THEORY: Operant Conditioning in Dollhouse?
One of the more surreal clips from the Dollhouse trailer shows Echo and her pals slipping into coffin-like chambers, where they go to fall asleep. But who in their right mind sleeps in a coffin? It would appear that coffins are not only reserved for the dead in Dollhouse, as with twisted logic the zombie-like “actives” de-activate, perhaps exposing themselves to more consciousness than they do during their waking hours.
But why coffins? Surely there must be some symbolism behind that? What is Whedon trying to convey when we see ’scientific specimens’ being drained of all life? Perhaps the biggest real-world parallel comes from the famous American Psychologist, B.F. Skinner, the father of the Operant Conditioning Chamber. A device used to study the behaviour of subjects (including his own child) whilst conditioning their responses.
In Dollhouse, the coffin-like sleeping chambers could be another way for Adelle and her team to deny the actives of any contact with the outside (or inside) world, containing them even in their sleep..especially in their sleep. The nature vs nurture debate argues that on the one hand we are influenced by our surroundings, whilst on the other-hand we are the products of nature. It could be argued that sleeping exhibits both extremes, as we are in a natural state where through our dreams we can be who we want to be without the restrictions of our environment, yet we are also open to the subconscious activity buzzing around us.
With that in mind, it seems possible that the Dollhouse management are concerned about what the actives are exposed to even whilst they sleep. To be distracted too soon could be like a premature birth..the dolls too active..too eager to see the world for what it really is.
Food for thought, perhaps.
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I think Whedon explictly stated that the beds are not only coffins, but also something very soft, more like a womb. the symbolism will be quite layered and twisted, i guess.
Interesting. It does seem like the beds/coffins are not in themselves uncomfortable. They might even be quite pleasant.
It does seem to be a rather conflicted device. One that serves a seemingly normal purpose, yet, as you say, comes with layers of intent.
I like the womb metaphor..representative, perhaps, of the actives being ‘re-born’ every time they go to sleep.
EDIT: I suppose there is also the direct reference to dolls being put away once a child has finished playing with them..
[...] Gray from Philly Daily News has some comments from Joss Whedon on the coffin-like sleeping chambers: “This set was built exactly 20 minutes before I walked on to it to shoot,” explained [...]
[...] unveiled their brand new show blog for Dollhouse. Called the Echo Chamber - a clever take on the Skinner box/Operant Conditioning Chamber? Yes I thought so - the site is a welcome edition to the this tiny Dollhouse [...]