I like your reading and I think it works well with what we've seen so far.
On the other hand, I think that Joss is well aware of the feminist implications of the Dollhouse concept and that he's walking a fine line there. As it happens so often, a lot of critics seem to conflate showing exploitation with an endorsement of this exploitation. An author sometimes shows something, highlighting its attractiveness, even though the author disapproves and I think that happened at the beginning of The Target: The young woman on a date in the woods is clearly enjoying herself, she is having fun and she is feeling happy and (which goes with your analysis) when the power balance shifts, the viewer becomes aware that the whole situation is highly unfair and that the odds are stacked against Echo. This realization is quite uncomfortable, too, because as a viewer we've been complicit in this exploitation.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2009-02-27 06:43 pm (UTC)I like your reading and I think it works well with what we've seen so far.
On the other hand, I think that Joss is well aware of the feminist implications of the Dollhouse concept and that he's walking a fine line there. As it happens so often, a lot of critics seem to conflate showing exploitation with an endorsement of this exploitation. An author sometimes shows something, highlighting its attractiveness, even though the author disapproves and I think that happened at the beginning of The Target: The young woman on a date in the woods is clearly enjoying herself, she is having fun and she is feeling happy and (which goes with your analysis) when the power balance shifts, the viewer becomes aware that the whole situation is highly unfair and that the odds are stacked against Echo. This realization is quite uncomfortable, too, because as a viewer we've been complicit in this exploitation.