Beatriz Navarro, correspondent for La Vanguardia in Brussels, took from her previous stage in Washington not a political book, but a much more suggestive one, Dolly Parton. An American portrait in which he observes aspects of the society of the United States through the trajectory of a character as unique as the popular singer (now 77 years old) “in all its dimensions”. The book includes a playlist.
How and when do you discover Dolly Parton?
Before coming to the USA, I knew Dolly Parton as an actress and singer, but I knew nothing about her career. When I started to dig deeper I was blown away by what was behind this very characteristic look, with the way she had been able to use this image. Not only because, as he says, under the wigs and the overflowing chest there is a much bigger brain and heart, but because of the amount of contradictions he is able to embody, very American. She’s both breast jokes and Bible verses, an explosive blonde, a feminist icon and an angelic girl who sings country songs, an idol for gays and transsexuals while never ceasing to be a star of Christian music in the South deep in the US. I went from being fascinated by Dolly Parton to being fascinated by the Americans’ fascination with her, and wondering why an artist from a very conservative background has managed to become a figure loved by both Americas.
It portrays a transversal heroine of a divided country…
It is the figure that elicits the least negative reactions, and that already seems like a feat in today’s world. She has no enemies, and she has achieved something that very few public figures in the US can boast of, and that is to be loved by both urban and rural audiences, on the coasts, where the elites live, in the north and in the south And coming from a genre like country, with very clear and strong political connotations. From the beginning, the country music industry has been closely linked to the Republican Party. That’s why I think it’s so impressive that Dolly has managed to rise above this context, to be true to her causes and defend them in a subtle but effective way and without losing favor with either side of her audience.
He lived and worked in the US during one of its strangest times, that of Donald Trump. In the book, she describes Kellyanne Conway, presidential adviser, in a supermarket with toilet paper tied around her mouth during covid because she didn’t want to wear a mask. Meanwhile, Dolly Parton was co-funding Moderna’s vaccine…
The image of Conway that day was comical and at the same time quite sad because it reflected how the White House disregarded the most basic health recommendations and set a bad example for the country. Conservative states generally ignored it. Parton no She locked herself in the house, allowed herself to be vaccinated live and sent a message: “Hey, don’t be a chicken, get vaccinated”. Then he had a lot of criticism from the conservative world and she took iron out of the gesture, but she did it. It is his way of doing things, without taking on other people’s flags or adding to political slogans.
You put on a Dolly T-shirt in search of people’s reactions…
It wasn’t deliberate. When I went to Dollywood – the artist’s particular theme park – I bought a shirt. But it was a funny experience to see the amount of contrasting reactions that the image of a country singer evoked in a city like Washington.
The best-known country singer is Johnny Cash, the man in black, with his stories, while Parton’s image is glitter-glitter … Perhaps Cash had a better entry among Europeans?
Dolly Parton was popular as a singer in Europe. This was not the case in Spain, but it was in France, Germany, the Netherlands and the Scandinavian countries. I think that the moment when his style succeeded had nothing to do with what was happening in Spain, and he has never gone beyond the exuberant and sometimes ridiculous facade with which he presents himself, but this is what I defend in the book, who is a very rich and complex character.
She reminded me of Lola Flores, in terms of the type of character who doesn’t speak out, but asserts herself with her attitudes and jokes, and who ends up attracting young people. If Dolly Parton has Miley Cyrus, Lola Flores has Rosalía…
I don’t think it’s an outlandish comparison. Dolly is Miley’s godmother in real life, she appeared on Hanna Montana and some reality shows with Miley, and this has helped rejuvenate her fan base. And it explains the current strength of the phenomenon. Generation Z have claimed it as a feminist reference; today’s young people don’t mind wigs or clothes or heels or nails. Perhaps it is better understood now than 40 years ago. I think there are deep feminist convictions in the way this woman, who grew up in a cabin without running water or electricity in deep America, in a hyper-patriarchal environment with very few references, went about her life. Despite the artificiality of her appearance, Dolly Parton is my favorite artificial intelligence. She has been a super smart woman and businesswoman her entire career.
