Whedon’s Dollhouse Inspires Activism

Image via <a href="http://www.notadoll.org/dhreality.html">NotADoll.org</a>

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.


Fans of Joss Whedon‘s latest TV show have been inspired to do more than don Browncoats and sharpen Mr. Pointy. While much of the discussion around Dollhouse has revolved around whether the show damages Whedon’s feminist cred, some fans think that debate misses the real point of the show: to denounce human trafficking.

Not A Doll seeks “to inspire, to raise funds, and to organize” other Whedonites to bring attention to human trafficking:

…Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse has captivated and inspired us. It has moved us to tears and then spurred us to action. We may root for Echo and Sierra, Victor and November, but what of the countless, the nameless, the real ones? This site is for them.

With its zenly beautiful aesthetic (kind of like the show’s set), the site offers six ways to get involved, three of which have to do with techy charitable giving (donating old electronics, or making your search engine clicks count), and all of which are tied to the show’s plot. Some parallels between the show and real world action work better than others: “Contact the Sentator Perrins of the World” makes a lot of sense, but “Become a Handler,” which suggests ways to protect your children from kidnapping, is a bit of failed metaphor (in the show the “handlers” play both a parental and pimp-like role).

2009 will be Dollhouse‘s final season. But if the show’s devotees are anything like their Browncoat counterparts, this just might inspire some real-life change.

WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

payment methods

WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate