I felt compelled to write tonight after watching a video essay on one of my favorite shows, Dollhouse. Anyone who knows me knows I love Buffy: The Vampire Slayer. It is part of the reason I wanted to be a writer in the first place. I also love Eliza Dushku… because of Buffy: The Vampire Slayer. That translated to love for Bring It On, Soul Survivor (a film I’d like to revisit), True Calling (a show I’d like to revisit)… and Dollhouse, which reunited Joss Whedon and Eliza Dushku.
The video essay was great, but I noticed they didn’t mention Harry Lennix… at all. They talk about ALL of the main cast, except him. In the comments, some people pointed this out… and the creator said they didn’t mention him because they didn’t want to give away the twist of the show…
That hasn’t sat well with me… I watched this video about an hour ago. Back in my early days of social media, I enjoyed arguing with people in comments. Not so much, almost a half a lifetime later. I have lots of opinions about the things I see on social media, and I either discuss them with my friends or write my thoughts somewhere… but I don’t comment on whatever triggered said response.
There is a draft of a comment on my phone… and there’s a second draft of a response on my computer. Neither will be sent. It’s EXTREMELY rare that I comment on social media, and if I do, it isn’t to criticize. Other than Harry Lennix being missing from the video, I really enjoyed it, and I included that in my drafts…
Now, you may be wondering, who is Harry Lennix, and why it matters that he wasn’t included in this video essay. He plays Boyd in the series and is one of the main characters. To give a brief synopsis of the show, there is technology that can wipe a person from their brain and they can be implanted with a new person. These people are called Actives (or Dolls) and can be hired and used for engagements. It’s alluded that most of these are sexual in nature, but the show tends to gloss over that… For example, a man became a millionaire, and his wife died on the way home before he could tell her the good news. Each year, he has an Active play his wife, so he can live out telling her they are rich. Or a woman dies and gets to solve her own murder because an Active is implanted with her personality.
It’s a great show and deals with what it means to be human and a person. If my personality were removed from my body, would I still be me? Would I still be deemed human? Great stuff.
Anyway, each Active has a handler. The main character of the show, Echo, played by Eliza Dushku, is special because after every engagement, the Active is “wiped” and they are in this blank, child-like status. Well, Echo begins to remember her engagements after the wipes and that’s not supposed to happen. The last time it happened was with an Active named Alpha… and things went very, very bad.
Harry Lennix plays Boyd Langton, who is Echo’s handler. They have a special bond. No matter what engagement an Active is in, if their handler asks them if they are ready for their treatment, they will go willingly (for the most part.) Boyd and Echo’s relationship reminds me of Buffy and Giles… and a little bit of Faith and the Mayor (both Buffy references.) He’s EXTREMELY important to the show, and it seems odd to talk about all these characters, some who aren’t even main characters… yet exclude him.
The reason the creator gives is wanting to avoid spoilers… But there are spoilers throughout their video essay. One of the things about the Dollhouse is anyone can be a Doll… because if you are meeting someone for the first time, how do you know they aren’t the person they claim to be… Adding to that, an Active wouldn’t know they aren’t who they say they are. So, you get these great moments where you discover a character isn’t who they say they are (or who they thought they are), but a doll. The creator spoils several of these moments in the video. Also, I personally don’t think we should be concerned about spoiling a show that ended in 2010…
It should also be noted that Harry Lennix is the only black main character. It just gives an icky feeling, whether intentional or not… and that’s why I feel bothered. I’m black, I’m gay, I’m a nerd. And since I can remember, I’ve never really felt I had a space where I could be all those things at once. And seeing this black man not even discussed? Granted, there is a major spoiler of the show that involves him… but just don’t talk about that… It’s towards the end of the show.
Not to mention, the twist involves other characters, and the creator talked about those characters without discussing their involvement in the twist. They also said they didn’t want to “accidentally” spoil the show… You have to edit the video. Edit the spoiler out, if you “accidentally” reveal it.
I don’t know. It makes me happy that I am coming across more black content creators because I can relate to the way they engage with media in a way I can’t with non-black people.
One of these days, I’ll go back through Dollhouse, and Boyd won’t be omitted from my discussion.
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