Doll

(Rip Off, 1989-1992)
© Guy Colwell

Guy Colwell created this adults-only series, which somehow manages to be sleazy and highbrow at the same time. Its star character is a sort of life-sized, robotic sex-slave—“a real live doll.” Doll is loaned out by two psychologists to be a sex-surrogate for their patients.

Now comes the really weird part: Colwell uses the rather graphic sex scenes as a metaphor for more “normal” male-female relationships. In the midst of sex scenes with Doll, the patients will carry out monologues wondering whether all male-female relationships are based on dominance, whether women have been perversely socialized to demean non-dominant men, etc. In short, it’s the sort of discussion you expect to find in a women’s studies class, carried out in what otherwise would be a sleaze-mag. To say the least, it’s an interesting juxtaposition.

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