Writing the Future

In “Epitaph One” we see the world ten years in the future from the other episodes of season one of Dollhouse. We are shown through flashbacks a few of the events that led from the Dollhouse technology to an apocalyptic world in which people’s personalities are regularly wiped, body switching is common, and those who maintain their original personality are hunted down. The episode is deliberately vague because at the time of its production it was unclear whether Dollhouse would have another season, so some closure needed to be provided while still allowing room for possible future episodes. Despite knowing this, however, I thought the episode presented too many ideas without developing them sufficiently to serve as a proper conclusion. Even considering the subsequent episodes which contain references and will likely explain this one further, I still don’t feel like the episode was complete enough.

First, there is the idea of how the Dollhouse technology led to the current situation on Earth. Apparently, China is sending waves of signal which wipe people’s personalities and turn them into dolls like the father in “Epitaph One.” Second, there was apparently a phone call, also originating from China, which programmed those who picked up to go and kill anyone who was not programmed. While we learn that Tohper’s use of waves rather than analogue to program dolls is the origin of this technology, there is no explanation for how we moved from brothels to China destroying all human personalities. I think the episode is intended to show that this technology is ultimately evil and can only end in apocalypse, but while I can imagine some possible scenarios which lead from point A to point B, I feel like there are more specific events that could have altered this outcome significantly.

We are also shown a Rossum executive in Victor’s body informing Adelle that the dolls’ bodies are now being sold for 9 figures. This makes sense in the context of the previous episodes, particularly “Haunted,” as we saw the possibility for eternal youth and immortality through body switching. However, this episode confused me when the woman inhabitting the girl, Iris, said she had no idea how she ended up in that body. This didn’t seem to mesh with the idea that the technology was for the rich and privileged. If people are just being wiped or killed off, what purpose could it possibly serve to have this woman randomly placed in a girl who ended up with a bunch of revolutionaries? Maybe it was intended as a link between the idea of the apocalypse and the ideas of body switching already presented, but for me I think it just confused the issue and put out one too many ideas at once.

What do you think of the vision of the apocalyptic future? How would you imagine the world went from the Dollhouses to the way we see it presented in “Epitaph One?”

Did you think “Epitaph One” was enough of a conclusion for the series? Is there anything you wish had been clarified, or explored in more detail?

The Bitchun Society is defined by a completely connected network of it’s individuals. Anyone’s Whuffie can be looked up at any time, and being online is crucial for even everyday emotional interaction.  Jule’s comforting of Lil after her first observation of the Hall of Presidents is a key example, “Offline, I couldn’t find stats or signals to help me discuss the matter” (40). A simple matter of closeness between lovers requires the consultation of the material and monitoring methods available online. While we don’t have a built in interface to the internet, our society moves closer to this every day.

Consider social networking sites such as Facebook, personal blogs, and Twitter.  All allow and encourage regular updates to the internet on what you are doing or thinking at any given time. It also allows others to comment on those status updates.  If something happens in your life, post it online, and get feedback. More and more, aspects of our lives that once would have been private matters between a few select friends or professionals are available to the world at large, and the world is able to respond directly. These opinions have an increasing influencing on our choices, as evidenced by the growing importance of seeking them. Three years ago, I didn’t have a facebook; days could go by without me repyling to an email. Now people wonder what’s going on, and even disapprove if I don’t respond to wall posts within an hour.

Also consider the growing availability of the internet. What once required ten minutes on a desktop computer with a slow modem connection can now be accomplished in seconds on a mobile phone carried in your pocket. In Jule’s world, you merely need to think about something, and the information is at your disposal. The danger of this type of society is a loss of emotional connectedness. If you are directly connected to the thoughts and opinions of others, there is less room for an emotional bond; you are already closely bonded to everyone. The lesser depth of emotional connections is clear in the quickly fluctuating Whuffie scores of the Bitchun Society’s inhabitants. It’s much harder to lose respect for a person with the type of expertise that Jules has with The Mansion, even as a fairly recent member of the Liberty Ad-Hoc, if you must learn the same things in real-time. However, when any information can be flash-baked, or just dumped into your public directory, it loses a great deal of value. The effort to learn new things, and the respect that someone who then teaches those things to others is lost. Without the effort, there is little chance for emotional bonds to develop. After all, if you monitor someone’s body temperature and heart rate, and have systems that can immediately interpret someone’s actions for you, there is no need to develop any deep emotional understanding or bonds. While this type of interpretation of the world is a rare occurrence for Jules, there are indicators that the potential exists; also, Jules is offline for the majority of the novel so far, and the feeling of bipolar mania can be at least partially attributed to the increase in emotional responses without the support of instant internet access.

What evidence exists that our society is (or isn’t) moving towards a fully integrated online system?

At what point do you think interconnectedness between all people begins to erode personal emotional connections, if at all?

Are the enhancements in the availability of knowledge worth any loss of privacy and emotional connectedness?

Would the Bitchun Society suffer from this problem more or less if death was still an issue?

In The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia, Le Guin creates a setting of two diametrically opposed planets. The protagonist, Shevek, is from the anarchist and separatist Anarres. Shevek wants to travel to the archist mother planet Urras to rekindle social revolution on Anarres, bring social revolution to Urras, and to advance his knowledge and theory of physics. By the close of the novel it seems probably that he has achieved the first goal, and he has definitely achieved the last. However, despite the time he spends on Urras, he fails to create meaningful change there. In fact, by the close of the novel I was left feeling as if Shevek had merely given up on Urras, and moved on.

First, although Urras is originally portrayed as a binary opposite to Anarres, there are many cases in which Le Guin deliberately problemitizes or blurs the presumed differences. By establishing commonalities between the planets, Le Guin creates an expectation for the traveler Shevek to advance both societies. Shevek finds Oiie’s family particularly redeeming within Urrasti society, and is moved to participate in a majority revolution of the poor. These acts seem to support my expectation as a reader that the protagonist will find a way to aid both societies.

When the revolution on A-IO fails, Shevek flees to the Terran embassy. He has no further contact with any revolutionaries before leaving the planet, and claims Urras is hell, that it is impossible to change those who do not wish to change.  I fail to understand how this realization fits in with the rest of The Dispossessed. It seems that the large revolution indicates that the oppressed majority is ready for change. Furthermore, what is the purpose of such a lengthy sojourn in Urras if Shevek is ultimately there only to spur change on Anarres and complete his physics theory? Is Urras merely an explanation for the extradition of the new physics theory of a novel composed around the set-up for the technological novum which defines Le Guin’s chronologically later books? The inconclusive future for Urras seems to split Shevek’s three goals, while attaching importance in relation to her overall megatext to the completion of his physics theory, and to the novel itself in the furthering of Anarres’ social movement. Any change in Urras is minimal, and the marginalization of this element of the novel leads to an overall feeling of disconnect in the work.

How do you reconcile Shevek’s Anarresti ideal of constant revolution with him giving up on Urrasti reform?

Do you see further significance in the inclusion of Urras in the novel, or do you think the same themes of the novel could be expressed in an equally effective manner in another setting foreign to Anarres?

Is there some purpose in leaving Urras’ future unfinished in the novel?

Hi, my name is Alex McIntyre. I also live in Giles and am planning to major in ECE. While I’ve read some science fiction, I’ve never seen Star Wars or Star Trek, so I’m looking forward to remedying at least part of that situation in this class. Hopefully the blog will be fun and helpful. I’m looking forward reading everyone’s posts.