I have to tell you that this has been a challenging post for me to write.  Because there is SO MUCH that I have to say about Dolly Parton. Many of you may already be aware of my fascination with her.  You’ve already heard me go on and on about what a role model and wonderful person she is, and you’re rolling your eyes – oh brother, she’s got more material. And boy howdy, I sure do. But I can’t fit all of the things that I find fascinating about Dolly in this one post, so I’ll just focus on one thing that might pique your interest today.  We can get into The Imagination Library, Dollywood, and her discography later.

I recently discovered a great podcast called Dolly Parton’s America (seriously, check it out). It’s about Dolly, but it isn’t from Dolly; it was created by NPR’s Radiolab producer Jad Abumrad. I was recommending it to a friend but having a hard time describing it.  I finally settled on, it’s deep and thought-provoking. The gist of the series is that Dolly Parton is both a creator of culture and a cultural object.

One of my favorite things about the podcast is that they discuss and examine a lot of things that Dolly won’t engage about. Things like gender and objectification and how she is wily enough to navigate these hazards without letting on to the fact that she is on to the game.  And then she wins.

One of my stand-out takeaways from the podcast was how important it is to Dolly to try to not hurt anyone’s feelings. And that is the bottom line that she is coming from in so many of the things that she does. She is not going to apologize for being herself or try to be something that she isn’t, and she doesn’t expect anyone else to either. It’s ok with Dolly that you are just the way you are; she isn’t going to judge anyone, even if they won’t do her the same courtesy.

Is it because she was picked on when she was little?  Coat of Many Colors and all that. She knows what it feels like when someone makes a point of making you feel like you’re not a part of something. She never outright says that, but her wanting to not ever hurt anyone’s feelings goes way beyond being a savvy businesswoman who wants to make sure that her market share is as large as possible.

I feel like I have an endless number of lessons to learn from Dolly Parton. About how to create meaningful art; how to be open, approachable and outgoing but still own your right to be a private person; and about how to stand up for yourself, your best interests, what you believe in, and be generous and help other people at the same time.

It’s like she says, “Find out who you are and do it on purpose!” I’m trying Dolly!  It’s not that easy.

Thank you Dolly.  Happy birthday!

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I'm doing this all on purpose, my purpose, and I'm loving every second! Hope you're following your dreams now and always #Dumplin pic.twitter.com/tUuLuopUGW

Because I follow Dolly Parton on social media (don’t y’all?), I started hearing about a movie called Dumplin’ that was coming out.  Dolly had done the music for the movie.  Ok, done deal, that would be the next movie night for the chick-flick movie bunch.

No, I had no idea what the movie was about.  It didn’t really matter because Dolly was saying to go see it.  Honestly, if there is one public figure who you can trust, it’s Dolly Parton.  I will write more about my deep, abiding love for Dolly another day, but I will tell you now that if you don’t have a great deal of respect and admiration for the woman, it’s only because you don’t know about the many wonderful things that she has done in her life.

Back to Dumplin’. This movie was produced by Jennifer Aniston’s production company and was released on Netflix with only limited theatrical release (so that it would be award-season eligible).  That meant that it was not showing in the greater Long Beach metropolitan area which made organizing a night out for the chick-flick movie bunch a challenge.

Shamelessly, I asked the group if anyone had Netflix and wanted to host us (I don’t have Netflix, I watch too much television already anyway – don’t judge).  La Flaca graciously offered to have us all over to her casita which was an extra treat since we got to enjoy her delightful holiday decorating as well.

It was a really sweet movie about awkward teenagers overcoming awkward teenager issues.  And Dolly hadn’t just provided the music, she also provided an underlying theme.  One of Dolly’s bon mots, “figure out who you are and do it on purpose” sums up the dramatic arc of the film.  I feel like I would like that quote on a t-shirt.

The only dubious element of the movie for me was how normal these teenagers were. I mean, they had after school jobs and drove cars and were responsible for their own participation in the activities that they chose to sign up for.  Sure, we did those things back when we were teenagers, but it doesn’t seem like that’s the way that kids now-a-days go about their business (I think that Mr. Man’s “back in my day” ranting is rubbing off on me).  I liked those parts about being a teenager and it was nice to be reminded of.

I found out later that Dumplin’ was adapted from a book by Julie Murphy.  Usually, if I’m interested in a movie that is based on a book, I will always read the book first.  Often, I tend to stop there.  Books can have a lot of layers that are hard to portray in film.  There are places in this movie that you can tell there is something more to the story.  I think that I will put this book on my reading list so that I can get into all those nooks and crannies.  I’m pretty sure that it will be a fun, quick read.

So, if you have Netflix and you’re in the mood for a sweet movie that will leave you feeling better about life when you’re done, I recommend that you check it out.  Or read the book.  Or both.  Dolly will approve.

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