Welcome to the Dollhouse
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| Welcome to the Dollhouse | |
|---|---|
 Welcome to the Dollhouse poster |
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| 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 | 90 min. |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $800,000 US (est.) |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Welcome to the Dollhouse is a 1995 coming of age black comedy. An independent film, it launched the career of writer-director Todd Solondz, who went on to make Happiness (1998).
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[edit] Plot
Dawn Wiener (played by Heather Matarazzo), an unattractive and unpopular 7th grader with only one younger male friend, 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, where she is tormented by catcalls of "Wienerdog" and "Dogface" by her peers. All of her teachers tend to give her a hard time as well, compared to the more popular kids in school. Her toughest bully is Brandon McCarthy, 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 is invited to join Mark's struggling band, in return for help in computer science. Dawn immediately falls in love with Steve and ponders the romantic possibilities of their (imagined) future together.
One day, while playing video games in a convenience store after school, Dawn and Ralphie are harassed by Brandon and his two buddies. Dawn and Ralphie walk away from the confrontation, but not before Dawn calls Brandon a "retard." The next day, at school, 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 telephones Dawn at home 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. 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 when Dawn confesses that she can't be "his girlfriend" because of her feelings for Steve. As a result of Dawn's confession, Brandon totally ignores her and is later kicked out of school after being suspected of dealing drugs. Towards the end of the movie, Brandon's father is set on sending him to military school but Brandon decides to run away to New York City, and asks Dawn to go with him. Confused and not knowing what to do, she rejects his offer.
At dinner, Dawn is scolded by her parents. They want her to tear down her dilapidated "Special People Club" 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 demolished by Dawn's siblings (a plan designed by Dawn's mother, who entices them with dessert).
At the anniversary party, Dawn searches for Steve. She finds him in the garage putting sexual moves on a random girl from the party. Undaunted, Dawn invites him to be a part of what is to be her new, revitalized "Special People Club." The Steve awkwardly rejects her offer, telling her that "special people" is a term used to identify mentally handicapped people, thus, a club with that name must be for "retards".
Later, despite her mother's stern instructions, Dawn intentionally forgets to tell Missy to get a ride home from ballet practice. The plan backfires when 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 and, once there, imagines a scenario in which she rescues Missy and finally wins the love and attention of her parents, siblings, Steve, Brandon, and the entire student body at school. However, this dream evaporates when she calls home to check in, only to find that Missy is okay. It turns out that a neighbor (Mr. Kasdan) kidnapped her to fulfill his fetish of videotaping her while she performed ballet pirouettes. Ironically, Missy enjoyed her time with Mr. Kasdan because he let her eat all the candy and McDonalds food she wanted. We can also see that the parents are a lot more relieved about finding Missy than concerned over Dawn's absence, although they may not be aware Dawn is actually gone.
Despite her family's ordeal, Dawn continues to be harassed and teased in school. In the last scene, we see Dawn reluctantly going on a school chorus field trip to Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. Everyone on the bus is singing on the way there, including Dawn (the film ends on her voice singing solo), albeit somewhat reluctantly.
[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 Grand Jury Prize for best dramatic feature at the 1996 Sundance Film Festival. Critic Roger Ebert has been 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] References to the film
- In 2004, Solondz made a sequel, Palindromes, which begins with the words "In Loving Memory of Dawn Wiener", and opens with her funeral, revealing that Dawn went to college, gained a lot of weight and committed suicide.
- The conclusion to the song "Leave the Light On," by Lagwagon, on their album "Let's Talk About Feelings", is a sample from Welcome to the Dollhouse.
- In Nicole Richie's novel The Truth About Diamonds, the protagonist lists Welcome to the Dollhouse as one of her favorite movies.
- A season-six episode of Gilmore Girls is named after the movie.
- The second episode of Pussycat Dolls Present: The Search for the Next Doll is also named after the movie.
- Danity Kane has an album with the title Welcome to the Dollhouse
[edit] Cast
- Heather Matarazzo - Dawn Wiener
- Victoria Davis - Lolita
- Christina Brucato - Cookie
- Christina Vidal - Cynthia
- Amouris Rainey - Darla
- Siri Howard - Chrissy
- Brendan Sexton III - Brandon McCarthy
- Telly Pontidis - Jed
- Herbie Duarte - Lance
- Jared Solano - Neko
- Scott Coogan - Troy
- Daria Kalinina - Missy Wiener
- Matthew Faber - Mark Wiener
- Josiah Trager - Kenny
- Ken Leung - Barry
- Dimitri DeFresco - Ralphy
- Rica Martens - Mrs. Grissom
- Eric Mabius - Steve
[edit] References
[edit] External links
| Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by The Brothers McMullen |
Sundance Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic 1996 |
Succeeded by Sunday |
