C’mon, y’all… Dolly had her number.
Last week, a new documentary about the life of journalist Barbara Walters, Barbara Walters: Tell Me Everything premiered, which gives a very intimate look at her career and personal life, and there have been plenty of huge interviews she’s done over the years that were pretty harsh, to say the least, when it came to Walters interviewing women in particular. There’s footage her pressing Bette Middler and coming at her looks (Middler is featured in the documentary), but the one that always comes to mind for me is Walters’ interview with Dolly Parton.
Parton first sat down with her in 1977, and Barb questions Dolly about her appearance (in the rudest way possible, might I add) and doesn’t let up. Of course, Dolly being the diamond that she is, responds with grace and class.
She admits that her signature look has a purpose (other than the very valid reason that she simply likes it), saying it’s helped her catch people’s attention in a way that has allowed her to show her true colors and character on the inside:
“Once they got passed the shock of the ridiculous way I looked and all that, then they would see there was parts of me to be appreciated. I’m very real where it counts, and that’s inside. And as far as my outlook on life, and the way I care about people, and the way I care about myself, and he things I care about. I just chose to do this… show business is a money making joke, and I’ve just always liked telling jokes.”
Amen to that, Mrs. Dolly.
That’s when Barb comes in asking her if she ever feels that she’s “a joke,” adding that people make fun of her, as if Dolly doesn’t have a clue what she’s doing. Here’s what Dolly has to say about that:
“I know they make fun of me, but actually all these years the people, you know, have thought the joke is on me, but it’s actually been on the public. I know exactly what I’m doing, and I can change it at any time. I make more jokes about myself than anybody…”
A QUEEN.
Watch that part for yourself:
She then goes on to give Barb a lesson in self-love, judgment, and confidence:
“Like I said, I am sure of myself as a person. I am sure of my talent. And I’m sure of my love for life and that sort of thing. I’m very content. I like the kind of person that I am. So, I can afford to piddle around and do-diddle around with makeup and clothes and stuff, because I am secure with myself.”
She straight up body bags Barb on national TV… you gotta love it.
First of all, Barbara opens the interview telling Dolly she “doesn’t have to look like this,” and then continues to list off things about her appearance like her blonde hair, outfit selections, and her measurements. And I’m gonna have to stop you right there Barb…
You’re gonna sit there and try to tell the Queen of country music, with one of the most beautiful, iconic and recognizable looks of ALL TIME how SHE should dress and what she should do with her hair and makeup? That’s gonna be a hell no from me. And then you have the audacity to ask Dolly if she feels like a joke? Outta my face with that noise. This interview never fails to get my fired up, and is a timeless lesson on class and grace that will never go out of style, in my opinion.
And while Barb continues to be a complete bee-otch right to Dolly’s face, incredibly patronizing to say the least, with her little comments about “your kind of people,” and asking her about her “hillbilly family,” Dolly responds by telling her it’s a personal choice and she couldn’t have been any nicer about it. Not offended whatsoever… it just makes me love her even more.
Dolly has never been one to shy away from conversations about her looks, either, and in fact, one of her most famous quotes is:
“It costs a lot of money to look this cheap!”
What in the world did we do to deserve Dolly?
Like she said in the interview, she can (and does) make fun of herself, but beyond all that shallow stuff that doesn’t actually matter at all, it is what’s on the inside that counts. And on the inside, Dolly is one of the realest and most genuine people in the world.
But interestingly, Dolly was warned not to do the interview at all, but she ultimately made the decision to do it anyways because she knew how to handle herself and she was more than prepared to respond to Walters intense (and rude) line of questioning. In her book Dolly: My Life and Other Unfinished Business, she wrote:
“When I decided to do my first Barbara Walters special, a lot of people warned, ‘Oh, you’re crazy to do that! She’ll chew you up and spit you out.’ Nothing could have been further from the truth. Barbara is a very insightful person. Once she realized I was real, that my insides weren’t as phony as my outsides, she got completely into it.”
Dolly is as brilliant as she is beautiful, and Barbara actually made herself look bad in the long run. Dolly was right in that there was no way she was going to let Walters “chew her up and spit her out” like she had done to so many others.
Every several years, this interview seems to go viral, and I’ve seen several people talking about it with the release of the aforementioned new documentary, and I will never pass up a chance to look back on the brilliance of Mrs. Dolly.
You can watch the full conversation here, and I’d HIGHLY recommend it if you’ve never seen it before.
