dolly parton
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| Dolly Parton; singer, song-writer, actress, activist, and businesswoman. |
Dolly Parton was born in 1946, the fourth of twelve children, in Tennessee. She released her first song in 1959 just at age 13. Her career really began to take off when she became Porter Wagoner's new partner on his show. Through The Porter Wagoner Show she gained publicity, fans, and a record deal as not only a duet with Wagoner but as a solo artist too.
She is a prolific song-writer having written over 3,000 songs. One of her most well known songs being "I Will Always Love You." Most probably don't even realize it is a Dolly song, as it was sang and popularized by Whitney Houston. As Baudrillard says, "the real is not only what can be reproduced, but which is always already reproduced: That is, the hyperreal...which is entirely simulation." "I Will Always Love You" connects to just this. The version of the song that got big was a reproduction itself, and thus becomes part of the hyperreal simulation.
Another hit song of Dolly's is "9 to 5." After its release in 1980, it quickly hit the top of the charts. Following a month later, the movie premiered of the same name starring Dolly herself alongside Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin. Highlighting the mistreatment of women in the workplace and the wage gap, 9 to 5 has become an anthem for working women and equal pay.
Dolly also has her own theme park called Dollywood. Just like Baudrillard describes Disneyland, "[it] is a perfect model of all the entangled orders of simulation," Dollywood can be thought of in the same fashion (23). Dollywood, like Disneyland, is a simulation. Dollywood being a simulation of Dolly's life.
Dolly revolutionized the music industry, and paved the way for future artists. She has become an icon and a household name everywhere.
I am curious to see how her music videos create a sense of simulation. Music videos through composition, rhythm, lighting, and etc can seem other worldly. I also find it interesting how people seem to love theme parks, example being Dolly and Michael Jackson. It is a place where people go to escape reality. I wonder if people who have the power to make their own park project themselves onto the park.
ReplyDeleteAhh, the first quote from Baudrillard really caught me... I always thought of it as a restatement of the old boring notion that "artists cannot make anything new because they all are just copying off from each other, intentionally and subcounsciously". As if every currently existing artist has been influenced by many artists before, and so no art is "original" per se.
ReplyDeleteWhen connecting this to Dolly, then, it's interesting to think of how she came up with "I Will Always Love You": apparently, she wrote a song titled "I Oil Wells Love You" six years prior!
Love her hair!
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