Austin Film Festival Short Feature Review: ‘Dirty Towel’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Emma Parks as Charlie in Emma Parks and Callie Carpineri’s DIRTY TOWEL.

There was a time in American history, where certain topics would silence a room. For instance, speaking about the rights of the LGBTQIA+ community would be met with silence, as would challenging how one handles their mental health. Not to mention, if one were to bring up sex and their sex life that same silence would fall across the room. Because America’s strange relationship with religion and the puritan concepts that arrived with the passengers of the Mayflower, have persisted through most of its history and brought forth a real sense of taboo on those very topics. But thankfully, we have made progress.
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For one can now talk about their sexual preferences and even enter into same sex marriage. Not to mention, we are finally talking about mental health on a regular basis, and we can indeed discuss sex and sexuality in general. But even then, we still have so far to go. Since some close-minded buffoons think that love should be restricted and the old mantra of ‘just push through’ still applies for fixing our mental health and of course…  some still cringe when sex comes up, and well… all of this has to stop. In part because it is 2024, but also because keeping topics such as these taboo causes more harm than good, and perhaps the time has come to showcase what kind of harm it can cause, to inspire change.

One way we can accomplish that, is through storytelling and it just so happens, that a short feature that screened at the Austin Film Festival, takes the time to offer up that kind of examination in Dirty Towel. Which is a story that introduces us to a girl named Charlie who receives some very harsh lessons from her mother. In that, mommy dearest, makes it clear that sex is a gross act that Charlie should never take part in. Simply because it makes her gross in her own right, akin to a Dirty Towel that no one will ever want again because no one wants to be around a woman that chooses such a hideous act, and those words hang with Charlie and haunt her deeply. Especially years later, after she has sex for the first time, leaving her to wonder what future lie ahead now that she’s committed what her mother has told her… is an ultimate sin.

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Laura Coover and Emma Parks as Elizabeth and Charlie in Emma Parks and Callie Carpineri’s DIRTY TOWEL.

Which is… the perfect way to explore how trying to keep certain topics taboo, can indeed cause incredible harm. Because truly, Charlie struggles with a supremely natural act here, all because of her mother’s words. Because we value what mom and dad have to say and if they tell us we will be forever sullied by an act such as sex, we will believe them, and that’s wrong plain and simple. Because it is downright abusive and traumatic and it does no good for anyone and can in fact, become generational in nature. Since the right individual will carry that lie on and that is one big reason why taboo persists. For we pass it down from generation to generation. 
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That of course, begs the question, how then do we shatter it, and the answer to that is explored here as well. Since there comes a point where Charlie speaks to how sex is natural, healthy, and should not be something we are ashamed of. So, choosing to break the cycle is a great place to start, and education is key as well. Since really, we fear what we don’t fully understand and well, a fair number of people don’t understand their sexuality or their sexual desires and education would indeed help them understand and normalize such matters, and really, that’s the key to breaking so many of the taboos we harbor in society. Because knowledge truly is power.

All of which makes for an incredible feature. For this film manages to cover all of that in a matter of twelve minutes, and its majesty doesn’t end with its intelligence. For it features some fine performances as well. With Emma Parks leading the charge as Charlie, since she sells the confusion and the shame her mother brings down upon her in a hyper realistic manner. Speaking of mom, Laura Coover is a revelation as Elizabeth, courtesy of moments that also feel akin to interactions and conversations we’ve had with our mothers. Truly, all of these elements combine to bring forth a supremely important movie. Because it finally takes a big problem to task in a frank manner that stays with the audience, and that’s a good thing. For it is high time we break the taboo cycle so everyone can live their life in peace and harmony.

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