Opinion: Just let Dolly Parton rule the world already

Gene Seymour is a critic who has written about music, movies and culture for The New York Times, Newsday, Entertainment Weekly and The Washington Post. Follow him on Twitter @GeneSeymour. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author. View more opinion at CNN. (CNN)Is this Dolly Parton's world we're living in? Has it been her world all this time? Gene Seymour OK, so maybe everything was more complicated than a polarized citizenry was willing to acknowledge in that year of assassinations, street violence and political upheaval. And things didn't necessarily get better in the aftermath of that historic flight. But for many Americans, it still felt good to think so at the time -- and that's how, 52 years later, they still remember it.Now we're winding up a meaner year than 1968. In addition to street violence, political upheaval and a polarized citizenry, 2020 has been horribly disfigured by a global pandemic endangering lives, disabling the economy and already constraining us from the full comfort and joy we expect from the holiday season. Read MoreDolly Parton addresses rumor about 2 songsReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHDolly Parton addresses rumor about 2 songs 00:56So, where's our Apollo 8? If 1968 had Borman, Lovell and Anders reading the Book of Genesis on Christmas Eve above the lunar surface, what then -- or who -- does 2020 have as its potential savior? Or even "savior"? How about Dolly Parton, the rhinestone-crested songbird of Pittman Center, Tennessee? The most indelible of our living country music icons? The flamboyant polymath who wrote two deathless American classics -- "Jolene" and "I Will Always Love You" -- in less time than it takes to boil steel cut oats? Dolly Parton as our savior? You bet. She has in recent weeks reaped waves of gratitude from fans and non-fans alike for her $1 million donation this past April to Vanderbilt University Medical Center (in her home state) that has been credited with funding the early stages of research for a coronavirus vaccine developed by the pharmaceutical company Moderna, research that is already showing very heartening results. Dolly Parton poses for a portrait around 1972. The promising news unleashed a Twitter storm of acclaim for Parton and her good works. It also prompted Ryan Cordell, an associate professor of English at Boston's Northeastern University to perform (on video) singing "Vaccine," an homage to both Parton and her largesse set to the music of the aforementioned "Jolene" with lyrics written (and tweeted) by Canadian linguist Gretchen McCulloch: "Vaccine, vaccine, vaccine, vaciiiinnne..../I'm begging you to please let go of my arm ..." All of which coincides with the release of a new Parton album, "A Holly Dolly Christmas" (Butterfly Records) and the Netflix premiere this past weekend of "Dolly Parton's Christmas on the Square," a holiday musical based on a stage play whose music and lyrics were written by Parton. The show, which co-stars Christine