BCM322 – Interventionist Audio-Visual Essay
Contextual Statement
This visual media represents how Dolly Parton is an interventionist in terms of children’s literacy through her Imagination Library. Dolly Parton also known as ‘the great unifier’ is a worldwide country music star and singer/songwriter, beloved internationally. Partially, due to her various philanthropist efforts and humanitarianism (Beekman, 2022). An interventionist such as Dolly helps understand a method of activism that uses attraction instead of division to create change. The longevity of Parton’s success and relevancy is a key indicator of how effective her constructed persona is in handling humanitarian issues. Her foundations are still very successful and continue to grow. It is worth investigating the impact of her as a persona in creating change. Through the Dollywood Foundation, Parton has been able to supply financial aid to several causes, starting locally, her charitable efforts have enacted change worldwide, particularly in children’s literacy. Her most significant intervention is Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, a scheme that mails one book per month to children from when they are born to the age of 5 for free that’s “dedicated to inspiring a love of reading” in children’s pre-school years (Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, 2022). As of today, the Imagination Library has gifted a total of 180 548 415 and a total of 2 015 550 children are currently registered internationally (Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, 2022).
As an agent of change, the Imagination Library demonstrates its strength as a well-thought-out scheme to improve children’s literacy. The success of the Imagination Library and the Dollywood Foundation can be attributed in large to Dolly Parton. “The unique asset of DPIL as a scheme is of course Dolly Parton, and the scheme’s success can be attributed at least in part to the branding of its celebrity founder.” (Hall & Jones, 2016). “The (ideological) impact of a celebrity’s philanthropy and activism is affected by the mediated interpretation of the celebrity persona”, the popularity of Dolly in the media is a key component to her success (Van, 2018). Celebrity activism as a media and communication strategy helps “raise awareness, generate funds and endeavour to evoke social and political responses to crucial societal issues” (Van, 2018). It’s important to understand the longevity of Dolly Parton as a humanitarian, she is a key figure from which media professionals can learn when strategizing techniques for celebrity activism. Her approach attracts more than it divides, and that distinction is interesting and complex but key in creating change
By representing Dolly Parton through this visual presentation, I’ve provided how her contributions and personal connections to children’s education have resulted in the continued success of the Dolly Parton Imagination Library. Beginning the video by posing the question, “Who’s turning the page on the children’s literacy”, I introduce the viewer to the subject using engaging rhetorical devices that venture into an evaluation of Dolly as a significant interventionist. Influenced by storytelling techniques used in Dolly’s own “Goodnight with Dolly” episodes, I appeal to conventions inherent in the genre and themes present in children’s literacy. While utilising prominent video examples of Dolly’s first-hand involvement in the scheme, its importance is explained by my narration of the research I conducted on the topics of media intervention and celebrity activism in relation to Dolly Parton.
Reference List
Beekman, K., 2022. The politics of Dolly Parton. [online] The Michigan Daily. Available at: <https://www.michigandaily.com/music/dolly-wolly-poopy-country-music-star/> [Accessed 15 May 2022].
Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, 2012. The Journey of an Imagination Library Book. Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjxcK1ZZw3c> [Accessed 2 June 2022].
Hall, C & Jones, S 2016, ‘Making sense in the city: Dolly Parton, early reading and educational policy-making’, Literacy (Oxford, England), vol. 50, no. 1, pp. 40–48.
Imaginationlibrary.com. 2022. Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library | USA, UK, IE, CA, AU. [online] Available at: <https://imaginationlibrary.com/> [Accessed 15 May 2022].
Meikle, G (ed.) 2018, The Routledge Companion to Media and Activism, Taylor & Francis Group, Milton. Available from: ProQuest Ebook Central. [13 May 2022].
Van, DBH 2018, Celebrity Philanthropy and Activism: Mediated Interventions in the Global Public Sphere, Taylor & Francis Group, Milton. Available from: ProQuest Ebook Central. [13 May 2022].
Hallie Rutter 
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