by Eric Kohn
The end result of genre television hero Joss Whedon's intriguing episodic short film Dr. Horrible's Sing-A-Long Blog suggests a brighter future for mainstream entertainers than previous attempts at digital programming have suggested. Whedon, one of the few pop culture forces to make a comic book mentality accessible to large television audiences, manages to pull of the same feat with Dr. Horrible, a forty-minute satire of superhero and music tropes (at once!) that streamed for free in three acts over the weekend before becoming available for $1.99 an act on iTunes.
All the Whedon fans devoted to his work since Buffy: the Vampire Slayer and Firefly will surely pay up to make Dr. Horrible a part of their Whedon libraries, but the movie is only available through July 30. As Scott Kirsner points out at CinemaTech, this arrangement allow for an exclusive DVD deal from which Whedon will gain immense profits, but limits the lightning potential for this indisputably cult-friendly product. No matter: Dr. Horrible has such sleek performances, sharp writing and ubiquitous confidence in its material that it only devolves into camp when the creators decide that's where it should go. It has lasting potential wherever it ends up.
The alluring conceits of Dr. Horrible have much to do with its debut format. The conflicted titular antihero is portrayed by none other than Neil Patrick Harris, his pristine doll face glimmering with the same innocuousness he first cultivated ten years ago. We're not forced to sympathize with the bad guy, but his world is the only one we know, due to Whedon's self-reflexive structure, which brings us into the story through Dr. Horrible's surprisingly not-so-horrible video blog. This referential approach generally makes for an excruciating "meta" experience (quarterlife and lonelygirl15 both relied on the same method) but for Whedon, the video blog approach is just a ruse, as Dr. Horrible quickly gives way to a larger story involving the protagonist's doomed love life. Just when the humorously downbeat character gets the courage to make a pass at the cute girl from the laundromat, his nemesis -- the pompous hero Doctor Hammer (Nathan Fillion) -- gets to her first. It's this conflict, rather than Dr. Horrible's intentionally transparent evil schemes, that take centerstage in the forty-minute plot, particularly through Whedon's keenly composed show tunes. The comic stylings create a hip subversion of the conventional superhero story, a delightfully flamboyant nod to musical theater and exactly the ironic surge that web audiences crave.
"I don't have time for a grudge match with every poseur in a parka!" So remarks Dr. Horrible when combing through hatemail on his highly popular video blog. It's too popular, actually -- even Doctor Hammer watches it, which allows him to foil the supervillain's plan at least once. But Dr. Horrible has his fair share of triumphs, including admission into the prestigious Evil League of Evil, one of the many amusing components in this incisive tale. Whedon has crafted an insular environment with its own rules. Nothing in Dr. Horrible's world is taken seriously, so everything is.
The trailer for 'Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog'
The video blog framework recalls the same satirical approach of "Goblin Bloggin,'" the hilarious YouTube hit from voice actor Michael Agrusso (John Lichman interviewed Agrusso for Stream back in April). The computer diary, of course, also forms a sly nod to Harris' greatest claim to fame as Doogie Howser, but that's neither here nor there. It does reveal, however, that while the industry of new media isn't cyclical, the ingredients of good entertainment remain gloriously unchanged. Now let's see how long they last.