Like many of us this week, I spent a good amount of time gazing wistfully at photos of the great icon Dolly Parton in all her buxom and bedazzled beauty while listening to her prolific song catalogue. I also spent time watching Dolly Parton performances, interviews, and movies. She was singularly American, and I loved seeing how united we were in this country and even outside of it, in our outpouring of love for her.

A Dolly movie a friend recommended that I had yet to see was Straight Talk. Along with 9 to 5 and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, one can assume Dolly loved playing a straight shooter trying to make a buck. Which got me thinking about this subgenre.

Of course, there are plenty of movies about corporate ennui à la Office Space and adventures in shit jobs as a platform to raise class consciousness, like Boots Riley’s Sorry to Bother You and I Love Boosters. To see humans at work for real, watch a Barbara Kopple documentary - films that never judge, instead committing to a profoundly inquisitive lens pointed at the working man. And there are too many films to enumerate in the inspired-by-Death-of-a-Salesman category.

But I wanted to explore movies that talk about gig work specifically. Temporary jobs or stints, not steady paychecks or career-making endeavors. Here is by no means a comprehensive list, but instead three I’ve watched recently and loved for different reasons.

Straight Talk

Starring: Dolly Parton

Doing: All the men around her dirty, which is much deserved (especially for James Woods and Griffin Dunne’s characters)

Because: She needs a gig to pay the bills in the big city and accidentally becomes a career radio therapist

But: She’s not a qualified therapist. Gasp!

In the end: You’ll love the one-liners, like: “Get down off the cross, honey. Somebody needs the wood.”

Do Not Expect Too Much From The End of the World

Starring: Ilinca Manolache

Doing: An honest day’s work interviewing folks with physical disabilities for a corporation’s worker safety video

Because: Again, she needs money

But: Traffic in Bucharest, Romania, is atrocious, so she has a lot of time to kill

In the end: Radu Jude’s satirical black comedies get at the ironic core of capitalism, and this is one of his best

Clockwatchers

Starring: Toni Collette, Parker Posey, Lisa Kudrow, and Alanna Ubach

Doing: Temp work and talking shit

Because: They’re waiting for their lives to begin

But: An overzealous newcomer and a series of thefts disturb the vibes

In the End: We can all relate to being a clockwatcher

One thing you may have noticed with these three movies is that they are women-driven narratives. Is that because I love a complicated, messy gal? Sure. But I also think it reflects our reality. Though politicians often use “working class” as a dog whistle for uneducated white men, in true economic terms, working class is now better defined as women and marginalized groups in insecure jobs, regardless of education. Women are often the ones looking for and taking gig work. Want to learn more about how the working class can be better defined in the U.S.? Listen to the economist Kathryn Anne Edwards talk about it on It’s Been A Minute: Who Really Counts as Working Class?

Signing off with the absolute worst Dolly Parton tribute on LinkedIn I could find. Trust me, there were so many insane posts, lots linking to terrible think pieces, because CONTENT and ENGAGEMENT. This poster should be ashamed of herself. Or maybe I’m wrong, and Ms. Parton would have loved to see a gal hustling, even as a nation mourns. As Dolly says in Straight Talk, “Sometimes you gotta just get out and honk your own horn.”

And, I guess, by virtue of this Substack, I’m also honking my horn while grieving. However, I like to think I’m not a corporate shill or snake oil salesman or, as I like to think about it, the true north star of the American Dream: the conman. Though Christina the Conwoman does have a nice ring to it.

P.S. I’m no graphic designer, but this LinkedIn user could do with a visual rebrand for her newsletter. Anyone need the gig?

Until next time, work hard or hardly work ;)

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