I finished watching Dollhouse this weekend, further convincing me that somebody like Joss Whedon is perfectly positioned to lead his contemporaries into the wonderful world of 21st century business models, a la Trent Reznor in music. Careful, spoilers inside.
With an army of rabidly loyal fans at his command and a good number of people enthusiastically backing up his creative efforts, Whedon is in a good place to ditch the film “industry” entirely and market his work directly to fans. He’s already proved he can do it with Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, releasing the shows for free online while selling them through iTunes and with extras on physical DVDs. Unfortunately the shows aren’t still online via the main site, a move that only discourages potential fans from becoming interested.
He’s only scratched the surface of what’s possible. Using a tiered support model, his team could offer anything from signed physical copies of shows and tie-in merchandise to time with the actors or old set props. Many in his audience would devour such offerings as though it were a final meal.
In addition, he gains the creative freedom to tell his stories the way he wants to, unfettered by preposterous demands of stodgy network executives seeking meaningless ratings increases. Money received from fans also goes directly to those involved in creating the art they enjoy.
As for the Dollhouse story, what an ending. The ear-mounted imprinting devices reminded me of Neuromancer, with Ambrose and Harding swapping “suits” much like the sleeves in Altered Carbon. The only major gripe I have is with Boyd Langton. His Master Plan was seriously to allow the world to be destroyed so he and his handpicked favorites could rule over it? To what end? The lord of a billion mindless slaves doesn’t have much of a swagger.
Honestly, it had the same level of ridiculousness as one of Lex Luthor’s inane schemes, blowing up the California coast or creating a new landmass so he can…sell waterfront property. It seemed much more likely to me that Rossum would cause the tech to get loose through a wanton pursuit of profits. Making Boyd insane or stupid didn’t seem like the best story path to take.
On a more minor note, a massive pulse that “resets” everybody back to how they were? I was under the impression that the imprinting process made essentially permanent changes, hence the data backups. What happened suggests more of an overlay that can be removed to reveal the original person underneath, seemingly in conflict with previous statements.
The show got off to a tediously slow start, but I think Dollhouse had a smashing second season. It’s a shame that once again a show gets shut down midstream just as it begins taking off.
2 responses to “Silly Joss, Networks are for Talentless Hacks”
Joss Whedon is one of the most untalented people in television right now. I’m not a feminist, but the misogyny in his shows is so prevalent and over-the-top that I genuinely feel uncomfortable with it. The dialogue is so unrealistic and obnoxious. Whedon clearly thinks that mashing up two genres is enough to justify all these failings. It isn’t. Joss Whedon is too much of a talentless hack for television.
I’m just curious what your example of a talented person in television right now would be.