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Technology and Magic: Joss Whedon’s Explorations of the Mind
- Syracuse University Press
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325 Technology and Magic Joss Whedon’s Explorations of the Mind J E F F R E Y B U S S O L I N I Joss Whedon demonstrates an abiding fascination with the processes of the mind and their modification. Scientific (or magical) alteration of perception, knowledge, and mental state is foundational to the stories of Firefly and Dollhouse and is a fundamental component of several major plot arcs in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. At issue is not only a plot device or story model but also an ongoing imaginative reflection about qualities of mind and a deep artistic -ethical critique of the instrumentalization of subjects through unchecked use of technological manipulations. Writing of such problematic instrumentality in terms of the critical analysis of mind/body dualism that also animates the analysis here, science studies scholar Donna Haraway notes, “Self-sure . . . hierarchy . . . takes heart from the primary dualism that parses body one way and mind the other. That dualism should have withered long ago in the light of feminist and many other criticisms, but the fantastic mind/body binary has proved remarkably resilient” (2008, 71).1 Whedon uses technology and magic to pose significant ethical and epistemological questions about memory and manipulation, and in many respects, magic and technology function similarly for him. While Whedon has a sustained critical analysis of technology, we might also think of Arthur C. Clarke’s famous Third Law: “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic” (1973, 21). Whedon’s renderings remind us of the Greek root τέχνη (techne ˉ) that refers equally to “art, skill, method of making,” 1. Donna Haraway is perhaps a particularly appropriate theoretical guide for considering Buffy the Vampire Slayer: she called three cats who lived on her property Willow, Giles, and Spike (2008, 276–77). 326 ✴ Overarching Topics to “craft, cunning, sleight, wiles, devices,” and to “a way, manner, means whereby a thing is gained” (Liddell, Scott, and Jones [1940] 1996, 1785). In their definitions (as in Whedon’s texts), modern technology, magic, and art significantly overlap, and each aspect of the etymology is important. It is precisely as an artistic meditation on technology and on other “means whereby a thing is gained” that Whedon’s stories are so effective.2 The analysis in this essay hews especially closely to instances presented in Whedon’s texts to evaluate some prominent considerations about mind and mental processes. Like Haraway, Whedon touches on persistent philosophical questions about thought, engages with science fiction and fantasy accounts of mental tweaking, and reflects critically on contemporary realworld situations that confront humanity (and related species). He repeatedly refers to the character of Gigolo Joe from Steven Spielberg’s film AI (2001) as a touchstone for these questions. Joe is an android who has been programmed to mimic love and act as a male prostitute. Whedon wonders where the mimicry leaves off, where the “real” love begins, and how much it can be requited. The number and intensity of the questions presented along these lines in the Whedonverses make it impossible decisively to answer them in the scope of this essay, and indeed Martin Heidegger has pointed out that the identification and posing of questions are often more important than conclusively answering them (Heidegger 1977, 1984). However, the main aspects of Whedon’s “theory of mind” are an immanent rather than split-level ontology of mind, an astute awareness of the unknowable consequences of tampering with mind, a strong interest in socialization, and a deep-seated ethical rejection of coercive measures. Whedon’s interest in socialization is shown in a Paley Media Center event about Dollhouse. He is posed a particularly apropos question regarding human experimentation on Adam in Buffy, River and the Reavers in Firefly, and the Dolls in Dollhouse (“Dollhouse”: Cast and Creators 2010). Whedon says that he is “very obsessed with the robot mythos as a modern-day Frankenstein thing, which all goes back to what are we, who made us, why are we the way we are? And human experimentation, for me, is a lot about socialization, is a lot about what does society tell us we have to become and what is actually innate within us?” 2. The significant identity between art and technology in technē is Martin Heidegger’s point of conceptual departure in “The Question Concerning Technology” (1977; etymology especially, 12–14). [3.133.124.167] Project MUSE (2024-04-18 00:37 GMT) Technology and Magic ✴ 327 Whedon is fascinated by socialization and social interaction—as anyone...