Anthony's Film Review - Dollhouse: The Eradication of Female Subjectivity from American Popular Culture (2018)

Dollhouse may be a quick fast-paced film, but it's still admirable for its daring cinematic experiment...

I would like to begin this film review with a few thoughts about film production value.

We are so accustomed to watching movies with high quality in acting, storytelling, visuals, and other elements that we practically expect it every time we watch a movie. This is especially true for any film done in animation, or otherwise does not feature human actors on screen. We want to connect with the film, and in order for that to happen, it has to look and feel believable to us. That means the visuals have to be convincing, not subpar or ugly. As a result, plenty of people may assume that bad visuals equals bad filmmaking equals something that should be skipped.

I disagree with this. To me, a film is like a canvas. It's entirely up to the artist to decide what to put on it. It doesn't matter what elements are used to paint the picture. The important thing is what the picture is. So when it comes to movies without live human actors, all I care about is what is done with it. Doesn't matter if it's majestic Disney animation or the simpler animation of South Park, as long as it's entertaining as a whole. Hell, I wouldn't mind watching an animated movie that involves only stick figures and no color, as long as it provides something to keep me amused.

With that in mind, let's talk about the 2018 indie film Dollhouse: The Eradication of Female Subjectivity from American Popular Culture. This involves live action with dolls (or animation with dolls, however you'd like to view it). Think of Thunderbirds and Team America: World Police, but instead of marionette puppets with movable lips, replace them with dolls that have fixed expressions. When you first watch this, you might be tempted to immediately dismiss this movie as crap because the dolls look weird. But remember, the important thing is what it delivers, not how it looks. Besides, if one could suspend disbelief with puppets, why not this?

So put that prejudice aside and try to look at the movie as a whole. If you can do that, you can enjoy how it starts: a celebrity gossip program that, even with dolls, has the look and feel of TMZ. The main character is Junie Spoons, a female celebrity on a downward spiral. Her sad story is told in a series of interviews with other characters, like Junie's mother who also acts as her talent agent. The format of a TV tabloid and celebrity documentary is presented in such an engaging fashion that it sort of feels real. (Again, suspend the disbelief about the dolls.) The tale of Junie Spoons is rife with scandals, like a one-day marriage and a sex tape, that are all too familiar to certain real-life celebrities.

As the full title suggests, this film is intended to be a satire of sexism and misogyny, of how society has the tendency to objectify women, not see them as human beings, and worse, not seem to look at men the same way. For me, there's really just one moment where the theme of misogyny is obvious. It's the part where Junie is scorned for being in a sex tape, but the male partner on the same tape is not only relatively unscathed, but also, to a certain extent, revered or accepted. I'm not saying misogyny isn't a major theme here, because it is. What I'm saying is that another theme is presented in conjunction with misogyny: celebrity obsession.

In the second half of the film, the focus switches from Junie's downward spiral to two other sets of side characters. I'm only going to talk about one of them: a Junie Spoons superfan. Not just any superfan. An old man who is such a fan of Junie Spoons that he is convinced that he himself is Junie Spoons. I will not talk about what happens from here. Instead, I'll keep it vague and let you see for yourself. What happens is so bizarre that, thankfully, it has never happened in real life (I would hope not). But it achieves what the movie wants to do: shock the audience with a vulgar in-your-face commentary about how heartless society can get with its habit of demonizing public figures.

How vulgar does this movie get exactly? Well, it's definitely not a family film, unless everyone in the family is nuts. The subject matter, which I've discussed, is certainly a big part of it. There are also bits of parody done as part of this film's satire, poking fun at things like the "Leave Britney Alone" viral video, O.J. Simpson's Ford Bronco, and President Donald Trump. But there are also potentially shocking images you'll want to keep in mind. Expect to see depictions of surgery, self-mutilation, genitalia, and graphic sex. Regarding those last two items, it's exactly what it sounds like. Not even the puppet sex scene in Team America: World Police was that explicit. If this movie were actually rated by the Motion Picture Association, it would probably be slapped with an NC-17 label, or least a very strong R rating.

Dollhouse: The Eradication of Female Subjectivity from American Popular Culture is the debut film of Nicole Brending, who has written, produced, and directed this film as well as provided the voices of Junie Spoons and various other characters. Over a running time of just one hour and 15 minutes, she has managed to deliver a shocking satire that pulls no punches. It works as a cinematic experiment that is a delight to see come out fairly well. Don't expect anything grand, like a clever plot or in-depth characters. In fact, those elements are fairly minimal. But the satire and topics will keep you amused. The movie succeeds in sufficient entertainment value even with relatively low production costs.

So here's the bottom line. Dollhouse is vulgar, scandalous, and offensive, which is exactly why this film works. Here is an engaging movie that holds a mirror up to society and reflects back the ugliness of the misogyny and celebrity obsession it's guilty of. Fans of cinematic satire will certainly enjoy this one. So will cinephiles who appreciate movies that are bold and daring in its style and message. Going back to my earlier commentary about animation, Dollhouse reminds us that it's not the look of the film that determines its success. Rather, it's the way it captures the audience's attention, delivers more of the goods, and leave them all satisfied at the end. Hence, my message to Nicole Brending: good job on doing something so original, and thank you for keeping me amused for an hour and 15 minutes.

Anthony's Rating:

For more information about Dollhouse: The Eradication of Female Subjectivity from American Popular Culture, visit the Internet Movie Database.