There is no such thing as being completely free from outside influence. For as much as people, especially nowadays, just love to extol how much of a unique spirit they are, and how they don’t follow any such dogma that the ‘sheeple’ do, and other such pseudointellectual wankery, we are all in one form or another shaped by exterior influences, the people around us in particular. And there’s nothing wrong with that. Hell, I've made it no secret that I’ve basically modelled myself after The Dude from The Big Lebowski, because that’s the kind of chill I want to exhibit in everyday life, and I could use the rest of this write-up to just list all the different rappers I’ve taken some kind of personal inspiration from over the years.
However, there’s a difference between taking inspiration from others to become your true self, and thinking that you need to be them to become your true self. This is something at the heart of this particular Aussie flick, all about the world of celebrity impersonators and following a dissatisfied real estate agent (Krew Boylan’s Raylene) as she decides to make her own mark as a Dolly Parton impersonator.
While some of the initial bits of characterisation are kinda sus, what with the weird addition that Raylene just randomly grabs people’s crotches (which is an uncomfy fit for a film infused with Drag culture), her performance combined with the self-effacing moxie whenever she’s onstage helps ground a story that easily could’ve just floated off. The cast around her adds to that effect, from Daniel Webber as a Kenny Rogers impersonator/love interest, Rose Byrne as Elvis… which works so freaking well, it’s genuinely shocking, Celeste Barber as Raylene’s manager, and Bobby Cannavale as the head honcho for the company.
Like with Dumplin’, another film starring an Australian actress that uses Dolly Parton’s music and iconography to fight body image issues, it makes good use of that imagery. Numerous quotes from Dolly herself are literally written across the screen throughout, interview footage for further quotage, even the outfits are on-point. It’s rather blaring at times, admittedly, and some of the scenes hit an odd note (the theatrical dance number when Raylene goes in for cosmetic surgery is… an idea, I guess), but it’s all in service to Raylene’s character arc and about her learning to comfortable in her own skin, regardless of what’s under or on top of it.
Seeing Raylene as Dolly under the compound visuals afforded by Toby Oliver’s cinematography, losing herself in the wonder of the stage, it’s quite infectious. As is that prevailing feeling that this happiness is fleeting, and that the people around her (Kenny in particular) are so invested in the artifice that it ceases to even be artifice; it’s just… who they are now. I don’t have any personal experience with impersonation or drag culture… but I’ve seen more than enough white dudes try and be rappers by putting on their best blaccent to know what ‘missing the point’ looks like; embracing a culture all about being yourself doesn't mean just to copy what everyone else is doing. There’s a definite sense of power and self-affirmation that come out of stuff like this, both on the stage and even in the audience, but all things in moderation. It also helps to not take yourself too seriously, lest you end up in the casting call for Mister Lonely 2.
With both How To Please A Woman and Good Luck To You, Leo Grande still fresh in my memory, I can’t help but find something lacking in this film’s own depiction of an older woman finding her sense of self through… let’s say unorthodox circumstances. It does well at showing the importance and even the potential hazards of the artifice, but for as often as it directly quotes Dolly, it never quite lives up to her mantra of looking artificial but being real. As a character study, it’s alright and it benefits from everyone in the cast being this on the ball (right down to Danni Minogue showing up to play a Danni Minogue impersonator, such is the queer-friendly nature of this thing), but it doesn’t manage to rise above just being ‘alright’.
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