Welcome To The Dollhouse Chad'z Rating: ***1/2 (out of 4 = very good) 1996, R, 87 minutes [1 hour, 27 minutes] [drama/satire] starring: Heather Matarazzo (Dawn Wiener), Brendan Sexton Jr. (Brendan McCarthy), Eric Mabius (Steve), Matthew Faber (Mark Wiener), written, produced, and directed by Todd Solondz.
Kids can be so cruel. We'd like to think that in America we live in a land of individuals, and we do for the most part, but never in educational institutions - why is that? Nowhere in the world is the invisible caste system so rigid and strict as that of children in Junior and Senior high school. "Welcome To The Dollhouse" is a different, creative, funny, and at times disturbing story of a girl who isn't accepted at all. It makes us wonder why she has to be such a pathetic victim.
Every school has at least one or two kids who never have and never will fit it to any of the social groups because they are different and do everything wrong. Heather Matarazzo stars as Dawn Wiener, a girl who fits that mold perfe ctly. This is obvious right from the get-go as we see her walk through the cafeteria in a desperate search for a seat where she might be "accepted." Immediately we are given that feeling of cruel fate just from this shot alone, but reality sinks in even more as the cheerleaders ask her if she is a lesbian. We've known Dawn only a few minutes, and already we feel for her and see the world through her eyes. No matter how hard she tries she'll never win.
But the film is not entirely a dismal outlook, it's a serious drama but it has a satirical tone to lighten it up. Reality isn't the same here because everything is portrayed through Dawn's perspective. A bully named Brendan (Sexton) tries to copy her test, but when she tries to turn him in she gets in trouble too. To make matters worse, Brendan continues to taunt her during the punishment without the teacher noticing. You just want to yell at the teacher at tell her to look up for a second so justice might be done...
Dawn's home life is portrayed as just as unfair and satirical as school. Her brother Mark (Faber) is a computer geek who also happens to have Steve (Mabius), the guy all the girls want, in his garage band. But she can't appreciate this because she always distracted by her annoying little sister who can do no wrong in the eyes of her parents.
These relationships often make for funny but sad encounters, such as when Dawn and her sister get into a name-calling argument. Of course her sister tattles and we hear a shouting match between Dawn and her mother in the background. This is a great method of storytelling because it's reminiscent of the times we went to our friend's house and heard them get in trouble with their parents in the other room. The sibling rivalry comes to a boil when Dawn purposely forgets to give her sister a message from her mother about getting a ride home and results in her being kidnapped!
I realize Solondz is trying to make a point through exaggeration and brutal reality, but sometimes it's difficult to tell where the reality ends and the satire begins. For example, when Dawn is constantly harassed by Brendan, to the point where he threatens to "rape" her, it seems a little out of touch because he doesn't know what rape is. Just the fact Dawn agrees to go along with him is unbelievable.
"Welcome To The Dollhouse" is a good depiction of children's caste system and cruel mistreatment of each other without purpose. There's a lot of unfair things about life, it's nice to see a film play upon that universal truth.
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e-mail: ChadPolenz@aol.com (C)1997 Chad Polenz
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