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Joss Whedon's Philosophy

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Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse borrows from John Locke’s philosophical work Essay Concerning Human Understanding to explore the development of individual and group identity, effectively and accurately portraying the text. • Book 1 of the Essay critiques nativism, saying there is no innate knowledge. Likewise, Dolls within the Dollhouse are void of basic knowledge. o In Tabula Rasa state, Dolls only perform basic tasks as exemplified by those around them. o In “The Left Hand,” Echo doesn’t call out for God, drawing on Locke’s claim that God is not a universal idea. • Book 2 introduces the idea of empiricism, which is depicted throughout the show. o The personalities built for the Dolls are comprised of traits other people acquired. o Topher …show more content…

He is usually regarded as the father of a philosophical belief known as British Empiricism. His Essay Concerning Human Understanding is viewed as the most important and influential piece of his entire career. Joss Whedon’s 2009 television show, Dollhouse, borrows from Locke’s Essay to build the basis of the show. Dollhouse features a sci-fi technology company known as Rossum Corporation that develops the technology to remove memories and personality from human beings and then fill them with the identities other people. The company exploits this technology by lending out these people, called dolls or actives, to rich clients for copious amounts of money. The show primarily follows a doll dubbed Echo as she begins to develop an identity and journeys towards self-awareness. By exploring the concepts of group and indiviual identity through Echo and the basis of empiricism, Dollhouse effectively and accurately portrays Locke’s Essay. The first book within the Essay focuses on critiquing the common idea of nativism. Locke argues that humans are not born with any innate knowledge or understanding of …show more content…

His belief is that our knowledge is based on our own experiences in life and how we interpret and connect them. From there, it is easy to conclude that our personalities rely on our knowledge. This is effectively mirrored in the world of Dollhouse as the dolls’ personalities cannot simply be fabricated. Topher Brink, the technician of Echo’s house, explains that the imprinted personalities must be constructed from different people’s memories and experiences as that is how knowledge and identity form. In the pilot episode, Echo is sent to help mediate a transaction after a child is kidnapped. She arrives at the house of the father, Gabriel Crestejo, and everything goes smoothly until the actual transaction begins. Echo discovers that the kidnapper, known as Mr. Sunshine, is the same man who kidnapped a part of her borrowed identity. This is proof that Echo’s identity is reliant on memories to give her certain traits and motivation, accurately drawing from Locke’s empiricism. (“Ghost”) Further evidence of empiricism is protrayed through the repetitive wiping of actives’ brains after each mission. Topher Brink calls in each doll after an engagement for

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Prejudice not only harms those who have it, but serves as an effective hindrance to society’s advancement as a whole. In the short stories Baby in the Airmail Box by Thomas King, and The Man Doll by Susan Swan, the reader is shown great similarities on the impact of prejudice, and great contrast upon the treatment of said prejudices. These two authors help educate the reader on not only the harms of prejudice, but the consequence of inaction as well. The two stories explore prejudice in different manners, King creates a sense of satire through the comedic and exaggerated objectification of the “Baby”, whereas Swan creates a futuristic setting and uses science fiction to establish the “Dolls” as part of society. Both authors use an improbable

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On the other hand, The Doll’s House’s Kelveys had always been outcasts and rarely spoke to others. Since they didn’t rely on other people as much and were more introverted, being made into outcasts as a family was still hard but easier to adapt to. “... she scarcely ever spoke. She went through life holding on to Lil, with a piece of Lil’s skirt screwed up in her hand. Where Lil went, Our Else followed,” (Mansfield 204).

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The high death rate during World War I was caused by the implementation of technology and weaponry. This is because many countries that participated in war tried to use the technology they had available to try and create defense mechanisms/weapons. Other reasons such as disease also affected the death toll overall. A number of weapons of different types used were deadly and caused the death of many troops. Most countries came up with technology more powerful than the next in order to defeat.

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In the plays Trifles and A Doll House the reader can see the portrayal of a male society and the way women are where dominated and abused by their husband in the nineteenth century. In A Doll House Nora’s Husband Treats her as if she is and absent minds doll wife that is incapable of thinking for herself. In Trifles Mrs. wright is a woman that have been oppressed and abuse by her husband for so many year that she need to escape one way or another. The woman in the play both took steps to gain there independence in society by any means

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The Story reflects many real-world problems for people, but for the two dolls and their similarities and differences. The theme of the story can relate to everyday life and common sense. What on the inside counts more them on the outside is shown in society every day from people accepting anyone. The dolls are very different from humans but they are different for the better. The dolls are unique in their own ways.

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When you read three different books by different authors they will have completely different themes, you would think that there would be absolutely nothing alike. But if you look closely and analyze what's really happening, there are more similarities than expected. Although there are many differences between A Doll's House, The Metamorphosis, and A Raisin in the Sun, there are similarities in their family structures of how they seem to depend on few incomes and the theme of the difficulties of trying to find themselves. Even though these books were written in different time periods and different levels in social class, A Doll's House and The Metamorphosis seemed to be similar with the families seeming to depend on one income; the Younger

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One of the many philosophers was a European man, named John Locke. One of his theories in his

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The freedom of being able to change Barbie’s clothes into her various wardrobes sold gives the young children playing with her the sense of individuality. Although Barbie has brought a lot of controversy to the table within the years it has been on the shelf, her portrayal has not changed because after all she is just a doll,

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A Doll’s house is a realistic three act play that focuses on the nineteenth century life in middle class Scandinavian household life, where the wife is expected to be inferior and passive whereas the husband is superior and paternally protective. It was written by Henrik Ibsen. The play criticised the marriage norms that existed in the 19th century. It aroused many controversies as it concludes with Nora, the main protagonists leaving her husband and children in order to discover her identity. It created a lot of controversies and was heavily criticised as it questioned the traditional roles of men and women among Europeans who believed that the covenant of marriage was holy.

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These ideas were expressed in his “Tabula Rasa Theory of Human Behavior”. In his writing, Locke says,”Let us then suppose the mind to be, as we say, white paper, void of all characters, without any ideas—How comes it to be furnished? Whence comes it by that vast store which the busy and boundless fancy of man has painted on it with an almost endless variety? Whence has it all the materials of reason and knowledge? To this I answer, in one word, from experience.”

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Locke believes that our mind is empty and this relates to the Matrix because in the movie the minds is related to the empty room that Neo goes to when he is in between the matrix and the real world. Locke states that the mind is blank slate at birth but in the movie Neo was born into reality. He had no control over anything and had no understanding at all of anything. He was just the product of his environment and was molded by the environment. Showing that Neo was taught through artificial intelligence and later in the movie learned to beat the system comes close with Locke and how he implies that all knowledge comes exclusively through experience.

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Barbie dolls extend girls an invitation to a ‘‘plastic society’’ that doesn't accept the genuineness each of us possesses. They present a role model impossible to accomplish. The characters didn't have names, they could hold a symbolic representation of society’s judgment. The girls had the first dolls just like they wanted, but they desired to cover all of the imperfections on the dolls damaged in the fire with new clothes such as the ‘‘Prom Pink outfit’’ (Cisneros). Thereupon, no one would notice the

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According to Joseph Butler, Locke makes a serious mistake of not clearly differentiating between consciousness and identity. He argues that although memory can make one remember events of the past, there is no connection between those events and the person. Therefore, despite most scholars agreeing with most of his opinions, some say it does not explain the gap between memory and experience. On the other hand, Descartes focuses on meditations in trying to explain the concept of personal identity.

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But where did it all start and how did you get to this position? You’re five years old when you receive your first Barbie doll. Your innocent mind looks at the plastic figure as just a symbol of inspiration or a relatable toy used on the playground

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Locke also asserted that humans are blank states at birth. According to him, “All ideas come from sensation or reflection. Let us then suppose the mind to be, as we say, white paper, void of all characters, without any ideas” (Locke, 1690, p. 96). However, Baillargeon’s research described earlier in the paper showed that infants possess certain knowledge from birth, such as the principle of persistence. Also, Locke’s claim fell into contradiction later in his paper.

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