Who Are You, Polly Magoo?
The 1966 French film “Who Are You, Polly Maggoo?” is a satirical art house movie spoofing the fashion world and its excesses. It stars native Brooklynite Dorothy McGowan as supermodel Polly Maggoo who is being followed by a French television crew. I caught this on TCM one night and was drawn in by how it poked fun at the cool mod style of the late 60′s. The director William Klein is a well known photographer and one of my inspirations. The asthetic beauty in this film, balanced with the cutting satire intrigues me. It draws many parallels to the world I work in today. Beautiful, inspiring and cool, while hilarious, silly and superficial. The difference with this film and a film like Zoolander, is there is a insiders perspective and reverence that acknowledges that there is something to love about this world. Zoolander tosses it all aside as fodder for laughs. Don’t get me wrong I love Zoolander, but “Polly Maggoo” deals with the dichotomy of that love hate relationship in a serious way without fishing for the big laugh.
The first clip is the opening scene from the film. It is a fashion show where the “clothes” are so outlandish and impractical that the models are cut by the material and the designer has to make modifications with a wrench. It illustrates just how silly the fashion world can be. The second is a trailer just in case you were thinking of renting or buying it. There isn’t much substance in terms of storyline, but if you are intrigued by cultural commentary about the super cool today, tomorrow, or 40 years ago, I would say go for it.