Dolly Parton Discusses Identity and Freedom

Dolly,

where I come from, would I have called you a hillbilly?

If you had've, it would've been something very natural,

but I would've probably

kicked your shins or something.

No, actually-

But when I think of hillbillies, am I thinking of your kind of people?

I think you probably are. Uh, the people that grew up where I was

were the

ones that you would consider the Li'l Abner people, Daisy Mae, and that sort of

thing. They took that kind of, uh, thing from

people like us, but we were very proud people,

people with a lot of class. It was country class, but it

was a great deal of

class. And, uh, most of, um,

my people were not that educated, but they are very, very

intelligent. Good common sense, horse sense, we called it.

Dolly, did you look like this when you were a kid?

Not quite.

I mean, you didn't have the, you didn't have the blonde wig-

No

... but when you went to school, when you were

11, 12, 13,

was it this about you?

Well, y- you mean, uh, the full, uh, figure?

Yeah, that's what I meant.

Yeah, I thought that's what you meant.

Well, actually, I've always been pretty well blessed.

Uh, as a child I grew up fast. Uh, other members of my family,

you know, have done the same.

My assistant asked me something, and I'm gonna blame it on her 'cause I

wouldn't

have had the nerve otherwise. Is it all you?

Well, I can't show you here on television.

I'll take your word for it.

Well, I get asked that question, and I alw- always answer that by,

'cause people

are in awe of the whole thing, and a lot of people say I have,

a lot of people

say I have. I always say that if I hadn't have had it on my own,

I'm just

the kind of person that would've had me some made.

You don't have to look like this. You're very beautiful.

You don't have to wear the blonde wigs, you don't have to wear the extreme

clothes,

right?

No, it's a, it's certainly a choice.

I don't like to be like everybody else.

I've often made the statement that I would never stoop so low as to be

fashionable.

That's the easiest thing in the world to do.

So I just decided that I would do something

that would at least get the

attention. Once they got past the shock of the

ridiculous

way I looked and all that, then they would see there was

parts of me to be appreciated. I'm very real where it counts, and that's

inside, and as far as my outlook on life

and the way I care about people

and the way I care about myself, and the things that I care about.

But I just chose to do this, and it's, uh, show business is a money-making

joke, and I've just always liked telling jokes,

you know?

But do you ever feel that you're a joke, that people make fun of you?

Oh, I know they make fun of me. But actually, all these years the

people, you know, have, has thought the joke was on me,

but it's actually been on

the public. I know exactly what I'm doing, and I can change it at any time.

Or I make more jokes about myself than, than anybody, because I

enjoy... I know, like I say, I am sure of myself as a person.

I'm sure of my talent. And to me, and I'm sure of,

of my love and for life and that sort of thing. I'm very content.

I like the kind of person that I am. So I can afford to piddle around

and do-diddle around with makeups and clothes and stuff, because I

am secure with, uh, myself.

Listen, tell me about this marriage of yours,

this man whom nobody ever seems to

see. We heard that he was here. We heard that he was in town- ...

but none of us have seen him. Carl Dean.

Mm-hmm.

You don't see him very much. You're on the road most of the time.

You've said, "I know that this marriage will always last.

This man gives me everything I need."

How do you know?

Well, I need freedom. The man gives me freedom.

So why get married?

Well, why not?

Why?

Well-

I mean, if what you want most is freedom, why have a husband-

No, I mean-

... tucked away someplace to see six weeks a

year?

But he has the same freedom. See, the thing of it is,

you don't find a person that

you can be happy with and that can accept you the way you are,

and can share

the things and to plan for the future, and to enjoy your home.

We have our foundation, we have our roots, we have all the things that everybody's

looking for, and that's happiness in a marriage.

I've got better things to do than to sit around in my room thinking, "Oh, what's

Carl doing tonight? I wonder if he's with somebody," and this and that.