Remembering Dolly Parton

Tom & Lorenzo’s Pop Style Opinionfest

Tom & Lorenzo pay tribute to Dolly Parton following her passing, reflecting on her legacy, artistry, philanthropy, and enduring impact. They

Key takeaways

• Dolly Parton's death marks a moment of national mourning, yet her spirit is celebrated through music, philanthropy, and cultural legacy.

Main topics

• Dolly Parton's legacy and impact
• Public mourning and tribute culture

Notable quotes

"I really don't think she would have wanted people sad."

Conclusion

Dolly Parton's life reminds us that artistry, generosity, and authenticity leave

Transcript preview

Speaker 2 (0:23) We're Tommy Lorenzo. And this is the Pop Style Opinion Fest. Hello, kittens. Welcome back to another edition of the PSO. I am the T in your T-Low, Tom Fitzgerald. And I'm here with the low in your T-Low, Lorenzo Marquez, my lovely husband. Hello. How are you, lovely husband? Speaker 1 (0:36) Wonderful. Well, Speaker 2 (0:37) we're here to observe our national day of mourning. So, you know, this isn't a happy podcast, but it's not a depressing one either. I am, of course, referring to Miss... Dolly Rebecca Parton Dean, first of her name, Queen of the Americas, who passed away yesterday. And so we thought we would have some thoughts. It's funny, I was, and we're going to push this to later in the podcast, but just as an introduction, I was thinking just like 15 minutes ago as we were prepping to turn the mics on, I was like, what is, I mean, what am I, I'm going to tell people that nobody needs my. version of Dolly Parton. Everybody knows who Dolly is and everybody has their own version of Dolly Parton. But I thought we would talk about it from our perspective as that's the only thing any of us can do. So we have some observations about Dolly, what she meant to us and what we think she meant to everybody else. Right. Speaker 1 (1:37) And as someone pointed out on Instagram. Someone said, I remember when you guys mentioned on your podcast that America is not prepared for when she dies. I think, I don't know why, I think we were talking about her getting Speaker 2 (1:51) sick or something. Very Speaker 1 (1:51) recently I think I said that. Speaker 2 (1:54) And I think it's because, you know, on some level she's been sick for a long time and, you know, put bluntly, she didn't look well the last few times she was in public. So I wasn't prepared for it, but I also kind of was. But let's put that aside for a second because we actually have some other things we want to talk about before we get to that. Just the first one. Speaker 2 (2:22) It's just important that we acknowledge when someone changes their mind someone who we criticize Do you want to take this Lorenzo? Speaker 1 (2:29) I was very I was very mad when he was announced and Nicholas Holt was going to be part of the TV series The Harry Potter, you know TV series on HBO. Yeah, so I was very disappointed and then combined with that Speaker 1 (2:47) What's her name, Belle Polly? Speaker 2 (2:49) We talked about this last week. Anyway, I'm just saying, she Speaker 1 (2:51) made a statement, a bullshit statement. So I got very annoyed and I posted on Instagram a long thing about specifically, yeah, both of them, how disappointed I was and how these people just, you know, they want to make money. They want to, you know, advance in their career or whatever. And they don't care about issues like that. Because if they did, they would have said no. So it was a long thing. And after that, A lot of backlash, a lot of articles and pieces written about Nicholas Hoult especially, because I guess people were just disappointed because, you know, if you look at his career, he's young and all that, you know, you expect a little better. I don't know why we do, Speaker 2 (3:30) but we Speaker 1 (3:30) do. Speaker 2 (3:31) Well, as we said last week when we talked about this, and specifically in the case of Nicholas Hoult, it's... You know, you're not some struggling actor. You're pulling Superman checks at this point. So you don't need the money. And this isn't this isn't some major role. I said it last week. I was like, well, if it was Voldemort or something, I could at least see the argument. But you're not playing that major character. So I was one thing I want to say is and and I think the fact that they found a replacement for Nicholas Holt so quickly in Kit Harington is that I do think. Strangely, I think some of the actors in the UK are not aware of how angry people are at JK Rowling. Speaker 1 (4:15) I don't believe that, but... Speaker 2 (4:17) Some of them seem really taken aback. And I mean, for Kit Harington, we didn't get to that part that Nicholas Hoult, I'm sorry, Nicholas Hoult stepped down. Why don't you get to that? No, Speaker 1 (4:29) yeah, but, you know, to your point, talking about your point right now, is that I don't think... Speaker 1 (4:37) Anyway, Nicholas Holt, let me just finish that. Yeah, that's what I did. I'm sorry, I Speaker 2 (4:41) did that. Nicholas Holt. Don't shake your head at me, bitch. Speaker 1 (4:48) Anyway, that's marriage. So the backlash was huge. It was all over the internet, all over social media. I was actually surprised. So many pieces written about it. So I guess he decided that, you know. It was a good idea not to be part of it anymore. And he dropped out. Now, the statement. I don't believe that. Yeah. Now, the statement is that it's he said a schedule, a scheduling conflict or something like that, which, you know, you made a point. Maybe that's the case. Maybe it's true. I don't know. I think it was a backlash. I think he can't take it. And. decided that, you know, it's better not to do it. That's my thinking. And I think coming, I mean, he had, he already accepted, he had already accepted, you know, the part. So you can't come and say, you know, oh, you know, it goes against everything I believe, but because, you know, you accepted the part. So what you could say is that I thought about it a little more and you guys are right, you know, and that it's not something I want to support. Something like that. But he didn't. I just, listen. Speaker 2 (5:53) It's possible that bullying worked and the protesting got him to step down. But I'm just not willing to declare him. I'm just going to side-eye him for a little while now because, yeah, you made a choice that I didn't think reflected well on you. And you backed away from it, but you also gave excuse. You know what I mean? Like, I don't need to crown him a hero just yet. Speaker 1 (6:18) Yeah, I... Speaker 2 (6:20) go ahead on Speaker 1 (6:20) instagram i said you know attaboy because i meant i meant to say that well maybe you change your mind maybe you you thought that this is not a good idea even if it's a professional decision whatever but what i like about this is that it it shows you that you know the public can't can actually change things you know uh we can have an opinion about something it doesn't necessarily gonna change anything because sometimes it doesn't one involves a lot of money but i think the the The I think the Speaker 1 (6:52) I don't know, the conversation has shifted a little because I see the lady now coming out a lot more with statements. I mean, she just made a weird, crazy statement about trans Speaker 2 (7:02) people. About trans adults and everything. Yeah, which Speaker 1 (7:04) made zero sense, but I guess it's her way of saying something to keep the conversation going about her show because I think, I believe, that HBO right now is a little, you know... Concerned. Concerned. I mean, they're still going to do it. Right. I mean, yeah. Well, they should be concerned. Yeah, yeah. I was reading an old statement, I think it's an old statement, the CEO, HBO CEO, one of them, a gay one actually, you know, was totally fine with doing this and, you know, didn't think there was anything wrong, that she was allowed to have her opinion, but a show is something different, which I don't understand that. But anyway, my point is that I think the more we talk about it... I think there is a chance that at least people will not be part of this project. I think this project is still gonna go on, of course, and it's gonna be a huge success. I think it is, unfortunately. But, yeah. Speaker 2 (7:59) And then there's Kit Harington, who stepped in. This is what I mean, though, Lorenzo. It's, okay, Nicholas Hoult's not doing it, but now Kit Harington. The thing keeps going. And name actors. He's not as big a star as Nicholas Hoult, but he is a name actor. Speaker 1 (8:15) is stepping in. So, is this a victory? Speaker 2 (8:19) I Speaker 1 (8:19) don't see it that way. Just to add, Harriton did the audio version. He already did the audio version of the book or whatever. So it means that he's already fine with all this. Right. You know, he just said, sure, I'll continue doing it. And again, he's also a loser, a talentless actor who probably needs a lot of work right now. He works. He has a job. He's on the series Speaker 2 (8:43) right now. Yeah, Speaker 1 (8:44) whatever. He's terrible. So I'm not surprised that he said yes to this. So that's the only great thing about this is that I think if we talk about it, if we express how we feel about it, not that it Speaker 2 (8:59) might Speaker 1 (9:00) make a change. Speaker 2 (9:03) That was the point of this conversation last week and this week, which was, you know, we're not here to cancel actors or whatever. Like I said, I'm going to side-eye Nicholas Holt, but it doesn't mean I'm going to boycott his work for the rest of his life. And that pretty much goes for everyone in this cast. It's like, well, you all fucking suck, and I don't look at you very... I don't think very highly of any of you for taking this work. And I think... And I will urge people to boycott this series because this specific series is going to make money that she is going to use, you know, to make the lives of trans people much worse. So, you know, I don't know what my point is. I guess my point is... Speaker 2 (9:51) These people are allowed to take these jobs, and I think we as the consumer of these products should be able to stand up and say, you know what? I think it's wrong to support this particular project. Speaker 1 (10:01) This Speaker 2 (10:02) is not a separate the art from the artist thing. This project is funding this activity, and if you support it, you are helping to fund it. It's Speaker 1 (10:12) as Speaker 2 (10:12) simple as that. The Speaker 1 (10:14) only thing that I see, as I said before, is that I see a little shift, especially her. I see a little more desperation from her part. We'll see. Not that it's going to change anything. I mean, I was just reading the list of the most published, the best sellers, the best 10 or 20 books, you know, and all her books are like top 10. Yeah, I know. She has more money than God, and she already said that she doesn't care about her legacy. So I don't think she will ever change her mind about it. No, she's going to continue being, you know, the horrible person that she is. But my point is that when it involves something else, like HBO or something else, I mean, you know, they might be a little concerned with the results, which I don't know. I don't think that's going to change much. Speaker 2 (11:03) All right. Let's cut it off there and we'll take a short break and we'll be right back. We want to talk a bit about something we didn't get to talk about last week. We'll be right back. We're back and, you know, I guess we're heading into depressing parts of the podcast now, but we didn't get a chance to talk about Hayden Panettiere last week, who died unexpectedly at the age of 36 from what appears to have been an accidental drug overdose. Speaker 2 (11:33) And it caused a lot of soul searching. You know, this sort of thing always causes a lot of soul searching in the entertainment community and then nothing fucking ever changes. I Speaker 1 (11:43) like how they just hijack the situation, famous people, and write these pieces about it and how concerned they are. Yeah, I mean, that is gross. And then I'm like, really? I have to admit, Speaker 2 (11:54) when someone like that dies... When Amy Winehouse died, someone on Twitter went after us and attacked us and said, are you happy now? It's your fault. You've attacked her. And we'd only covered Amy once or twice. And as far as I read, like, we were not freaking Speaker 1 (12:15) Perez Hilton. We were not making fun of her demons or anything. We probably made fun of her skirt or her eyeliner or something like that. But really, we Speaker 2 (12:22) were not. But it did make me, every time someone dies in that way, I run to our site, look them up, and I'm like, how bad was our coverage? And similar with Hayden Panettiere, I think... Speaker 2 (12:38) I think there just was a sense that this girl's got some problems even back then, and I don't think we covered her that much. Speaker 1 (12:47) No, I mean, honestly, I don't know much about her to begin with. Well, she was Speaker 2 (12:51) on a hit TV show. Yeah, I know Speaker 1 (12:52) who she is, but she was never, you know, someone I read a lot about. Oh, she's not that interested. Yeah, I didn't watch Speaker 2 (13:01) Heroes, and I didn't watch that show Nashville that she was in, and whatever movies she might have done in that. She just didn't cross our radar, and I do think there was sort of this sense was, this girl's got some demons, and she was not much of a fashion girly, so we didn't have much reason to cover her. So, whatever. That's not my point here. But there was... Yes, you're correct in that, you know, no one ever seemed to have time for Hayden Panettiere in her career, in the media or whatever, and suddenly there's all these people coming out of the woodwork telling stories about her, and I did think it was ghoulish of them. Speaker 1 (13:35) Right. I have to say, I've been watching, I watched, because they showed up on my TikTok account, a bunch of interviews she did for magazines and whatever, and they are, I mean, she drops here and there some disturbing thing or some thing that, you know, makes you worry about her. you know, her mind, her feelings and all that. But I guess it