I'm moving over a comment of sj's from Minearverse, now that we have this thread:
I see Echo as more of a prostitute than a rape victim. She didn't have much of a choice before signing that contract, but I'm sure that many prostitutes feel they have no other choice as well. Echo gave up everything, whether or not the contract is legally binding, she knew she was giving up her free will.
Regardless of whether such a contract could be legally binding (it can't), a person cannot -- let me reiterate that, CANNOT -- consent in advance to sex with someone they've never even met. Not even in a legal document (*if* such a thing were legal). That's not how consent works.
Throw in the mind-wiping, and every single assignment where "Echo" is pimped out and has sex with someone is actually Caroline being raped. *Caroline* didn't consent to have sex with adventure-sports-stalker guy (and, come to that, neither did "Echo"; a weird imprint who isn't real consented -- theoretically -- to have sex with him).
She *is* a prostitute, no question. She's also a prostitute who gets raped every single time an assignment sends her out to be a fucktoy for some rich entitled prick, because neither Caroline nor "Echo" ever had a chance to consent to the sex.
And *that*? Is rape.
she knew she was giving up her free will
Agreeing with above responses that consent to sex is consent on a case by case basis with periodic opportunities to change your mind. You cannot give meaning full consent in advance of knowing who you will have sex with and without the ability to set limits as actual circumstances arrive. Heck recent case law agrees that even if engaged in actual intercourse if a woman changes her mind and says stop and the man doesn't stop, that is rape. And it makes perfect sense.
(That is one reason by the way the libertarian position on prostitution is not as obvious as some people think. While on net, I think the libertarian argument still wins, that outlawing prostitution does more harm than good, it is worth noting that a significant amount of actual prostitution really is rape. And prostitution is a lot more likely to be rape for trafficked persons than for local prostitutes. )
Brief digression, anyone know the ratings for this show from week 1 to week 2?
I am of two minds on the show. I agree with Tep that she IS being raped and that it is horrible, but I think that's the point. I mean, I think that her recovering herself and fighting the Dollhouse (which is where it seems the show is going) means she is fighting a group which has made her and her fellow dolls go through the worst possible theft, of identity, of free will, of personal autonomy. The rape is part of the evil. The rape is not only part of the evil, the rape is a metaphor for what is happening to Echo's whole self.
The first episode was pretty crappy and exploitative, but the second made me feel like we are watching a character who truly has all the odds stacked against her, but whose essential personhood is fighting its way back to strength. If that's where the show is going, then the awfulness of what Echo is going through now is a greater obstacle to overcome, and that can make for better conflict. If it isn't and we just get more sex of the week, than I am gone.
I am of two minds on the show. I agree with Tep that she IS being raped and that it is horrible, but I think that's the point. I mean, I think that her recovering herself and fighting the Dollhouse (which is where it seems the show is going) means she is fighting a group which has made her and her fellow dolls go through the worst possible theft, of identity, of free will, of personal autonomy. The rape is part of the evil. The rape is not only part of the evil, the rape is a metaphor for what is happening to Echo's whole self.
Scrappy, thank you. That is exactly what I have been thinking and yet not knowing how to express. I don't think the rape is meant to be a metaphor at all--I think it is exactly the point. How is human trafficking in the real world any less horrific? If, as Scrappy says, this is a character whose "essential personhood is fighting its way back to strength," then I'm in. If it remains sex of the week, nsm. So I'm on the fence.
