#Neely o'hara

[retropopcult]

Publicity shot of Patty Duke for Valley of the Dolls (1967)

[pygartheangel]

[oneinchbarrier]

[whatevertheywant]

I need someone else to read Valley of the Dolls. I have no one to talk to about it

[b0yint3rrupt3d]

“I can’t even remember anymore when something wasn’t nagging at me or pressuring me or beating me”

- Neely O’Hara

[masorad]

[originalitysquared]

Hold on I need to finish Valley of the Dolls right NOW

[10-cats-in-a-trench-coat]

hello silliest salmons i have returned (for better or probably worse) and i just finished reading Valley Of The Dolls !! and now im here to talk about it just a LIIIITTLLLEEE because ermmm brainrot yesye

OKAY so erm i should start off with i definitely read this because of the Bright Eyes song (Neely O'Hara) in the Every Day And Every Night EP (fantastic record,, BTW !) because i really wanted to know: wtf is conor talking about ??? which now, makes soooooo much sense teehee. erm i super duper lover this book. im gonna go into more depth about it once my friend finishes it (:3) and dont worry !! i will get more insane!! anyway, if youre thinking of reading it you really really should. its not a SUPER easy read, but if your paying attention youll do just fine (teehee) i annotated my cope (ofc) and so it didnt take me too long to finish :3 but now that i have, i know why conor wrote that song and i know why he wrote it the way he did and i know why he wrote it about her. and it is making me so so so crazy. okay thats it FOR NOW. but yall best believeonce my friend finishes it the brainrot WILL ! continue !!

[kwebtv]

TV Guide -  December 28, 1963 - January 3, 1964

Anna Marie “Patty” Duke (December 14, 1946 – March 29, 2016) Actress of stage, film and television. She first became famous as a tween star, winning an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress at age 16 for her role in The Miracle Worker, which she had originated on Broadway. She later starred in the sitcom, The Patty Duke Show. She progressed to more mature roles upon playing Neely O'Hara in the 1967 film Valley of the Dolls. She served as the president of the Screen Actors Guild from 1985 to 1988, four years after her Patty Duke Show co-star William Schallert held the same office

In 1982, Duke was cast alongside Richard Crenna in the ABC sitcom It Takes Two, from Soap and Benson creator Susan Harris. The socially topical series depicted both Duke’s and Crenna’s characters as a modern career couple (hers was a lawyer, his a surgeon) and the moral and personal challenges that abounded from their professions. Helen Hunt and Anthony Edwards played their teenaged offspring. Although It Takes Two was praised, ABC cancelled the series after one season due to low ratings.

Duke would subsequently work with Susan Harris on a new ABC series, Hail To The Chief, which premiered in April 1985. She appeared as the first female President of the United States in the ensemble, all-star series (the cast featured Dick Shawn, Herschel Bernardi, Glynn Turman and Ted Bessell as Duke’s husband, among others) and the material was topical yet off-the-wall, much in the fashion of Soap, like which it was partially serialized. Hail To The Chief was less successful than the star’s and producer’s previous joint effort of It Takes Two and was cancelled after seven episodes. In 1987, Duke returned to series television in another short-lived comedy, Karen’s Song, which aired on the fledgling Fox network.  (Wikipedia)

[finkuldunkulboydetective]

Conor Oberst lyrics + Difficulties sleeping

Counting Sheep - Conor Oberst//2. A Song to Pass the Time - Bright Eyes//3. Lime Tree - Bright Eyes//4. Neely O'Hara - Bright Eyes//5. Happy Birthday to Me (Feb 15.) - Bright Eyes//6. How Many Lights Do You See? - Bright Eyes//7. The Joy in Forgetting/The Joy in Acceptance - Bright Eyes//8. June on the West Coast - Bright Eyes //9. Too Late To Fixate - Conor Oberst//10. Didn't Know What I Was In For - Better Oblivion Community Centre//11. Forced Convalescence - Bright Eyes//12. We Are Nowhere And It's Now - Bright Eyes//13. Sugar Street - Conor Oberst//14. Hundreds Of Ways - Conor Oberst//15. Hit The Switch - Bright Eyes//16. Nikorette - Conor Oberst And The Mystic Valley Band//17. Lonely At The Top - Conor Oberst//18. Ship In A Bottle - Bright Eyes//19. Bowl Of Oranges - Bright Eyes

[doctorcurdlejr]

Neely O'Hara snatches Helen Lawson's wig || Valley of the Dolls (1967)

[pygartheangel]

[oneinchbarrier]

[elvensixpm]

Just finished reading Valley of The Dolls and like What. The. Fuck.

Okay. Emotional roller coaster the entire way through— I was not expecting it to be such a heavy read? Okay, it was funny at some parts; but most of the time when conflict arose, I felt so frustrated and sad, especially during Anne and Jennifer's parts.

SPOILERS:

content warning for suicide and pills

Lyon Burke:

When Lyon Burke was first introduced, I knew he was going to be the Main love interest for Anne. There's just that level of detail given to his introduction, and Anne's view of him that really stood out to me, so I knew he was going to be a major character in her life. Anne is so head-over-heels in love with this man— and damn! The way she described him in the beginning, I would be too!

That aside, there waa always the little red flags that stood out to me that indicated Lyon Burke was more of a 'free-bird' kinda guy. I don't believe he truly wanted to settle down with Anne. He loved her, but like her— his own freedom and self-discovery was more important. Moments like:

“I mean working for Henry. Living in New York. But what do you want to do, Lyon?”

He stretched his long legs under the table. “Be dreadfully rich, for one thing. Sit in some lovely spot in Jamaica, have several beautiful girls who look exactly like you to look after me and knock out a best-selling novel about the war.”

And

“Hello . . . is someone on?” Lyon’s voice clipped through the wires.

She was frightened. He sounded angry.

“Is it Elizabeth?”

Elizabeth! She stared into the phone stupidly.

“Come now, this is a juvenile thing to do,” Lyon said coldly. “Elizabeth, if you want to talk, say something or I’ll hang up.”

Really were foreshadowing of the fact that he would never truly stay loyal to her in the first place— he would love her, yes, in a twisted, strange sort of love, but never truly stay faithful to her in the way Anne always wanted.

Boo! He's a well-written character, but I still hate him!

I think I'm just irked by the fact he cheated on her twice in the last fifty pages of the book— right after they got married and had their baby girl. At least he is a decent father, although barely. He knows Anne will never leave him, because she loves him/loved him too much, and it would be a great burden to their daughter. So Anne just stays the loyal wife he can return to when he's had his fun toying around with other women.

Anne, ultimately, has more power than him. She 'bought' him, she's the millionaire, and I feel like his ego was threatened— so he turns to cheating on her for some semblance of control; he gets to be the bigger one in his other relationships.

Neely O'Hara:

Oh, Neely O'Hara. Where to begin with you?

At the beginning I quite liked her. She was spunky, enthusiastic and quite pitiable! She was seventeen just trying to make a name for herself and find love on the way. Well, she got it fairly early in the book— and then she became greedy. Far too greedy, and we see her become just like Helen Lawson, angry, demanding, big. Perhaps even worse!

Neely O'Hara is nothing but a hypocrite in the end.

"...Why, if I was ever a star, I’d be so darned grateful that an audience loved me..."

And yet, when she became the star she dreamed about, she seemingly forgot all of Anne's contributions towards her fame. Anne was the one who introduced Neely to Helen Lawson— and that got her a big break into the scene. Anne gave her advice, support, and was repaid back by Neely sleeping with her husband by the end of the book.

I absolutely despise Neely's character, but I adore her from a writer's standpoint. She perfectly mirrors Helen Lawson, except Helen was maybe more respectable than Neely was.

I also find it so difficult to wrap my head around the fact she cheated on Mel, and was almost like an absentee mother to her twins.

I think we first see the beginnings of her self-destruction when she moved to California with Mel— where we see her beginning to take the pills/dolls and cut off fattening foods to help her lose weight. From the way it was written, Mel is worried for his wife's health, and I think is very (understandably) upset at her change in attitude after she finally 'made it big'.

He tells her she shouldn't lose weight and that she's fine as she is, but this action is scolded by Neely. She considers him a drag, and then reveals she's been cheating on him with Ted. This was such a shocker to me, because I really (foolishly) thought Neely was serious about finding love.

Neely is selfish, because she constantly wants 'better' things for herself and doesn't really care about hurting other people. Not Anne, not Mel, only herself. This might be explained by whatever mental illness she has, but honestly! She's excellent at riling people up.

Even during her attempted suicide it seems like it's all for show— she wants herself to have a better funeral than Jennifer's, she's constantly just competing and vying for attention. To make herself look good. She blames God for the hole she's dug herself into and only backs out at the last minute when she realizes she might actually die.

Okay. Let's stop it at that. I really don't like her, but damn— she's so good at making you angry!

Jennifer North:

Oh, my sweet, sweet Jennifer.

Safe to say I loved her story. Jennifer is no saint, but I think she and Anne share some of the same likeness— and I think Jennifer is a character that can be easily sympathised with.

Throughout the story, we can see how her physical appearance, mostly her breasts, are so important to her. We see it in the way she massages them and does exercises every night to keep them perky; the way she uses them as a weapon against Tony Polar to make him give her what she wants; with Senator Winston Adams at the end of her life. Throughout the book, from the beginning where she was introduced, to the end of her life, there was always an emphasis on her breasts— her only real assets, because she had no talent other than looking attractive.

I find her to be a rather pitiable character, because honestly, it feels like she's doing what she does just to keep that level of high-life she's always maintained— relying on men to fund her lifestyle even though it seems she despises it sometimes, because she always knows it's all about her looks.

Towards the end of her life is where things get most interesting. I think Jennifer was truly searching for the same 'true love' that Anne also sought after, and was genuinly happy being with Senator Winston Adams because she felt he loved her for who she was— not because of her body or her pictures/films.

When she gets diagnosed with breast cancer, and needs a mastectomy to remove the malignant tumour in her breast— she is devastated. She fears that Senator Winston Adams will find her repulsive, even if before that he said he only loved her for her mind. This soothes her a bit, but when it's revealed that he didn't actually want babies, and that he was doing it to appease her— that his 'real babies' were her breasts, she was devastated. Devastated because she believed he loved her for more than her looks.

Jennifer's suicide in the end would seem like an attempt to keep the Senator's love; keeping her body free from 'mutilation', eternally perfect in death. In death, she would not age. In death, she stays forever the beauty she was when alive. She is perfect. She is loved. Her body will no longer wither to time.

She commits using pills because it would leave less of a mark on her body.

Side note:

I do believe Jennifer was a bisexual in the story. Her descriptions of sex with Maria (especially during the beginning) was vastly different to the sex she had with the other men in her life. She also mentions that she and Anne would've made a good lesbian couple. Anyways. # Anne x Jennifer ! I find it cute that Anne named her daughter after Jennifer, too. Truly girlfriends in a different, better universe.

“They love my face and body. Not me!” There’s such a difference, Anne.” Then she shrugged. “Maybe I’m just not very lovable.”

“I love you, Jen—really.”

Jennifer smiled. “I know you do. It’s a pity we’re not queer—we’d make a marvelous team.”

Anne laughed. “If we were, maybe it wouldn’t work out this way. As you said, one loves and the other is loved. Or maybe it’s different with Lesbians.”

Jennifer had a far-off look. “No . . . even with queers, one loves and the other is loved.”

[thebunnybooknook]

Wardrobe Test Shot of Patty Duke as Neely O'Hara in Valley of the Dolls (1967)

[welcometowowsville]

#patty duke #neely o'hara #valley of the dolls