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Writer/director Todd Solondz said he wrote WELCOME TO THE DOLLHOUSE as his "response" to TV's The Wonder Years. Before you argue otherwise -- no, The Wonder Years was not realistic. You didn't have to grow up in the 60s to recognize that. It had realistic MOMENTS but, as a whole, everything was glossed over with nostalgia and highly romanticized Americana. But that works on TV. The medium of the movies allows a writer or director to be darker, more realistic, and more tragic for effect.
Only, Solondz didn't merely go for realism -- he magnified it a thousand times to really drive home his point. Hence the reviews that say this movie isn't realistic. No, it is realistic, but those teenage feelings of angst and alienation are distorted, compounded and compressed into 90 minutes. If Dawn's torture was lessened even a little, the movie wouldn't have had as much of an impact. It gives the movie its drama and even its comedy. While we frown at Dawn's tragedies, we can't help but laugh because of the OVERWHELMING amount of turmoil Dawn must fight through on a daily basis. It's a fascinating manipulation of the audience on Solondz's part: we laugh at Dawn but we also see a little part of ourselves in her.
So we're kinda laughing at ourselves. Maybe, like Dawn, you had a spoiled baby sister, or a geeky older brother who felt superior to you, or parents that didn't understand you (or even try to), or an older guy/girl you hopelessly had a crush on. Most of us never endured the amount of sheer torture Dawn does, but every teenager has experienced some level of alienation at home and at school. And we can laugh, because most of us have already made it through that awkward part of our lives relatively unscathed. Whether Dawn makes it through or not depends on your interpretation of the final scene. I saw it as Dawn "going along to get along," which is pretty much the best way to make it through those harsh teenage years anyway. It's not a particularly bright ending, but you know she'll awkwardly make it through these difficult years. Like her brother tells her, once she gets to high school "they'll still call you names, but not as much to your face." He's obviously been where Dawn is now, and even HE made it through! And WE know it, too. We pushed through those years, and now we've earned the right to watch something like this and laugh.
The absolute key to this movie's success (besides Solondz's writing) was the casting of Heather Matarazzo as Dawn Wiener. She looked the part. She sounded the part. Even her posture and body movements screamed "awkward." Absolutely perfect performance on her part. It had to be, because if you didn't buy Heather's performance, you didn't care about what happened to her character. It's one of my favorite performances of the entire 90s.
Which brings us back to The Wonder Years. The Wonder Years wasn't told form the point of view of the kid. It was from the point of view of the ADULT the kid eventually would become, which is what gave the show it's "Gee, all in all, wasn't life pretty great?" feeling. DOLLHOUSE is centered around Dawn. We feel what she feels and that, along with Matarazzo's performance, is what gives WELCOME TO THE DOLLHOUSE its power. It's a tremendous movie -- one of the best of the 90s. FOUR AND A HALF STARS.
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Reviews with images
A must see for anyone who went to Jr. High
A dark comedy that will make you uncomfortable because of how funny it is.
