Pretty Girls Make Graves: A review on Valley of the Dolls (1967)
Hollywood once promised to be the land of the dreams for many aspiring stars. Women saw others exhibit a standard of beauty and success that they would die for it. Seeking a place on Hollywood’s heart, the whimsical Neely O’Hara (Duke) displays much talent in her voice and her presence. Everyone in the room could see her shiny light, including the new girl in town, Anne (Parkins) whose ingenuity didn’t allow her to realize at first that the more a woman’s talent is promising, the more envious people will try to take her down. Anne works as a secretary for the agency of the iconic and veteran Broadway actress Helen Lawson (Susan Hayward).
She’s not content in seeing a younger woman as a possible substitute in the same play. When Helen tries to cast Neely out, the last one is advised by an attorney to move on and work in somewhere else. There’s another woman that we meet, and eventually sympathizes more than with the other female characters. Jennifer North, played by Tate has the same charism of Marilyn Monroe. They share the same stigma of being just beautiful bodies and talentless. All these three women have some things in common: they have a potential for the screens at the same time they have the potential to fall down in a downward spiral.
As soon as Neely O’ Hara hits success in her live performances on TV, she becomes arrogant with those who work for her and addicted to sleeping pills or, as she calls them with tenderness,to dolls. She feels the pressure in being a Hollywood favorite and her immaturity leads her to wrong paths that ended up in a sanitarium. There, she meets Jennifer’s husband, a promising singer who was diagnosed with a condition that ruined his career and love life. His treatment is expensive and on the top of that, Jennifer carries his child. In an attempt to pay for the treatment, Jen starts to act in french soft porn movies. Her sexualization is questioned by Neely as she drunkly shouts at a poster that promotes her new movie : “ Boobies, boobies, boobies. Nothin' but boobies!” .
A breast cancer is the trigger for Jennifer to attempt to suicide by swallowing the dolls. These women are not just mere portrayals of the superficial life in Hollywood. They were victims of sexism just like some other stars like Marilyn Monroe, Carole Lombard and Judy Garland (who applied for the role of Helen but lost it due to mental issues). Although they were privileged, they didn’t scape from the pressure of being a flawless woman. Even Anne, who initially showed to be the most mature from the trio, didn’t resist to seek an outlet through the dolls when she finds out that her husband is cheating on her with Neely. This last one, misleadingly believed that she wouldn’t have her image damaged after being hospitalized. But, linking celebrities polemics to a gender discussion, a man’s image is hardly damaged by the public eye. Johnny Depp was recently involved in a serious case of domestic violence case and it didn’t affect his fame and admiration by others.
We may consider Anne a feminist character once she seems to be stronger than her friends. She has an epiphany and realizes that she wasn’t made to Hollywood. She didn’t buy into its false ideas of happiness and returned home, turning down her lover what in other movies would sound strange to have an ending without a happy couple.
Valley of the Dolls became a classic among fans. It protagonizes women with similarities and differences, highlighting the best and the worst of each, showing what lies behind the manufactured glamour of Hollywood. In other words, you may find Neely’ scenes hilarious and some parts of the movie a bit boring, but it showed the failures of women who have had their lives overwhelmed by a sexist standard. It certainly has influenced women to speak about their abuse in that industry. The north-american Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein must certainly despise this movie!
