Last week I rewatched both seasons of Dollhouse and remembered all over again how the show started out as a 21st century version of Charlie’s Angels and then transformed into a fantastically thoughtful show about free will, corporations, and a modern world that feels like it’s spinning out of control.  There were significant twists near the end so I was curious to see if the plot still held up now that I understood key new information about the characters. It did!  The reveals made sense and added a new perspective to my watching experience.

It was perfect timing then that I came across this interesting article that examines what Joss Whedon’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Dollhouse each contribute to the discussion of feminism.  While it’s easy to see what Buffy contributes to feminism, Dollhouse’s virtues are trickier to see at first.  As the author says:

"Dollhouse gives us just as much fodder for thinking about gender, feminism, and power as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which drew its appeal by resisting the very forms of systemic oppression, both male and female disempowerment, that Dollhouse sought to make explicit."

The whole article is worth reading.  Just be warned that there are a lot of spoilers for Dollhouse and probably Buffy too.

PS: Both seasons of Dollhouse  and all seven seasons of Buffy are currently available on Netflix Instant.