Okay, comparing
Dr. Horrible’s
Sing-Along Blog to
Hamlet, one
of the greatest
plays
in the
English
language, is
the type of hyperbole
writers,
especially on the
Internet,
use to draw in a reader. I presume it
worked on you.
There are points of comparison. Both are tragedies. Both feature lead
characters giving themselves over to being people they might not really have
wanted to become, at least not at the beginning. Both carry a sense of
terrifying inevitability.
Having hooked you with
Hamlet,
I’m going to carry on about
Dr. Horrible. The
film
plays on concepts of
nerdiness,
jocks, and what
is the potential tragedy of a world in which nerds can’t find a place for
themselves (though they seem to be everywhere). It does so in the nerdy context
of
superhero
films and
musicals,
the mash up of these genres being geeky itself.
About the Film
The familiar star of the film is
Neil
Patrick Harris, who plays Barney on
How I
Met Your Mother. I don’t enjoy that show much, but fortunately Harris
has found other outlets for his performing talent. It is unfair to say
Dr. Horrible launched her career, but I
think it helped
Felicia Day
achieve a new level, especially on the Internet. She is everywhere now and produces the
Geek & Sundry YouTube
channel.
Plot Summary
The pursuit of supervillainy is complicated by Dr. Horrible’s
double-mindedness even more than his nemesis.
As his alter ego Billy, the doctor is smitten with
Penny (Day), a
girl he meets at the Laundromat. She
meets and begins to date Captain Hammer. Hammer recognizes his enemy and
flaunts the affair.
Dr. Horrible retreats from the situation and focuses on the
League. They are not impressed with his
recent failures, but he can prove himself by killing someone in one of his
capers. He plans to kill Hammer. Things
go wrong when Horrible sees Penny at the event where he plans to exact his
revenge and begins to experience a change of heart. Hammer gains control of Horrible’s
death ray,
which is overloading. In spite of Horrible’s warning, Hammer uses the weapon,
which explodes, causing him pain but no apparent injury. Fragments of the death
ray hit the crowd and kill Penny.
In one stroke, Horrible loses his love and gains his dead victim. He is admitted to the League. He abandons
hope and embraces evil. It’s dark stuff
for a musical
comedy.
Dr. Horrible: Protagonist,
Villain, Nerd
Dr. Horrible is a nerd. As
support of this notion, if it isn’t readily apparent, I turn to the
characteristics of nerds identified by
Benjamin
Nugent in American Nerd. He suggests that people associated nerds with
machine like qualities. Nerds seem machine like in that they
- like working with machines, having interest in technical
subjects or complex hobbies, and
- prefer direct, logical, rule-bound communication to indirect,
emotional communication.
In his first appearance, Dr. Horrible is recording a vlog entry in his
lab. Throughout the film, he talks about his inventions and uses them. He is
clearly at home in the realm of technology. Not only that, he identifies
himself with
science
and technology with his costume: long white (lab) coat, long rubber gloves, and
goggles.
While comfortable with technology and talking about it, he is
uncomfortable with emotional communication. He has trouble expressing his
feelings to Penny, and he has trouble reading the signs that she might be
attracted to him. In light of this, he is oddly eloquent on his vlog. In
Quiet, Susan Cain noted that
introverts
often communicate a lot through social media, and rise to leadership in online
communities. They communicate very well
when relieved of the pressures and distractions of face-to-face communications.
Nerdiness and
introversion
aren’t synonymous, but I think it strengthens the case for Dr. Horrible’s
nerdiness in his preference for technologically mediated communication that is
formalized through a script (an unscripted vlog would not be eloquent) and
music (with rules for rhythm, pitch, and rhyme).
Captain Hammer: Antagonist,
Hero, Jock
Captain Hammer is the antithesis of a nerd: a jock. I turn again to
American Nerd to help make this diagnosis. Nugent notes that the
nerd image was at one time associated with
immigrant
communities that were rising in population and status. Immigrant pursuit of
New World
opportunities was shaped by their
Old World
perspective, so they sought upward mobility in artistic and intellectual
professions.
The established upper class wanted to both maintain its dominance and
distinguish itself from lower classes, especially immigrants. They adopted a
preference for athleticism and a suspicion of excessive intellectualism.
Book-learning had its place, but a boy who would take his place as active
leader in
business,
political,
and
military
affairs needed to learn how to win.
Sporting fields
and athletic competitions were seen as the classroom for these skills.
Athleticism as associated with a certain class (because such vigorous leisure
required time and resources). This
magnified the upper class sense of superiority.
We can see this in reflected Captain Hammer. His superhuman physical
superiority seems to be a justification for his overall sense of being superior
to others, especially the weaker and physically cowardly Horrible. Even his
activities as a do-gooder seem to lack a moral motivation outside a vague
noblesse oblige. He seems more interested in establishing and maintaining his
status. For instance, his support of Penny’s campaign to end homelessness is
motivated by the positive publicity he receives, not by love of his fellow
man—he does not perceive value in homeless people.
The Tragedy of Dr. Horrible
Dr. Horrible, then, is a classic conflict between a typical nerd and a
typical jock, except they are a supervillain and a superhero in a
comic
book-style world where such people exist. Where is the tragedy?
We’ve already noted the death of Penny. That is enough to make the film
a tragedy, but not necessarily a nerdy one.
The tragedy of the nerd is to be trapped in alienation. Admittedly,
nerds seem to be increasingly popular nowadays, but the more traditional image
of a nerd is of one alienated from popular society because his machine-like
qualities are not valued in a culture that sees emotional display and
sensitivity as more worthy and human.
Nerds are not naturally loners, though. They have a long history of
building their own communities.
Science
fiction fandom is a good example. Long before the Internet, sci-fi fans
built communities of
letter
writing and zines around popular
magazines.
Before long, they began gathering at clubs and conventions. This culture
carried over into comic book fandom (for more on this check out
Men
of Tomorrow by Gerard Jones).
Nugent notes how a similar community of nerds, also readers popular magazines,
formed around ham
radio,
where technological skill and rule-bound communication were prized.
We’ve noted that Dr. Horrible also seeks connection to a community. He
specifically identifies his desire to be part of the League. His quest for world domination is also motivated
by a desire to connect with the wider community of humanity. He wants to take
over the world not because he hates people, but because he longs for a logical
meritocracy that would rid the world of all the trouble cause by emotionalism,
celebrity culture, and doublespeak. In his fantasy, he would naturally rise to
the top of such a society.
Captain Hammer frustrates these efforts at connection. He reinforces a
culture of athleticism and emotional communication that Horrible cannot
participate in. When he finds a sympathetic soul who may be able to help him
make that connection, Hammer sweeps her away. At last, Horrible wins entry into
a community, but the League is evil and inhumane, and can only serve to further
dehumanize its members. The cost to Horrible to finally belong is high; he must
turn his back on the rest of humanity and give up the hope of ever loving or
being loved by another. He is completely alienated, cut off from meaningful and
fulfilling connections to others.
The Sequel
A sequel is reported in the works and expected to be released this
year. I would expect most of the major
characters to return.
I imagine many fans would like to see Day reprise her role as Penny,
though the character died in the first film.
Because this is a superhero movie, there are several ways around this:
time travel,
cloning,
robotic or
holographic doubleganger (it’s a word, and it doesn’t need an umlaut), or
reanimation (
no zombies,
please). Maybe Dr. Horrible will try all
of these things, each effort going more wrong than the last. He could be forced
to team up with Captain Hammer to fend off an army of time-travel replicated,
cyborg zombie Pennies, but I probably wouldn’t watch it because I’m creeped out
by the walking dead.
Making Your Connection
You may be nerd seeking connection, too. I’ve provided a little information below
where you can find out about the people behind this film and the books I
mentioned. They’re involved in other things and you may find that work
interesting. Please do not cyberstalk them.
I don’t want that on my conscience.
Susan Cain
Felicia Day
Nathan Fillion
Neil Patrick Harris
Gerard Jones
Benjamin Nugent
Maurissa Tancharoen
Jed Whedon
Joss Whedon
Zack Whedon
Google
