Blog 10

Rasmussen, Larry. THE BROTHERS BONHOEFFER ON SCIENCE, MORALITY, AND THEOLOGY. 1st ed. Vol. 44. 2009. 97-113. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 7 Apr. 2011

 

Furin, Timothy. Money as Tool, Money as Drug: The Biological Psychology of a Strong Incentive. 417th ed. 2008. 50-55. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 7 Apr. 2011

 

Malherbe, Abraham. Godliness, Self-Sufficiency, Greed, and the Enjoyment of Wealth 1 Timothy 6:3-19 Part I. 4th ed. Vol. 52. 2008. 376-405. Web. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 7 Apr. 2011

 

Sloan, Allan. Today's Lesson: Risk and Greed. 12th ed. Vol. 140. Newsweek, 2002. 43.Web. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 7 Apr. 2011

 

Iredale, Rachel. What Choices Should We Be Able to Make about Designer Babies? A Citizens’ Jury of Young People in South Wales. 3rd ed. Vol. 9. 2006. 207-17. Web. 7 Apr. 2011

 

In my first stages of researching, I have been looking for material dealing with society's greed and what is debated as science is crossing the borders into immorality (in the views of society). There are so many arguments with morals versus science. I want my research to connect with Dollhouse’s use of science to use the bodies of others to program them however they want. I find a difference in finding technological advancements and using them to alter a person. I also want my research to indulge in the corruption within the clients’ morals. I don’t find it right for the rich being able to literally buy the perfect person. This shows an extreme amount of greed on their part. I hope to find articles that talk about today’s greed level, but I’m having a hard time finding articles. I’ve looked on the library’s online database and haven’t found much about greed, other than dealing with the markets.

Blog 9

The Distinction Between Science and Morality

The focus of my analytical research paper is to create a thorough depiction of each side’s composition and to develop an understanding of the honesty and corruption behind both sides. I’ve had an interest in this subject since ninth grade. My biology teacher was teaching about evolution, about the Big Bang Theory, and a very religious student stood up and debated about the matter for the whole class. The teacher tried to assure the student that there’s a capability of studying science while maintaining your religious beliefs. I also believe in this, but Dollhouse shows a much farther extremity than this example.

This argument can be displayed in pretty much every episode of Dollhouse. I like this argument because it goes behind the scenes of the dolls’ adventures and analyzes the people that run the organization. It also analyzes the people that use the dolls. The primary source I choose to utilize is Dollhouse’s first episode: “Ghost.” There are many quotes that go along with this argument, such as a point made by the investigator: “No one has everything they want. It's a survival pattern. Once you get what you want, you want something else. If you have everything you want, you want something else. Something more dangerous, more exciting. Something perfect.” This comes into play with this argument because religion teaches us that even though we sin, we should not have greed, a filthy desire. Even though the cases are much more extreme, with someone’s greed level being “I can’t find the perfect girl…so I’ll have someone program one for me.”, comparisons can still be made to today’s society with simple examples such as “oh, I really want that new car” or “I need the iphone 47”.

Blog 8

"High School is Hell"

This piece of writing analyzes how the writers and the creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Joss Whedon, infuse a multitude of metaphors into the show to have the ability for a greater connection with the audience. It’s important to do this within a show because it keeps the audience hooked. Just like a movie where you get attached to the characters. Maybe it’s more for girls, but when you get hooked to a character in a chick flick and something bad happens to them, it’s hard not to cry…there’s a sense of feeling their pain. Like what if that happened to me?

I think Tracy Little’s points are very interesting in her metaphor analysis. “By contrast, in the Buffyverse the writers begin with the idea that teens struggle with social pressures, violence, and other social horrors. They then take those metaphors, used to speak about the realities of
life, and make them real. Finally the viewers are left with a show where the characters' worst horrors are not just the monsters they are fighting but the grim reality of such ultimate highschool horrors as parent-teacher night, not having a date for the prom, being made fun of in class, and not getting a spot on the cheerleading team.” This creates for a sense of humor because the characters find these school-related horrors are greater than their struggle with demons.

In the “Evolution of Metaphor” part of the analysis, we get to see how metaphor is used and developed throughout the seasons. In season one, we see that the metaphor is based around finding identities and places within a new school. Season two is all about relationships and how your significant other is the opposite of what you thought them to be. Season three is about how “graduation is like the end of the world.” Graduation is the end to the life of a senior in high school. This makes sense because at that point, we don’t know anything that lies beyond high school. It’s like a point of being pushed out into the real world.

Blog 7

For me, this episode really creates a convincing example of why people would go to the Dollhouse. From the past episodes, we’ve seen Echo being used as a sex toy, an art criminal, and a blind girl to investigate a cult. This week, Echo is used as a memory of Joel Mynor, a post-geek (the ones that get picked on at school, but then grow up to be extremely successful). Joel uses Echo as a memory of his wife who had passed away right before he could have showed her their new, perfect house. For Joel, this moment of showing his wife the new house was a symbol of their life turning around. His wife was the one carrying the two, but Joel hit it big with a technological advancement that led him to becoming a billionaire. He never got the satisfaction of seeing his wife’s reaction, which is where Echo comes into play. Every year, Joel achieves this satisfaction of being with Echo, which allows him to have the memory of being with his wife for a day.

Living in the real world versus living in the dream world.

Agent Ballard says to the client, Joel Mynor,  that he’s living in a fantasy world and that he himself is okay with living in the real world. “If you could have somebody be the perfect person, the moment you wish for that you know you’ll never get… and someone signed on to do that…to help you…I think, that could be okay. I think that could be maybe… beautiful.” In Joel’s case, I think Echo being a doll is beautiful. To be able to bring him this memory…but in all the other instances I’ve seen her in, she’s been ugly. This girl that said the quote above in the interview obviously wasn’t thinking about the thieves needing help…or the men that wanted a sex bunny. She is the naïve optimist. She is the one that is blind to all of the bad and corruption. She is the girl that I could consider myself as.

Blog 6

Brainwashing

An element I’ve found in this episode of Dollhouse is brainwashing. A parallel can be made between the Dollhouse boss, Adelle DeWitt, and the leader of the cult, Jonas Sparrow. DeWitt takes one of her empty-headed dolls and has the capability of putting any skill into them. Jonas Sparrow takes in strugglers and brainwashes them with this idea of cleansing through his own religious teachings. The ideas from both of these leaders can easily be considered morally wrong. Though there is completely nothing wrong with knowing and practicing beliefs, there is a problem when the corruption behind the operation exceeds the amount of good coming out of it. Once again, I’m thinking Sparrow is a character that’s trying to avoid his problems. He does this by making himself a religious leader. This can be shown in real life situations by seeing the priests that end up stealing from the church.

“Once any temptation is introduced, it will spread like a cancer and all will be infected.”

It’s interesting how DeWitt is trying to maintain a “pure” community by observing the “impurity” going on (aka what’s going on with Victor’s bottom half), but couldn’t care less about what she’s doing with the bodies of these people. She could back herself up and say how she’s helping these people get away from their problems, but really she only cares about the business and the money she gets out of it. What is the biggest thing that gets in the way of people’s morals? A lot of the time the answer is the immense amount of greed for money.

Blog 5

Behavior patterns beyond memory

This episode shows how the dolls are starting to do the same things over and over, such as sitting at the same table and eating lunch with the same people. “The wipes are clean. This goes deeper than memory, into instinctual survival patterns. Flocking, a whole mess of sparrows turning on a dime, uh, salmon trucking upstream…They’re a little bit bison.” This worries the scientists because they want every doll to act the same when their minds are wiped and placed back into the Dollhouse. Echo’s memory was totally wiped during her mission, which led to the criminal crew being stuck in the vault, awaiting for the cops to surround them. Sierra  Even though she was wiped from her job capabilities, she was able to translate directions given from someone else to try to escape from the vault. This shows human techniques of survival. In this state, she shows a sense of naivety, but she is still able to learn and feel. She ends up analyzing the pieces of art that surrounded her in the vault. They didn’t make her feel broken, like the other criminal said, but she had a feeling that something was missing from her. The idea that the information put into the dolls heads are only genetically stolen memories and not persona is greatened when Sierra becomes the same criminal as Echo.  I thought the ending of Dollhouse was interesting, because it seemed that Echo was starting to analyze things more from seeing her trace her face onto the mirror. Most dolls wouldn’t have done anything.

Blog 4

The life of an investigator.

Is finding the truth worth risking your life? The investigator in Dollhouse is really one of the only in the agency that fully believes the Dollhouse exists. You can see how he’s dedicated his whole life to it. There is no embarrassment when he sticks up for his beliefs to the other cops/ non-believers. This question is also explored in much literature. An example is the beloved story of 1984. In 1984, the society is full of “zombies” (people going with everything the government has to tell them), but there were a few that wanted to find that truth behind all of the corruption. You can intertwine this show with 1984 through the idea of a utopia, more in this case, a dystopia. The Dollhouse has created this fantasy land, where innocent “zombies” live and think everything is normal. What they don’t know is how screwed up the rulers of this hidden empire actually are. There are those that try to get past the guards and make there way into the access of information. Then again, there are those that see the corruption, but don’t do any justice by simply ignoring it. What is better? To search for the truth and possibly be killed? Or to stay in that ignorant stage? There are other factors in this also. If I had a family, I would not be able to bring myself to look for the truth and putting my family’s health into harm. It takes such a strong person to actually act. Just imagine the people who are killed for practicing their own religious beliefs against their government.