Light, at a time of such unremitting gloom, is welcome from whichever source it comes. The musical Here You Come Again, an homage to Dolly Parton currently touring Australia which I saw last week, serves up a burst of sunbeams. Love is Like a Butterfly, Islands in the Stream, 9 to 5, Jolene. From first Dolly ballad to last, the show is not so much a feast of country and western, but a feel-good all-you-can-eat buffet.
In her native south, the Bible Belt states of the old confederacy, Dolly Parton has remained popular despite championing women’s and queer rights.Credit: nna\ebennett
Dolly Parton is that rare thing: a figure in these polarised times of near universal affection. When the New York Times asked in 2019: “Is there anything we can all agree on?” it answered its own question by raising up the Queen of Tennessee. Hail Dolly.
In her native south, the Bible Belt states of the old confederacy, she has maintained her popularity despite championing women’s and queer rights. This she has pulled off through her winsome personality, a loving, nonjudgmental faith, a deft line in self-deprecation – “it takes a lot of money to look this cheap” – and her sensitive political antennae, which may well be buried in those Steel Magnolia wigs. Remarks in 2016 that could easily be construed as an endorsement of Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump – “Hillary might make as good a president as anybody ever has”, she said – were immediately followed by a qualifier. “I think no matter if it’s Hillary or Donald Trump, we’re gonna be plagued with PMS either way — presidential mood swings!”
Classic Dolly, a non-aligned island in the stream.
I cannot think of anyone who tiptoes through the minefield of red and blue America with quite such surefootedness. Not so long ago, Tom Hanks, the star of all-American classics such as Saving Private Ryan, A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood, Toy Story, Big and Turner and Hooch, might have made that list. But having survived Hollywood’s version of the Normandy landings, he came under heavy artillery fire earlier this year from Trump himself.
Dolly Parton during the half-time show for the NFL’s 2023 Thanksgiving Day game in Texas.Credit: Getty Images
On Truth Social, the president rebuked Hanks as “woke” and “destructive”. Then, he congratulated the West Point military academy – or “Our great West Point (getting greater all the time!)“, as he put it – for scrapping a ceremony in the movie star’s honour. Yes folks, MAGA has cancelled Forrest Gump. Life truly is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.
Trump is obviously the most deliberately divisive US president, certainly of modern times and arguably since the founding of the republic. “I hate my opponent, and I don’t want the best for them,” he boasted at the Charlie Kirk memorial, moments after the slain MAGA influencer’s widow, Erika, had offered forgiveness to the alleged assassin.
Alas, in America these days, potentially unifying moments – or, at least, potentially pacifying moments – often end up having a radicalising effect. That was true of COVID-19, with its battles over lockdowns and vaccines. That was true of the storming of the US Capitol on January 6, an American insurrection incited by a sitting US president. That was true even of the attacks of September 11, because of divisions over how the Bush administration responded militarily in Iraq. Also, it has become true of the assassination of Charlie Kirk.
