Dottie Gets Spanked

DOTTIE GETS SPANKED accomplishes in 30 minutes what most movies can't do in 2 hrs. It's a transforming experience. Somehow, without pretension, clutter or unnecessary detail, the filmmakers manage to convey the soon-to-be queer identity of a child in all its complexity.

Yet the film always feels straightforward, simple, and emotional. Very few films make you cry without making you feel like a dupe, but DOTTIE GETS SPANKED can, and doesn't insult your intelligence either. This is a major film. Bravo!

Perhaps I am missing something, but I just didn't get it. I mean, I myself am gay, yet I didn't see how this short film was some sort of triumph of homo cinema. I mean, this is one of those films that you don't understand at all, but you watch fascinated, and you know that in the end it will all come together and make sense. However, that didn't happen. After a half hour of bizarre, freaky dream sequences and lots and lots of spanking, I was no more enlightened than I was at the beginning. I mean, what was Todd Haynes trying to say? That a little 6 year old boy obsessed with an old "Lucy"-esque sitcom has a spanking fetish? I'm sorry, I saw "Velvet Goldmine" also, and I didn't get that either. Maybe Todd Haynes and I are just not clicking. Also, where was Harriet Sansom Harris? The credits state she plays Steven's mother... Well, I am sorry, but that is NOT Har.

Every once in a while, I stumble across a video that just calls out to me, whether it be a funny title, a bizarre description, or a lesser known work of a much admired director. Todd Haynes' "Dottie Gets Spanked" is my latest acquisition of this type and was absolutely delightful.

This 30 minute short film was commissioned by the Independent Television Service, with funds from PBS, as one of a series of shows exploring the difference between "tv families" and "real families." In what Haynes call his most autobiographical piece to date, "Dottie Gets Spanked" tells the story of Stevie, a seven year old boy obsessed with a television star, Dottie Frank, star of the 1950s show, "The Dottie Show", an obvious allusion to Lucille Ball and "Here's Lucy". Stevie loves everything about Dottie, never misses a show, draws pictures of her, creates stories around her, even dreams of her. As the title suggests, he witnesses Dottie getting spanked, which opens up a whole new world of emotions for a young and impressionable boy.

Todd Haynes is one of the most recognized directors of the New Queer Cinema movement of the early 1990s. This little gem of a show is a brilliant representation of how one boy's gender identity blossoms, together with his awareness (and shame) of his differences from his peers. If you are over 40, loved the old sitcoms, even a little atypical, then there is a decent chance you will love this too.

Being a big fan of the Todd Haynes directed mid-20th century period piece "Carol" (2015) and a big lover of the "Mildred Peirce" mini-series he also directed, I knew I had to see this, and it did not disappoint!

Other than the voices of some of the kids featured, which sounded far too contemporary for the time this is set in, the mood, the tone, and everything felt authentic. Therefore, as a lover of movies and TV from the 1950s to mid-1960s, I couldn't help but love this too- as it really put me into the mindset of the obsessed child fan. In other words, this was me in male form. I was that kid, except a girl version, and some decades younger, but this was me. I was obsessed with old b&w sitcoms and "I Love Lucy" was my favorite! I would draw her picture, read about her, watch her all the time, and talk about her any chance I could! She was my ideal, and I wanted to live in her simple, wholesome sitcom world! But, by the time I was watching her, Lucille Ball had already passed on, and I could have never met her like this boy met Dottie, but I still saw myself the whole time- and I was so happy for him!

Dottie was clearly based on my beloved Lucy (with a little Baby Snooks thrown in), so when Steven met her at the show rehearsal, it was like if I were to have met Lucille Ball! I just love that this happened for the character of Steven. My one complaint though, is that Dottie was a little too professional or a tad cold, if you will, during the meeting, when I would have hugged the child or called him sweetie or something, after he gave such a heartfelt gift to her. But, he didn't seem to take it badly, which I'm glad of, as I really identified with the kid, and would have hated to see him disillusioned by his hero.

Although this certainly carries a message of the pressures of gender roles and expectations surrounding those heaped onto boys and girls, there are no bad folks here, just folks who are products of their time, folks trying to fit in, and folks trying to get by. Steven's dad was hard on him, but he meant well. I understood his concern, because as a traditional parent from a more traditional time, naturally, a dad would want his son to fit in. I understood and sympathized with the dad, while also sympathizing with Steven. I didn't fit in either growing up, and my family also expressed concern over how often I talked about Lucy and how much I focused on her, I was told that it wasn't normal to be so one-track-minded and into a show, and that I should be more into the real-world, etc. Add to that the fact that I'm a product of a different time, and you've got a real generation-gap going on between me and my peers too.

At the core of this short film is not the issue of gender or gender-roles (that's just the vehicle that carries the film along), at the core is actually the theme of alienation that any oddball can relate to. Steven is alone, though he's happy being in his own little Dottie-loving bubble, until the outside world makes it an issue. He has no friends, but he has Dottie. That was me with Lucy. Other kids had each-other, I had my TV friends. Other kids just couldn't relate (and frankly, I couldn't relate to them either- most were too rude and modern for me), and it's the same to this day. I've learned that most people are cliquish pack animals, and that by their very nature, cliques thrive on exclusion.

This film was an enjoyable, touching portrait of childhood innocence, wonder, and the reality of alienation. Todd Haynes did a great job, and his use of music again came through here, to make this a short film that flowed so well, that by the end, I wished so much that it were longer!

My favorite part: the sweet mom, and how lovingly she related to her son, while also being a supportive wife to her concerned husband. People like her are real too, and they are the glue that holds families together! Lovely and touching.

This is a wonderful movie which takes the viewer back to the shame of those first childhood sexual fantasies that cannot be shared with anyone.

Steven Gale,like many young boys, is fascinated by the complex world of the women around him. He watches them,listens to them, and draws them endlessly. The film has him fixated on a Lucille-Ball-like TV star, but the undertones are deeply psychological as they track this young boy's attempt to understand why some things are branded "normal" and some things are quite definitely NOT.

The writing and casting are superb. Watch this film several times to appreciate the meticulous sets and costuming!