{"id":4873,"date":"2020-11-22T12:55:07","date_gmt":"2020-11-22T16:55:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/reelfaith\/?p=4873"},"modified":"2020-11-22T12:55:07","modified_gmt":"2020-11-22T16:55:07","slug":"dolly-parton-to-the-rescue-with-new-christmas-film-covid-response","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/reelfaith\/2020\/11\/dolly-parton-to-the-rescue-with-new-christmas-film-covid-response.html","title":{"rendered":"Dolly Parton to the Rescue with New Christmas Film, Covid Response"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

While the Covid pandemic shutdown shuttered productions and entertainment offerings, music superstar Dolly Parton hit the social media and radio airwaves to spread encouraging messages to those who were affected. Fresh off the success of last year\u2019s \u201cHeartStrings\u201d films on Netflix, the new holiday film \u201cDolly Parton\u2019s Christmas on the Square\u201d continues that trend, arriving just in time to bring joy to the world still coping with the virus.<\/p>\n

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Dolly Parton stars in \u201cChristmas on the Square.\u201d Image courtesy of Netflix.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWe need something special this year,\u201d she explained in a recent interview with Reel Faith. \u201cI think we have taken so much for granted for so long.\u201d<\/p>\n

Parton, who plays an angel in the film opposite Christine Baranski, Jenifer Lewis, and Treat Williams, said the film was planned and filmed long before the virus hit, but that \u201cit\u2019s a perfect time to have a movie like this, with these kinds of songs that talk about light and love and all the things we\u2019re supposed to be about.\u201d<\/p>\n

Never shy about her Christian faith, the singer-songwriter released a gospel-tinged anthem \u201cWhen Life is Good Again,\u201d during the shutdown that encouraged listeners to hear what God was trying to say to them.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not the kind to run in fear,\u201d she said. \u201cI mean, I don\u2019t like it. I pray about it. I always try to find God in everything. And I keep thinking He\u2019s trying to teach us some good lessons. And hopefully, we\u2019re learning them. Hopefully, we\u2019ll be better people when this is over.\u201d<\/p>\n

With her public face of encouragement, Parton also carries a more behind-the-scenes role in helping as well. She has been credited for donating $1 million to Moderna\u2019s Covid vaccine, a move that goes in line with her life of charitable work that includes Dolly Parton\u2019s Imagination Library.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not going to just lay around here and worry about it,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019ve got to put something out there in the world because people are needing things. So, I\u2019ve been writing a lot of different songs and putting other things out.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Christmas film, which features 14 original songs by Parton, is just one of her many releases this year that also includes the album \u201cA Holly Dolly Christmas,\u201d but a project that she hopes will inspire its viewers.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just hoping that in this \u2018Christmas on the Square\u2019 movie, people will get a blessing out of it,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019ll give them something to, to look to, to give them hope and some fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDolly Parton\u2019s Christmas on the Square,\u201d directed and choreographed by Debbie Allen, is streaming now on Netflix.<\/p>\n