by Rich Moreland, September 2015
This is the wrap up Daddy’s Girls, a product of Girlfriends Films and director B Skow. As I indicated with the first installment, these posts represent only one interpretation of a film that is far deeper in meaning and imagery than I’ve touched upon here.
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Jerk off Babe
Bob’s daughter Quincy uses her Daddy’sGirl95 avatar to promote her webcam identity as a “jerk off babe.” Posing as “barely legal” with her schoolgirl outfits, Quincy is hardly a juvenile and shows a biting nastiness that festers beneath her daughter facade.
Like the film itself, Quincy is hard to pin down. She tells her mother to “fuck off” and sweetly talks to her daddy. She is the personified bully who verbally assaults Samantha, “you took my daddy now I’m gonna take you . . . you shouldn’t take what isn’t yours,” before sexually ravaging her. The whole show is live on Quincy’s cell phone for Goodneighbor51’s pleasure.
On one hand, Quincy mirrors the dysfunctional families in this charade while challenging their character on the other. She is noticed, yes, but too often dismissed with the hope that she will blend into the background like the pastel imagery that surrounds her.
As the story progresses, Quincy increasingly orchestrates the action, particularly in the final sex scene with Dale whom she believes to be her biological father. It is a metaphorical revenge “killing,” so to speak.
She accuses him of being “the pedophile that’s been jacking off to his best friend’s daughter,” reminding Dale he’s now had sex with his best friend’s wife and daughter. Essentially, Quincy sees herself as a daughter of two fathers, one she desires and the other she loathes. It’s ugly in tone, like her taking of Samantha.
Quincy and Dale
Overcome with wrath and punching Dale into unconsciousness, Quincy is immediately remorseful and calls for her “father figure” to come to the rescue.
Conveniently, the mask-wearing Bob is in the adjacent bedroom, doing the deed with his hired playmate Marla. Earlier in the film when he was having performance issues, Marla put on sunglasses, called him “daddy” and his arousal skyrocketed. No problem, covering the eyes covers the perversion which is also “covered” in her bill. Everyone pretends and “sees” nothing.
On the surface, the contrast between the daddies is obvious. Bob remains healthy; Dale is dying. But the rest is muddled because both daddies are sexually tainted. Both desire younger women with Dale’s being the online variety while Bob can’t let go of his lust for Samantha.
On the other hand, Quincy’s longing for Bob, whom she knows is not her real father and therefore fair game, won’t go away. To complicate matters, he is the manifestation of the larger “Father Complex” for both Samantha and Quincy.
Both girls are a contrast of desire and anger. Sam directs her disgust toward Bob for abandoning her and bitterly reminds him that she wore knee socks and called him daddy when they did the dirty. Quincy, as pointed out above, takes out her rage with a father rape of sorts driven by Dale’s past dalliance with her mother.
Odile and Darla Crane
In the meantime, Dale’s wife Iris (played by Darla Crane) finds the “jerk off babe” and her unwilling and unsighted playmate on his phone. . . a secret revealed. Devastation follows and she rushes to Gina, Bob’s wife (played impressively by Odile), for solace. To soothe the moment, Skow throws in a MILF scene between two well-respected adult veterans.
Seeing Everything
In the closing scenes of the film, the families gather together and there are apologies all around. Sincerity floats over the room, but doesn’t really land anywhere. This sorry lot is a collection of “masks” vainly trying to make things well enough to survive. Quincy becomes the chastened child and the other “adults” lamely tuck away their past temptations to bask in the bright patio gathering.
With cane in hand, Samantha, the narrative’s emerging avenging angel, excuses herself. Wearing an actual mask, her sunglasses, she remarks that she “sees” everything and everyone can do better than ask forgiveness. It’s a criticism that carries religious implications.
On the set for Bob and Dale in hopeful reconciliation
Dale and Bob reconcile with Dale pontificating about their relationship, telling Bob to step up and become a father by abandoning his mask and self-pity. Bob is properly contrite, giving Dale a pass he doesn’t deserve. Dale has his own concealed perversion as Quincy’s Goodneighbor51 customer who suggests she meet him at a motel or give him a show. Quincy, who hides behind her online facade, opts for the latter and, as mentioned above, sexually attacks Samantha for his entertainment, not knowing who he really is. Of course, circumstances now reveal the Quincy/Samantha scene to be an outright perversion between sisters, but no one seems to quite get that.
But who are the girls, really? Biological daughters incestuously entertaining their father (Dale) or metaphorical possessions of a Lolita freak (Bob)?
Always Close the Window
In the final scene, Bob tucks Quincy into bed as a father would his little girl. In contrast to Samantha’s single bed, unwelcoming to a partner but subject to violation, Quincy’s is a double, an invitation to just about any “daddy” or “mom” as we will see in sequel to this classic, Daddy’s Girls 2.
She asks Bob if Samantha or mom will ever forgive them. He responds with “sometimes you just have to live with things,” a sharp lesson Quincy will learn in the next film. Preparing to let her sleep, Bob mentions she’ll be going to the facility in the morning, implying this her last night with her parents.
The bed is awash in pastels, pink, brown, green, blue, soft colors, typical of Quincy, a sinful little girl blended into the landscape like the title frame at the film’s opening.
Before he leaves, Bob asks if he should close the window. Quincy wants to feel the breeze, she says. Folding her hands in a prayerful mode only St. Agnes could truly appreciate, Daddy’sGirl95 is likely hoping for a “do over” in the manner of kids on the playground who haven’t grasped the meaning of disappointment and failure. With eyes closed, her smile is sweet and innocent.
Like Samantha who earlier lay awake in her bed, Quincy now is waiting. But imagery takes an odd turn here. Quincy is transformed into the peaceful resolution of a corpse in an open casket funeral. Perhaps it is fitting, after all . . . metaphorical death and resurrection await a new more visible mask.
The camera pulls back a bit and the open window appears to the right. A knife is laid on the sill, then a cane. After a pause, a with face concealed by sunglasses emerges from the night riding a most evil cool breeze.
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The cast of that brings to life this fabulous film.
I deliberately left out the identity of the central actors who raised this movie to perfection, preferring instead to honor them at the conclusion of this analysis. They are Riley Reid (Quincy), Maddy O’Reilly (Samantha), Alec Knight (Bob), and Evan Stone (Dale). As referenced above, they are ably supported by Odile and Darla Crane. Rarely in an adult film does a combination of performances mark such excellence.
