Dollhouse, or to give it its full title, Dollhouse: The Eradication Of Female Subjectivity From American Popular Culture a 2018 film directed by Nicole Brending was one film I called 'dibs' on because the trailer made me laugh. Brending’s debut directorial effort is a mockumentary created using grotesque dolls (imagine Andy’s next door neighbour ‘Sid’ from Toy Story has been let loose on some Bratz figurines) about the rise and fall of pop starlet Junie Spoons, as told through talking heads of those who were closest to her.
I will warn readers now that the content of this absurd puppeteered comedy is offensive and its attempts at satire, although often effective, are heavy-handed, so please exercise discretion when reading on. The first act in the tale of Junie Spoons involves a pushy mother getting her child onto TV talent shows and finally into pop stardom, and is clearly taking swipes at entertainment moguls and child pop stars alike. There are heavy references to Britney Spears in much of the first half of this, with public breakdowns, annulled marriages to losers, shaved heads and even a fan vlogger pleading “Leave Junie alone!!”. There are also Lady Gaga-esque shocking dresses and provocative music vids of Junie swinging on giant spoons (a-la Miley Cyrus’s ‘Wrecking Ball’). Early on, when the protagonist is still 8yrs old, one image depicts shaky home footage of a doll falling down a cardboard staircase as its mother stands at the top yelling about failing an audition; this is followed by the talking head of a mogul explaining “When I saw that footage, I knew we had something special.” It is very offensive, but you know what you’re in for and it is undeniably funny.
The film goes on to satirise the sexualisation of young starlets, their exploitative parents, the suspicions of child sexual exploitation in Hollywood, leaked sex-tapes and the inevitable descent into addiction and mental health; all with shocking glee. A sex-tape sequence takes the lead from the rutting marionettes in ‘Team America: World Police’ (Dir: Parker, T. 2004) and offers something much more graphic and appalling, to good comic effect. News footage of a toy Ford Bronco being pursued slowly down the freeway by toy police cars is commentated by a topless barbie-ish doll to ‘undermine the journalistic integrity’ of the news segment. Another sequence follows the youtube video diary of a super-fan getting cosmetic surgery to become Junie Spoons because he feels like he actually is her; it is all so post-modern that the universe could well collapse into its own self-referencing, meta black hole. For 45 minutes it is deliciously, uncomfortable fun.
It occurred to me that the film’s aesthetic is not befitting cinema or feature length film, but would have made an excellent calling card for TV execs looking for sketch comedy or inserts into satirical shows, but as the film wore on I wondered if anyone beyond the likes of Fox News (who Brending initially looked like she was railing against) would come calling…
‘Dollhouse: The Eradication Of Female Subjectivity From American Popular Culture’ is a terrible title, which puts off any would-be audience of Brending’s anarchic, grotesque satire, but does serve as a warning. This is a feminist polemic which targets the mainstream media and patriarchy with all guns blazing. For the first half I was in on the joke and laughing, albeit with a sense of horror at how many taboos were laid-bare (sometimes literally) for the sake of the gags… That is until Brending sets her sights at the new villain of the piece. As the story progresses the child-star Junie Spoons is increasingly absent from events, a comment on the disposability of stardom one assumes and the film focuses on Trans-Junie Spoons, the superfan who has had cosmetic surgery to become her. As an equal opportunity offender, the film has earned the right to take swipes at the post-modern fluidity of identity, body and ‘the self’, but once she identifies Trans-Junie as an absurd, monstrous creation, Brending doesn’t let go. Watching it, my discomfort turned to disappointment and eventually distaste. When ‘Dollhouse’ was making me laugh it was punching up; attacking the media, patriarchy and any other system of power in the western world that exploits people – When it lost my allegiance is when it was punching down; attacking the trans community for a lengthy period of time in a way that demonised them. Any subject in this film is fair-game, including trans issues, but Brending’s feminist, trans-phobic agenda is just mean-spirited and doesn’t let-up.
I cannot dismiss this as a bad film because there was much to enjoy in a first half of offensive, but effective comedy. However, the excessive demonising of the trans community just felt one-sided and frankly bullying.
Reviewer - Ben Hassouna-Smith
on - 12/9/20
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