Nine to Five

WOMEN 😍

In honor of Dolly, my 20-year-old daughter and I decided to watch 9 to 5 together, since she had somehow never seen it, which honestly felt like a gap in her cultural education.

9 to 5 really said, “What if workplace oppression, sexual harassment, wage discrimination, and one absolutely rotten man were wrapped up in a pastel colored comedy with chain smoking, shoulder pads, and Dolly Parton’s fingernails keeping time like a feminist war drum?” And honestly, iconic behavior.

Watching it again, I’d forgotten just how gleefully silly and completely ridiculous some of the antics are, but underneath all that chaos is a message that still lands: men in power abusing that power, women being underestimated, undervalued, and underpaid, and the small miracle of friendship keeping everyone from committing felonies. Or, well, mostly.

Dolly, Jane, and Lily remain an elite trio, absolutely untouchable. Dabney Coleman is so perfectly slimy as the disgusting boss that you almost want to applaud him and then immediately report him to HR. The outfits, the hair, the smoking indoors like oxygen was optional, it’s all such a time capsule, and such a delight.

And then there’s Dolly, making her theatrical film debut while apparently memorizing the entire script, including everyone else’s lines, because she thought movies were filmed in order. Of course she did. A legend, a professional, and probably the most prepared person in any room she has ever entered. Also, the fact that she wrote “9 to 5” by clicking her acrylic nails together to sound like a typewriter is the kind of genius that makes the rest of us seem deeply unserious.

It’s funny, sharp, chaotic, and way more culturally important than its light tone might suggest. The first female dominated film to gross over $100 million, and frankly, that feels correct. Justice for working women, and also more movies where terrible men are humiliated for sport.

THIS IS FEMINISM!!! Lol in all seriousness, you can never go wrong with Dolly. I am obsessed with her and this movie. It was hysterical, witty, and I love a good revenge fantasy. I cackled at the Snow White daydream! Such a classic!

Absolutely amazing and hilarious! I was on the edge of my seat the entire time!

Funny and good writing. Acting was great as well

Fantastic movie! It was incredibly hilarious! We were laughing ‘till we were blue and breathless