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The Valley of Dolls (1967)
Director: Mark Robson
There was a particular book in our school library that was hot merchandise every hot-blooded teenage boy (and girls in Form 6) wanted their hands on: Jacqueline Susann's debutante writing, 'Valley of Dolls'. The demand was so high that it was eventually placed in the red-spot book section. One would have thought that would allow more depraved teenagers to indulge in the pleasure of reading this fiction, but no.
Suddenly, everyone wanted to be the student librarian's friend. My young, naive brain was soon exposed to the concept of cartels.
To train students for a future in which they would be responsible for running large corporations and businesses, the school decided that the entire library, which was a separate building away from the main school wing, would be run solely by students. There was a patron teacher and a dedicated clerk to oversee the day-to-day operations and book ordering. Students would take turns after school to man the borrowing and returning of books.
'Valley of Dolls' was on everybody's wish list, but it was perennially borrowed by somebody. The borrowing was controlled by this cartel of student librarians who would circulate it amongst themselves. Occasionally, it would go to the form 6 girls after some male student would curry favour to get into their good books (pun unintended) - pants, skirts, who knows! My contact was so mild-mannered that he let others get it, while yours truly never did. So, I never understood what the fuss was all about.
To understand its allure, a bit of background on The Valley of the Dolls is necessary. In 1966, it was on the NYT Best Sellers List for 65 weeks, and by 2016, it had sold 31 million copies. Even though it was the best-selling fiction of 1966, it received mainly negative reviews. With reviews like 'poorly written,' 'dirty book of the month,' and 'highly effective sedative,' it is surprising that it was still a runaway commercial success.
The movie adaptation was released the following year, in 1967, also receiving mixed reviews. Over the years, it developed a cult following and became part of the LGBT canon for its campy sensibility.
At its heart, Valley of the Dolls depicts the cutthroat world of showbiz, where three young ladies are lured by the dizzying neon lights of the stage. All three, crushing under the weight of wanting to stay in the limelight, succumb to the lure of drugs to stay afloat, with eventual sinister outcomes.
Farouk Gulsara (asokansham@gmail.com) is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
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