Photo: Miranda Penn Turin/FOX
Dollhouse, Joss Whedon's latest attempt at a prime-time follow up to the epically popular Buffy the Vampire Slayer, makes no effort to hide its roots. Starring Eliza Dushku (the evil-slayer Faith from Buffy or the punk cheerleader from Bring It On, pick your poison) as Echo, the show revolves around Whedon's favorite topic: powerful women who teeter back and forth between good and evil. Envisioning a secret organization, known as the Dollhouse, the series follows one "active," an agent who unknowingly swaps personalities depending on the deep-pocketed client who hires her, as she begins to wake up from her stasis.
We caught up with Joss, no stranger to the gays or a fanatic gay fan base, at New York's Comic Con last week to chat about gays and prostitution from Buffy to Dollhouse:
"With Buffy I was very strict about the idea that you just couldn't make somebody gay with magic. It would send a message that it's a part of you that can be removed or cured, or that it's some kind of punishment. We didn't go there. Obviously Dollhouse is about people's personalities being removed whole. There was some, in the higher ranks, consternation that, 'Say! That's sort of like prostitution,' and my response was 'yes, that's part of the package.' We didn't get to explore the gay topic the way we wanted to in the first thirteen episodes, but if you think that at least a third of the people who hire actives are not bi-curious I think you'd be a little naive."
From a lesbian witch, Willow, in Buffy, to his recent cult-favorite online film, Dr. Horrible, starring Neil Patrick Harris ("I love him," Whedon gushed), Whedon has never failed his gay fans. Dollhouse promises plenty of raunch -- Dushku shows off her roping skills in the first episode and hottie Tahmoh Penikett boxes shirtless -- and a plethora of plot twists as federal agents hunt down the title organization. And, if the first episode is any indicator, Dollhouse is sure to be another Whedon classic as long as it can survive its Friday night time slot.
Dollhouse premieres Friday, February 13 @ 9 Eastern on FOX.
-- PARKER ANDERSON
Previously > The return of Whedon gets us all geeked out
