Dolly Parton asks the state of Tennessee not to waste time putting up a statue of her
Music Features Dolly Parton
It’s been a while since The A.V. Club covered terrible statues meant to commemorate famous people, either because the world’s statue designers have all been fired for being terrible or because we ran out of ways to say “well, this looks like shit and we now feel bad for Lucille Ball or Cristiano Ronaldo.” Today, though, Dolly Parton decided to get out ahead of efforts to turn her into a terrible statue by reminding the Tennessee state legislature that there are, you know, more important things going on than deciding if she deserves to be immortalized in the State Capitol.
Parton reminded the world of her effortless coolness with a post on Twitter, saying she was “honored and humbled” by the idea of Tennessee putting up a statue of her, but she’d like them to drop it. She says it wouldn’t be “appropriate at this time” to consider putting her “on a pedestal” with “all that is going on in the world.” That being said, she does note that she’d be more than happy to let them consider it again “several years from now” or after she dies.
As for why Parton might deserve a statue in the first place, other than the fact that she rules, she did spend 2020 openly supporting the Black Lives Matter movement and donating a ton of money to help develop one of the COVID-19 vaccines—and that’s in addition to all of the charity work she does during a “normal” year. Those reminders of her general goodness coincided with a movement to tear down a bunch of statues put up by racists, so replacing even one of those would help to recalibrate the moral balance of the world. That all being said, she does already have a statue in Tennessee, so if you’re really desperate to see a version of her that doesn’t move or sing or… donate money to develop vaccines or promote child literacy, you’ve got options.
45 Comments
Dolly is the best. Hoping for a Dolly cameo in the final season of Grace and Frankie.
What are your other two wishes.https://etcanada.com/news/745939/dolly-parton-confirms-plans-to-appear-on-grace-and-frankie/
Huzzah! The 9 to 5 reunion we probably don’t deserve!
Nice!
Can you imagine the amount of rebar needed at the base to keep that thing from toppling over on its own?
Ed: “Hi-yoooooo!”
Ha! In my head, it was Johnny Carson saying that!!
You mean Ed McMahon.
Why, yes, I am old.
Sorry, I wasn’t clear. Not the hi-yooo! The joke itself!
Gotcha.
You mean Ed McMahon.
Why, yes, I am old.
That joke is so old and crusty, it’s not allowed to drive at night.
Look up the Imperia statue in Konstanz, Germany, for an… um, ample precedent.
Oh wow! I’d never seen that before.And now it’s all I can think about.
Pssh, all these suckers are simping over the 9 ft tall vampire lady in Resident Evil when there’s 30 ft of legs and cleavage just waiting to be brought to life by horny collective energy ala Ghostbusters 2.
9’6″ not that I looked it up or anything.
That’s amazing. Not only is a giant statue with huge boobs, it rotates every 3 minutes and was erected clandestinely and without permission.
And for that reason the statue of Dolly Parton should make the Colossus of Rhodes look like a little plastic soldier from a bucket.
She’s old enough to remember wooden bumpers on cars because metal was needed for bullets. Of course shes gonna think statues of a living person are a waste.
How dare they dishonor her with a mere stature when only a pyramid or obelisk can pay proper homage to her greatness.
Maybe we should carve something out of the Grand Tetons for her
Carve her face out of Jefferson’s on Mount Rushmore. He was a slaveowning rapist anyways, and doesn’t deserve to be up there.
Just burn down Stone Mountain and make it all Dolly. Why celebrate slave holding racists when we can have all Dolly?
Nah; she should take over Stone Mountain. Blast those Confederate motherfuckers off there and put Dolly up.Mount Rushmore should have the faces replaced with various Lakota.
What you did there, I see it, sir!
Hot take- Just in case always wait until someone dies to put up a statue, just in case. You never know if they’ll become odd or problematic. I don’t see how this could possibly occur in this case, but still. Also it must be weird to look at a statue of yourself, wax figures fine that’s just a celeb thing we do. Bronze and on pedestal weird. Like looking at your grave.
If Dolly Parton decides to break bad, we truly are in the darkest timeline.So expect to find out in the next few months that she sells poisoned milk to schoolchildren.
The book program she runs promotes self harm and opioids.
The pages are made of pure LSD blotter.
You have now given me the image of Dolly Parton as a Breaking Bad style drug lord and now I can’t stop laughing. Thank you.
“I am the one with knockers!”This thing writes itself
I agree with you about how we should wait and see if celebs truly deserve a statue or if they get weird and reactionary in their old age (like half those Monty Python guys among other examples) or get involved in sexual assault scandals (like Ronaldo) though I do think that the celeb in question should have some say in how their statue appears. While some people only get truly appreciated after an untimely passing, I can’t help but think how certain biopics or statues would be improved by having their subject give input, like how the Freddie Mercury and Bowie movies were so-so at best, but the Elton John one was at least fun and had his music cause he was involved.
Also death isn’t always the surefire sign to now make the statue. Jimmie Seville had a lot of statues made after he died, not so much now.
Agreed. Things (including buildings and ships) should only be named after people*, and statues erected of them, after they’ve been dead a good while.*If someone paid for a building or a ship out of their own pocket, then it’s okay to name it after them while they’re still alive
Her not wanting a statue is exactly why we want her to have a statue.
This is some I’m not the Messiah nah your the Messiah stuff going on. I love it.
I don’t know if this is all Dolly or she’s got some genius manager/publicist, but she has for years been on point. Her responses and takes are always smart and she’s never in damage-control mode. Even with her response a few years ago to the criticism of the Old Dixie Stampede, a strange and really tone-deaf piece of theater, she showed almost matter-of-fact understanding with no hesitation in adjusting to the changing times.
I’m really not a country music fan, but if even 10-20% of the country stars at the top level had a public profile more like hers, I probably wouldn’t feel this righteous indignation about it.
TN is a challenging state to live in, but Dolly helps. She’s such an incredible decent and good-hearted woman, and has done so much not just for TN but the world in general. Proof that money doesn’t guarantee you become an asshole.
Are folks still mad at her for her Super Bowl commercial?
So when Mr. Mayor credited Dolly Parton for curing Covid in their fictional universe they weren’t that far off!
remember when Elvis wanted to cover “I Will Always Love You” but only if Dolly gave up the publishing on it? And she told him “No.” It’s practically the smartest business move in the history of music. They should make a statue of her turning down Elvis.
Ironically this makes her more deserving of a statue. God its good to have at least one country singer I’m not ashamed of. Been hard pickings since Johnny died.
Absolutely loves her. Always have. A class act all the way.
They should just put up a bust.