Welcome to the Dollhouse

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Welcome to the Dollhouse

Welcome to the Dollhouse poster
Directed by Todd Solondz
Produced by Todd Solondz
Written by Todd Solondz
Starring Heather Matarazzo
Victoria Davis
Distributed by Sony Pictures Classics
Columbia TriStar (video)
Release date(s) September 10, 1995 (Toronto Film Festival)
May 24, 1996 (USA)
October 8, 1996 (Australia)
Running time 88 min.
Language English
Budget $800,000 US (est.)
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

Welcome to the Dollhouse is a 1995 comedy /drama independent film written and directed by Todd Solondz. It is a coming of age tale and is widley known for its black comedy.

It launched the career of director Todd Solondz, who went on to make Happiness (1997).

Tagline: Not all girls want to play with dolls.

Contents

[edit] Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

An unattractive and unpopular 7th grader with only one younger male friend, Dawn Wiener (played by Heather Matarazzo) lives in a middle class suburban community in New Jersey where she is bullied in school and deals with crushes and rejection along with family problems such as having inattentive parents, sibling rivalry, and the kidnapping of her sister.

The movie starts with Dawn trying to find a seat at her school's cafeteria. During her meal, several cheerleaders tease her and label her a "lesbo". Her only friend is a fifth grader named Ralphie who seems a bit effeminate himself.

We're next introduced to Dawn's pretentious older brother, Mark. He is a nerdy high schooler who plays the clarinet in a garage band. Throughout the movie, he refers to the importance of his future college application. He has a long distance relationship with a girl from summer camp. However, he neglects her letters, due to the fact he believes romantic relationships will hinder his ability to get into a good university. Despite his flaws, he is given slightly more attention and respect from his parents, compared to Dawn.

Dawn's other sibling, her younger sister Missy, is clearly the favorite child in the family. The adorable ballerina, who constantly wears a tutu, wins out any dispute with her siblings, particularly with her mother for her manipulative attitude. She puts this to good use, especially with Dawn by portraying her older sister as the enemy in front of their mother. It is at this time that we're introduced to Dawn's family: her mother is clearly the one in charge of the house and refuses to acknowledge Dawn as a person but only as a problem. Her father on the other hand is a weak "yes" man who only follows what his wife says. The parents frequently refuse to give Dawn the benefit of the doubt, taking someone else's side other than their daughter's.

Dawn also faces trouble in school. All of her teachers tend to give her a hard time, compared to the more popular kids in school. Her toughest bully is Brandon, a possible drug dealer, who threatens her with violence. Another is Lolita, a violent girl who forces Dawn to relieve her bowels, for her own sense of power. Lolita is also attracted to Brandon and threatens Dawn for speaking to him.

We're next introduced to Steve Rodgers. Steve is a promiscuous guitar player, who joins Mark's band in return for help in computer science. Dawn immediately falls in love with him and ponders her romantic possibility.

One day, Brandon tells Dawn that he plans to rape her at the end of the school day. His first attempt fails, due to the janitor interrupting. However, he calls Dawn and tells her he is still going to rape her the next day. Instead of raping her, he opens up to her and tells her of his brother who is mentally handicapped. Then he kisses her and he tells her he is not going to rape her, which is an obvious sign that he likes her. We can see he actually has feelings for her, hidden behind a threatening personality. Just like Dawn, Brandon has trouble socializing. Throughout the movie, they kiss and form a romantic bond. However, Brandon is angered to find out Dawn's feelings for Steve. He is later kicked out of school, after being suspected for drugs. Towards the end of the movie, his father is set on sending him to military school but he decides to runaway to New York City, and invites Dawn. Not knowing what to do, she rejects his offer.

At dinner, Dawn is scolded by her parents. They want her to tear down her clubhouse in the backyard. The clubhouse is the only real place Dawn has, but her parents want to make room for their 20th anniversary party. Despite her pleas, the clubhouse is taken down, a plan designed by Dawn's mother, who entices Dawn's siblings with dessert, by taking down the clubhouse.

At the party, Dawn searches for Steve. She finds him in the garage after having sex with a random girl. Dawn invites him anyway to be a part of her new clubhouse ("The Special People Club"). Steve awkwardly rejects her, saying her club is for "retards".

Dawn later intentionally forgets to tell Missy to get a ride from ballet practice. The plan backfires, as Missy becomes a missing person. Her parents are devastated, especially after her tutu is found in Times Square, New York City. Dawn decides to go to New York in order to find her. She calls home to check in, only to find that Missy is okay. It turns out that a neighbor (Mr. Kasdan) kidnapped her. His only purpose was to fulfill his fetish of videotaping her while she did ballet. We can also see that the parents are a lot more relieved about finding Missy than concerned over Dawn's disappearance, although they may be not aware Dawn is actually gone.

Despite her family's ordeal, Dawn continues to be teased in school. In the last scene, we see Dawn reluctantly going on a chorus field trip to Orlando, Florida. Everyone on the bus is singing cheerfully on the way there—except for Dawn.

[edit] Trivia

  • Todd Solonz´s last film, Palindromes, starts with the text "In Loving Memory of Dawn Wiener", and opens with Dawn's funeral: she's gone to college, gained a lot of weight and commited suicide.
  • Working titles for the film included "Middle Child" and "Faggots and Retards".
  • In Nicole Richie's novel The Truth About Diamonds, she lists Welcome to the Dollhouse as one of her favorite movies.
  • In the film, Heather Matarazzo's character, Dawn, is teased for being a lesbian. Ironically enough, though her character is straight, Matarazzo is openly gay.
  • Many fans consider this a feministic version of Napoleon Dynamite.

[edit] Critical acclaim

The film was a surprise success, considering it was a relatively low budget, independently produced film. It garnered critical praise for its nail biting view of a pre-teen outcast, and won the Best Jury Prize for best dramatic feature at the 1996 Sundance Film Festival. Perhaps the critic to most love the film is Roger Ebert, who has been very vocal about his love for the film, giving it four stars out of four and placing it at number five on his "Best of 1996" list. [1]

[edit] Cast

[edit] External links

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