Final Blog Post

 We—and in reality, you—have covered a lot of ground this semester (Blog, Memoir, Textual Analysis, Researched Argument, Website Project and their several parts). What was your favorite assignment and why? What was your least favorite assignment, and why?

My favorite assignment was the Researched Argument. I enjoyed being able to choose my own subject to study and research, and I found the genre very straightforward and useful in wording my arguments and presenting my views. I learned a lot through my research about bias in the media and environmental issues, and my views on certain topics changed significantly over the course of writing the paper. Finally, the editing and revision process for this project was very useful to me, and I intend on using those revision tools in the future.

My least favorite assignment was the Memoir. Since it was the first writing I did for this class, I was not very confident in its quality, even with the final draft. I felt that my writing was limited by having to find a specific pop culture text that related to a major life event. Ideally, composing a piece about my own life would require the least effort of all these assignment- no research, just memories. However, I had a lot of trouble pinning down a single pop culture text instead of many that influenced me. In the end, I felt my chosen subject still didn't satisfy the spirit of the assignment, so I was not satisfied with the assignment overall.

Through the process of each assignment, you built composition and writing skills that apply more broadly (such as generating ideas, drafting, revising/editing/proofreading, collaborating, beginning and ending, describing, narrating, reading critically, analyzing, researching, arguing, framing others’ work, guiding readers to name a few). Of the skills you built upon this semester, which ones do you think will be the most helpful in your future studies and/or employment?

As I mentioned briefly above, I learned a great deal about how to edit and revise based on one's audience and their feedback. Also, the editing and revision tools - reverse outlines, peer reviews, logos/ethos/pathos - all showed me ways of bettering my writing after the rough draft, something I rarely did in high school English classes. I believe that the ability to look at my own writing objectively and improve it through these methods will help me present my ideas clearly and effectively for a career in environmental science, where factual reports and analyses are common.

How has your understanding of the Rhetorical Situation changed this semester? How can you apply this knowledge to your future studies and/or employment?

The Rhetorical Situation was a concept with which I was familiar before this course, but not by that name. Over the course of this semester, I learned more about how writing for audience and with a certain tone, among other things, can influence how a piece is received. My understanding of the Rhetorical Situation has also improved how I structure my writing. The constant reinforcement of the Rhetorical Situation really did help me write in a way that clearly communicates what I wish my audience to read. 

I believe that I can use the Audience, Tone, and Genre elements of the Rhetorical Situation in my future career. As a major in environmental science, any reports, analyses, or researched argument papers I write would certainly benefit from a professional tone and a logical, straightforward genre - two elements that we used extensively in this course.

My Weakness is My Strength: Why Dollhouse was Doomed to Fail (and Succeed)

For my final post about Dollhouse, I am going to discuss why a show that has such good acting, clever writing, and compelling story lines failed to produce more than two seasons of 13 episodes. What went wrong? Was cancellation inevitable? 

In a word, yes.

The Man Behind the Mild Success

Behold! Joss Whedon, the Creator of the Whedonverse. Longtime science fiction and fantasy fans will recognize his creative works, spanning from the incredibly successful Buffy the Vampire Slayer to the short-lived space western Firefly. Yes, when Dollhouse was first pitched to studios, Joss Whedon was quite successful and prolific, with a wide fanbase eager for his next production. Thus, a sci-fi series with classic Whedon elements seemed like a no-brainer.

What were these "Whedon" elements? Let's list them.

While many of the main characters were new to the Whedonverse, many were regular faces on Whedon's other shows. 

• Eliza Dushku (as Echo) first came into the spotlight as the uncontrollable Slayer Faith in Buffy. 
• Dr. Saunders, as played by Amy Acker, first entered the Whedonverse as Winifred Burkle in Angel several years prior.
• The main villain of season 1, a rogue schizophrenic Active named Alpha, is played by Alan Tudyk, who also played Wash in Whedon's Firefly.
• In "Epitaph: Part I", the season finale of Dollhouse, Felicia Day plays one of the few survivors in an apocalyptic Los Angeles. Felicia also played the lead role of Penny in Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, as well as having played a Slayer-in-training during the final season of Buffy
• And in the final few episodes, Summer Glau, known for her unique portrayal of River Tam in Firefly, played the Programmer for the D.C. Dollhouse (as well as Topher's love interest).

Besides the casting, the casual humor slipped into tense or serious situations, the technical babble that makes the whole show possible, several "forbidden" romantic relationships, and the focus on one woman as she struggles to overcome every obstacle in her path - all these are very Whedon-esque, and the show develops them very well. 

Clearly, Dollhouse had many elements of previously successful Whedon productions, and it still attracts new fans to this day. So why didn't it work back in 2009?

Great Story, Bad TV

I think that Dollhouse is not a story that could have grabbed the attention of a large audience through the television medium. The mythos of the Dollhouse is complex, and it deals with complex themes. Sure, there are certainly people who enjoy that kind of TV, myself included. However, not everyone is willing to commit to a television show that they don't understand or wait for a show to get better.

Let's look at just a few of the things about Dollhouse that both hook the audience and drive people away.

1. The Mission of the Week in the first season

Many TV shows have this problem, and I'm sure you're all familiar with it. For the few episodes of any sci-fi or fantasy series, each episodes is self-contained for the most part, with a new mission to complete/mystery to solve/monster to fight. Dollhouse certainly suffers from this problem. Not until the pivotal "Man on the Street" does the cycle of one-episode engagements break. However, Buffy and Angel also relied heavily on this trope. So what else is missing?

2. Character Development

I can't believe I didn't notice this sooner, but for the better part of the first season, there is very little character development. And this problem stems not from sloppy writing, but from the very nature of the show. Think about it: the Actives acquire the personalities of whomever is needed for an engagement, and after each engagement, they return to a blank, emotionless Doll state. There's no character there - there's barely any facial movement. Also, the handlers and staff of the Dollhouse, hired specifically for their amorality, are predictably neutral and bland for much of the first season. 

However, once Echo begins to develop her own personality, along with Sierra and Victor, true characters begin to emerge. Around this same time, the staff of the Dollhouse begin to interact and play off each others' characters, creating really interesting scenarios. But...

3. Too Little, Too Late

The key problem with Dollhouse is that it gets better, but gradually. The episodic nature of the show, combined with the blank stares and child-speak of the early Dolls, and the lack of a coherent big-picture for much of the first season does not bode well for a first-time viewer. 

However, once you get past the shaky start, the series only gets better. Honestly, I'm happy with Dollhouse the way it is: a complex story about identity, free will, love and loss. I enjoyed it very much, and I think you will too.

"Belonging" Part III

I wrote the last post on the Sierra-focused episode "Belonging", detailing her introduction to Dr. Nolan Kinnard and her eventual falling-out with him, as well as Sierra's passing encounters with her future Dollhouse companions Victor and Echo. However, all of those events took place within just the first few minutes of the episode. How Priya the young artist was forced to become Sierra is revealed much more slowly, yet the story still retains its impact once all is revealed.

Also, it's worth noting that this story is just as much Topher Brink's as it is Sierra. The normally amoral programmer of the Dollhouse feels somewhat responsible for Sierra, as it was he who decided to bring her to the Dollhouse. According to him, when Topher first met Sierra, she was a paranoid schizophrenic in a mental institution. To him, by wiping her mind of that mental disorder, he truly helped her.

However, a cryptic comment from Echo persuades Topher to dig deeper into the circumstances surrounding Sierra's recent repeat engagements with a certain Dr. Nolan Kinnard. He discovers to his horror that before she entered the Dollhouse, Priya was not psychotic, but instead had been drugged to appear that way. And who else would know more about simulating psychosis in the brain that the expert neuro-pharmacologist Nolan Kinnard.

What's more, Topher mentions a previous episode "Needs", in which Dr. Saunders and Adele deWitt allowed certain Actives to be partially imprinted with their true personalities so that they could relieve built-up emotional distress. In "Needs", Sierra heads for a mental health clinic with the doctor who diagnosed her. That clinic is also owned by Dr. Nolan Kinnard, who has a penthouse office onsite. Clearly, Sierra was trying to get to Nolan, and not Dr. Nikito.

Topher relays this information to Adele deWitt, who is furious with how she and her staff have unwittingly satisfied the wishes of what is essentially a serial rapist for months. She confronts the horrible doctor herself, and tells him that Sierra will no longer be his personal plaything. Dr. Kinnard, however, using his influence with the Rossum Corporation, instead forces Adele and Topher to permanently imprint Sierra with a "romantic" mindset and send her to him.

The next scene is a seamless transition to a flashback - nearly a year in the past, when Topher was first introduced to Priya in her drug-induced psychotic state. He clearly feels sorry for her, and Priya even manages to eek out a few lucid pleas to help her escape from the clinic (and Dr. Kinnard, the "expert" who has been feeding her psychotic drugs). 

Back in the present, Topher still feels this responsibility for Priya, now Sierra. And we the audience realize just what Topher's sense of responsibility means. It turns out that he imprinted Sierra with Priya's original personality, along with all the knowledge of her past engagements with Nolan. 

The results, however, are far from pretty. Priya is finally given the chance to confront her tormentor, yet Nolan is no stranger to physical intimidation and violence. A struggle breaks out, with Nolan attempting to force himself on Priya. Priya ends up stabbing Nolan in the chest to save herself. Priya calls Topher to tell him what happens, and Topher soon arrives at Nolan's penthouse with Boyd Langton. The two of them dismember Nolan's body and dissolve in acid, as well as removing all other traces of his demise from the scene. Topher all the while is still in shock at how badly things turned out because of him.

Priya, now in a state of mental anguish from both being repeatedly and recently sexually assaulted, as well as having killed a man, is returned to the Doll state by Topher, though as always a bit of Priya remains.

Next week, I'll end this little sub-analysis and wrap up my thoughts on Dollhouse. The show goes into so many ethical gray areas and compellive story arcs, but I will focus on why such a good show was doomed to fail from the beginning.