I recently finished Modern Family and desperately needed something to fill the giant hole left in my heart; I’m not ready to leave the Dunphy’s, but that review is coming… soon… (eye emoji). In any case, I turned to Hulu’s Dollface produced by none other than Margot Robbie and her production company LuckyChap Entertainment and starring Marvel’s Kat Dennings (2 Broke Girls, WandaVision).
LuckyChap Entertainment produced I, Tonya, Birds of Prey, and the upcoming Barbie movie, as well as the upcoming Netflix show, Maid. Margot Robbie brings herself into her projects (almost literally) and more often than not, they tend to be about one thing: the power of women. I’m neither a Margot Robbie stan nor am I not a Margot Robbie fan. I love that she tries and doesn’t wait for work, she makes it – like Jeremy Renner, Jamie Fox, and Kevin James to name a few. However, not unlike Kevin James, some of her content has been misses rather than hits. This show not only speaks about true feminism and what that looks like amongst four friends who would normally never be friends, but they are because they are women (and it’s a powerful, hilarious, and heartwarming message). Let’s discuss.
Spoilers for Season 1 of Dollface from here on out
This is Kat Denning’s first Hulu-led Television series; nevertheless, this seasoned actress knows what’s up. She’s hilarious, she’s serious, she’s here to do her job – and she does it so well. You would think that Kat Dennings has a certain style that could potentially get old, but nope. She continues to shine in everything she does. I saw WandaVision before I saw Dollface, so when I saw Kat Dennings make a return to the MCU after not seeing her literally anywhere except 2 Broke Girls and that hadn’t been on my radar past season three because they hadn’t made anything past season three at the time – the same thing happened with New Girl and The Flash, having left both shows off at season three and now – look at the world now! – we have Dollface! In any case, Kat Dennings brought her A-game to the table in this series being someone SO completely out of touch with herself that it has affected every single relationship in her life! Dennings’ Jules Wiley starts the series being dumped within the first – what? Minute? thirty seconds? This show gets straight to the point that her ex-boyfriend no longer loves her and wants to break up. This sets up the rest of Jules’ conflict as her entire life revolved around her ex due to her insecurity to be with people of the same gender or even by herself. the rest of the cast is perfectly picked for their respective roles. Brenda Song (Suite Life of Zack & Cody, Suite Life on Deck), honestly, channels a bit of London Tipton in her Maddison Maxwell as I would describe this character as an adult, matured-out, heckin’ smarter version of London. She even has a bit of the London voice thrown around here and there (and when it does pop up, it is just the moment it would appear for London Tipton, as well – it’s glorious!) Shay Mitchell (Pretty Little Liars) portrays the crazy, wild, and somehow rich Stella Cole, while Esther Povitsky (Alone Together) portrays Izzy Levine, Jule’s co-worker who they become friends in the most hilarious way ever.
The premise of this show is simple. Jules can’t relate to females even though she is one. She hid behind her ex basically forever having left her friends Maddison and Stella behind after college harming their friendships. Jules, now having been dumped, must reconnect with her old besties along with her new work friend on what it means to be a woman in not just today’s world, but a woman amongst a world full of today’s women. All while being guided through the series by an elderly lady with the head of a cat… an actual Cat Lady that only Jules has seen… BRILLIANT. Dollface doesn’t just tell us her story, however, it shows us exactly what Jules feels or even goes through when in a difficult situation. At one point, Jules is trying to approach a table of people she doesn’t really want to interact with, but she knows she must, except that table begins to nonchalantly move away from her at each step with everyone around her not seeing what she is seeing or experiencing. What a clever way to show that she feels like she’s giving her all but feels like she can never really reach what she wants cuz of her anxiety and fear. The show has many moments like this where they break off into a poetic cut scene that displays what goes on in Jules’ head. There is even a game show “What’s behind door number 3?” bit going on when she’s trying to decide whether or not to go out and party or stay home.
Each episode is a ridiculous scenario… that is beyond believable! In most sitcoms and TV shows, you must suspend belief, like in The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Community, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and many other shows that have random beats or things happen that are left unexplained or are just simply too unbelievable because it just doesn’t fit, but it has to be ignored anyway. This show has a reason for everything and everything has a purpose… everything. Each episode is a journey that legit leaves you smiling so happily and satisfied, yet have a healthy hunger for more (I have never ever said that about a Margot Robbie project in my life… I never expected to ever say that… so, please… go watch this show). The way the show uses bits and pieces of genres to tell us what is going on, what Jules and the others are feeling, and to tell us there is definitely something otherworldly going on.
We will ask questions about this Cat Lady in a second, but I want to BRIEFLY mention that the reason I find this so surprising to have been created by Margot Robbie is the fact that feminism is shown in an entirely refreshing light, a light, in my opinion, that has the strongest case for feminism. Season one’s ninth episode titled “Feminist” took on a Wizard of Oz approach. Already, I assumed we were in Jule’s mind again seeing as the episode begin in black and white, she was wearing a Dorothy-esque checkered button-down, braids and ribbons, and her cat in her bag. However, I didn’t think much of it as it quickly shift to color after she got knocked out cold and woke up seemingly minutes – maybe hours – later with a bunch of children surrounding her. I laughed at all of the obvious nods, but when the episode progressed, I kind of forgot this trope when Stella showed up in a straw hat and overalls talking about wanting to be smart for business school as she’s tired of being wild with zero purposes in life. Even Maddison showed up in white pants and a silver jacket saying that she didn’t care and if that “made her heartless,” then that’s how it has to be! Still, my mental “loading bar” was stuck at 98%, which is more annoying than 99%, but it wasn’t until they found Izzy wearing a fuzzy brown jacket and two little cute hair buns on top finding in a porta-potty because she was alone and afraid. No, no – it wasn’t her that made me realize The Wizard of Oz inspiration.. it was when the quad said “Where There fascists? And Sexists? And nazis!” to which Jules replies, “Oh, my!” The joke is super meta, super honoring to the original, and super well-written and set up.
It is also in this episode where they are trying to make it to the feminist speaker dressed in Emerald Green (one of, if not, my favorite shades of green) and it is there that the speaker gives them a very vague answer on what Feminism is… in short: yes and no? Honestly, the episode does a better job at “not explaining” it, however, to me, I got that feminism was another word for genuine friendship toward women. You should never treat your friends with disrespect or harmful intentions, but if mistakes are made, that’s why forgiveness and honesty exist! Honestly, it’s a great message for just about anyone – WHICH MIGHT BE THE POINT. Feminism shouldn’t be this extremist group that it has turned into along with others in this modern crazy pandemic world. It should be about literally treating others as you want to be treated… hello?! The Golden Rule! The episode really does give a vague answer, but it does put a positive spin on it and even calls out the extremists, which is funny because this came out in 2019.
Let’s talk about the Cat Lady real quick. Let me also say that, as always, I could very much be wrong, and I welcome being wrong. I think the Cat Lady has something to do with Jules’ cat. We aren’t given much of an explanation on where Jules even got her cat or where it came from. It just exists. It’s a part of Jules’ already established life, but what attracts me to this idea is that in the season finale, she encounters an elderly woman with the same voice as the Cat Lady. Jules attempts to confirm that they do know each other. The lady, in response, replies, “We used to, but I’m not so sure any more, dollface.” To which, Jules replies with the same phrase she told her ex at the beginning of the show, except way more confidently and by herself, “Don’t call me dollface.” In both instances, “dollface” is that trigger word for Jules as “moist” is for anyone who doesn’t have an original trigger word (mine’s “crust” – story for another time). I believe that this Cat Lady is some spiritual cat-like goddess (like Bast in Egyptian mythology) who is somewhere along the lines of the goddess of women, fertility, or something like that that manifests in many forms like a cat or… I don’t know, chocolate. Point is, she is there looking out for women, empowering them to be strong independent women. The reason she was seen at the end f the series by everyone isn’t but the fact that everyone, at this point in their lives, has each begun their own journey and will need help along the way, hence, the Cat Lady appearing to all.
I mean, Stella is either going to business school or starting one on her own (writers be writers in second seasons, often), Maddison dumped her cheating boyfriend and is now unsure of where to go but knows she has her besties by her side, Izzy learns to be free and accept herself in the role she has and must now face life with the newfound, yet still baby, confidence in her, while Jules decided to choose her best friends instead of always running back into the arms of “love” because it’s “easier” and it’s what society has made as a routine. They all need help maintaining their membership to the Cool Cat Lady club – OH MY GOSH IS THIS SHOW TRYING TO SUBVERT CAT LADY TO BEING COOL?! WHOOOAAAA.
Margot Robbie’s Dollface starring Kat Dennings and Brenda Song is a beautifully written show that is a fun time! The best part is these are half-hour (23 minutes) long episodes! They are not the one-hour-long episodes Netflix Originals tend to [annoyingly] have (I don’t want to watch a 10-hour movie, NETFLIX. It’s why TELEVISION exits!) I am beyond ecstatic for the second season, already ordered, and for potentially more seasons to come! Dollface gets a stunning 9/10 for me.
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