhanced children escape from a lab. Years later we meet Max living in post "pulse" Seattle. | | Location/Year: | Pacific -Northwest (Seattle) 2019 | | Dystopian themes: | total class segregation, poverty, technology for the "haves" primitive conditions for the "have nots" | | Societal condition(s): | Police corruption, lack of medical care, slum living, | The Protagonist:
| Max, genetically engineered, dependent on certain meds to keep her brain chemistry in balance due to her 'enhancements' | | The Oppressed: | everyone, especially her fellow mutants | The State:
| The wealthy, Manticore ( the group that did the genetic experiments in the first place), the police | | Corruptive factor(s): | poverty, greed, corruption, fear of those who are different | | How does this reflect on society today? | near future portrayal of what could happen if we lost all of out technology and have to live in urban environments without our usual means of survival | | COMMONALITIES WITH DOLLHOUSE: | Max plays many roles in her attempts to uncover her past, rescue others from the project and expose Manticore. She's a tough, smart strong heroine with vulnerabilities that are explored in her relationship with Logan; a wealthy subversive who uses his power and connections to expose some of the worst of what the people in power are doing. Interestingly, FOX picked up both Dark Angel and Firefly in the same season. Neither were placed in a competitive time slot and eventually both were cancelled. | | |
| | VS |  | Gunslinger Girl
| 2002
| | Creator/author | Genre
| | | | STORY ELEMENTS | Gunslinger Girl
| Backstory on a cracker:
| Young terminal female patients are given a second chance by a govt. sponsored corporation. Under the ruse of providing aid and rehabilitation to the physically injured, the Social Welfare Agency is actually a military organization specializing in counter-intelligence and counter-terrorism. | | Location/Year: | Modern day Italy
| | Dystopian themes: | Oppression of people for the survival of the state.
| | Societal condition(s): | RFR seeking an independent Northern Italy through bribery and Italy.
| The Protagonist:
| Henrietta, an orphan left for dead after the brutal murder of her family.
| | The Oppressed: | The young cyborg assassins, RFR - Republican Factions fighting for liberty from state.
| The State:
| Modern Italy government going to great lengths to preserve the state.
| | Corruptive factor(s): | Exploitation of young terminal females treating them as expendable tools for a secret govt organization to carry out it's dirty deeds covertly. The cybernetic technology and conditioning used to turn the terminal patients into trained assassins erases their memory and eventually kills them at a young age.
| | How does this reflect on society today? | The preservation of the government supersedes the responsibility to the citizens.
| | COMMONALITIES WITH DOLLHOUSE: | Cyborgs like the dolls have handlers. The organization exists in secrecy to carry out covert operations for the government.
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| | VS |  | | the prisoner | | 1967 | | Patrick McGooghan | | SPY/SCI-FI | | | | STORY ELEMENTS | [Show / Book Title] | Backstory on a cracker:
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| | Location/Year: |
1967-68 | | Dystopian themes: |
THE VILLAGE | | Societal condition(s): |
COLD WAR | The Protagonist:
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RETIRED SECRET AGENT | | The Oppressed: |
NO6 | The State:
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NO2 WANTS TO KNOW WHY NO6 RESIGNED FROM HER MAJESTYS SECRET.IT'S THE COLD WAR AND THOSE RUNNING THE VILLAGE WANT TO KNOW WHY. | | Corruptive factor(s): |
VILLAGE DOESN'T DISPLAY KNOWN | | How does this reflect on society today? |
VERY MUCH SO | | COMMONALITIES WITH DOLLHOUSE: |
Echo wishes to have or know who she really is. Not to mention an allusion of indiviuality. Will Echo know that she is Caroline or not? Yet the ceo,handlers of the dollhouse have wiped her personality away. Like No6 she fights for her own freedom and indivility; allusions of The Prisoner are prevelant though numbers aren't used. Like the Prisoner the use of sophisticated brainwash is prevelant. From special drugs to computers to alter and change personalities of the human dolls. | | |
| | VS |  | Brave New World
| Published in 1932
| | Aldous Huxley | Science Fiction
| | | | STORY ELEMENTS | [Show / Book Title] | Backstory on a cracker:
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People live in a society where emotion has become a thing of the past. Effiecency is so important that they worship Henry T. Ford (inventor of the assembly line). | | Location/Year: |
London/ "year of our Ford 632" (AD 2540 in the Gregorian Calendar). | | Dystopian themes: |
class segregation, mind control | | Societal condition(s): |
consumerism | The Protagonist:
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Lenina, Bernard, "The Saveage" | | The Oppressed: |
Everyone | The State:
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The Government | | Corruptive factor(s): |
People are robbed of their free will for "the good of the whole". | | How does this reflect on society today? |
What may happen if we let control and power win over humanity. Discussed the role of emotions and free will in a functioning society. | | COMMONALITIES WITH DOLLHOUSE: |
Like Dollhouse, Brave New World introduces an "innocent" character who is unaware of this world to society (Echo, "The Savage"). Both focus on how these characters deal with their new lives.
In both societies, those who question their roles are taken care of. In Dollhouse it is by using "The Attic". In Brave New World it is through a drug called "soma" which people use to relax and go on "vacations". After the vacation people relax and go on with their normal lives.
There are also many other similarities. | |
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Finding dystopia: draw from literature, comic books, video games, movies, and TV shows to compare and contrast dystopias with the Dollverse.
