Dr.Horrible's Sing-Along Blog

What is the context and how did that influence the work?

            Dr.Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog was filmed during the writer’s strike of 2008. All writers in Hollywood didn’t write for about two weeks. Joss Whedon the creator and writer of Dr.Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog decided to utilize this time in order to create something new and amazing. He had been think about Dr.Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog for about a year when the time finally came to make it. Whedon gathered his family together and finished writing the story and music for the project. These writers include: Joss Whedon, Jed Whedon, Zach Whedon, and Marissa Tancharoen. This elite group then gathered together the cast that starts in Dr.Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog Neil Patrick Harris, Nathan Fillion, and Felicia Day. It started out as a passion project. People really didn’t expect it to go anywhere, because of this Joss Whedon really wanted to make it exclusively for the fans. This pushed him to ignore other production companies and release it for free online. It was so popular on the first day that the website shut down. They put it in so much effort, and worked so hard in order to create a piece of art for their fans. The creative energy used in Dr.Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, is electric.

What is the artist communicating and how?

            Dr.Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog has two main themes. One being that everyone is capable of goodness and love, the other that power corrupts. Both of these themes are shown explicitly in the actions of Dr.Horrible played by Neil Patrick Harris. Dr.Horrible is a villain for all the right reasons, he wants the world to be a better place, but unfortunately believes that in order for that to happen he must conquer the current social order and destroy things, but at his root he’s a good person. This is also shown in his relationship with Penny, he truly loves her. He is willing to do anything for her, he gets her Frozen Yogurt and then at the end tries to kill her boyfriend who he believes is using her. This leads directly into theme two, power corrupts. Dr.Horrible believes that if he can obtain power then he can make the world a better place. Unfortunately he doesn’t take into account what he will have to do in order to conquer it. As he tries to join the Evil League of Evil he is forced to do things he usually wouldn’t. After a failed heist, the Evil League of Evil, tell him that his only way in is by killing another person. He decided to kill his nemesis Captain Hammer who is also using Penny, in order to get even with the social structure he hates, where he accidently kills Penny. He does all of this in order to gain more power, and at the end it is clear that he hates himself for it.

 Why do you find it beautiful?

            Practically everyone involved in Dr.Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog was there because they cared about the project. This shows in the acting, the writing, the music, and even the extras. It’s beautiful because of the amazing performances given, the witty one liners, and the brilliantly composed music. More specifically it is beautiful because of all of those things combined. Without the writing there would be no story, and without the actors it could not be seen as well, and the music is just the icing on the cake. The enthusiasm and gusto that Joss Whedon had for Dr.Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog is seen in everything involved in the project. His effort and outlook helped influence the rest of production to be positive. This attitude and tone makes Dr.Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog beautiful. Joss Whedon took a troubling time, where a lot of people were out of work and made something great to distract everyone. He wouldn’t write for a company so he wrote for himself. All of Dr.Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog is beautiful because the people who made it wanted it to be. They created an environment where people’s ideas flourished, and took a dark time and turned it into laughter.