The title of this post is borrowed from Chapter Three of Ideas of Human Nature a book by Professor David Barash.
The chapter features excerpts from John Locke, David Hume, and Immanuel Kant and discusses how the mind comes to be. What kind of knowledge is preexisting? What kind of knowledge must be learned? Are there certain fundamental human qualities, traits, understanding that even newborn infants have? Or is everything just a tabula rasa or "blank slate" as Locke famously advocated?
Whatever the case, Joss Whedon's "Dollhouse" is one of the very few intellectual, sexy, provocative shows that deals with this topic of the human mind...and as luck would have it, it will also be canceled in the near future. I remember seeing a friend's post on Facebook asking, "When is FOX going to realize Whedon is a genius and should have control over everything?" That is a very good question. For those unfamiliar with the show, it is about a secret organization that hires people who are at a difficult and vulnerable time in their lives and give them a chance to be "asleep" for a number of years under contract. Being in this dormant mode, a computer whiz "imprints" these people with a new personality, as personalities are nothing but just software to the brain's hardware (an analogy surely to please Turing and co.). As may be predicted, the possibilities are endless.
Say a client wants to hire a beautiful girlfriend for a weekend getaway, well just imprint that identity into Echo (played extraordinary well by Eliza Dushku) and she's yours for a weekend. Or maybe you need a bodyguard because you feel threatened by a neighbor, Dollhouse will provide just the perfect doll for you. You see, "Dollhouse" does very much take the Lockian approach to the human mind. You wipe off the dolls' slate and you start anew with a new imprinted personality after each "engagement". Like most Whedon shows, "Dollhouse" has its cult following and the series' run is going to end way sooner than it should ("Firefly" anybody?). So I hope FOX can answer my friend's original question. With a show like this, it ought to be moved to Tuesday or Wednesday nights and not be airing on Fridays. It can give "V" a serious run for its money.
On a related note, I do feel a little bad about the last statement, if only because of the ABC/Disney Talent Development Team giving me a "Recall" of my Rejection Letter. While I have no idea what it means, I suppose it's better than NOT recalling the rejection letter...? I guess time will tell. Update coming soon...
But for now: it's officially 12:19AM so that means MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL, AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT!
References:
Pictures taken here
And here
