Premiering on Fox in 2009, Joss Whedon's Dollhouse was an innovative, contentious and short-lived science fiction series whose themes were challenging for viewers from the outset. A vast global corporation operates establishments (Dollhouses) that program individuals with temporary personalities and abilities. The protagonist assumes a different identity each episode-her defining characteristic a lack of individuality. Through this obtuse premise, the show interrogated free will, morality and sex, and in the process its own construction of fantasy and its audience. A decade on, the world is-for better or worse-catching up with Dollhouse's provocative vision. This collection of new essays examines the series' relevance in the context of today's social and political issues and media landscape.

Though it lasted barely more than a season, Dollhouse continues to intrigue viewers as one of Joss Whedon's most provocative forays into series television. The program centered on men and women who have their memories and personalities repeatedly wiped and replaced with new ones by a shadowy corporation dedicated to fulfilling the whims of the rich. This chilling scenario was used to tell stories about big issues-power and resistance, freedom and servitude, class and gender-while always returning to its central themes of identity and individuality. In Joss Whedon's Dollhouse: Confounding Purpose, Confusing Identity, Sherry Ginn, Alyson Buckman, and Heather M. Porter have brought together fourteen diverse essays that showcase the series' complex vision of the future. Contributors probe deeply into the fictional universe of the show by considering the motives of the wealthy clients and asking what love means when personalities are continually remade. Other essays consider the show's relations to politics, philosophy, psychology, and representations of race and gender on screen.Several essays explore the show's complex relationship to transhumanism: considering the dark potential for dehumanization and abuse that lurks beneath the promise of turning bodies into temporary vessels for immortal, downloadable personalities. Though a short-lived series, Dollhouse has been hailed as one of television's most thoughtful explorations of classic science-fiction themes. The first serious treatment of this landmark show, Joss Whedon's Dollhouse will be of interest to science-fiction scholars and Whedon fans alike.