During weeks 1-2, we focused on Hollywood icon Marilyn Monroe. We watched Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and read Monroe and Sexuality and The Building of Popular Images. I have always found Marilyn Monroe very interesting as a person and as an actress, so I was very intrigued by our reading and viewing for these weeks.
Marilyn Monroe has always been exciting to me for multiple reasons. For one, her notoriety as being one of the sexiest women of all time. Her status as a sex symbol in America lead to her being type-cast for roles throughout her career, often as the “dumb blonde” type of character. (Example: Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Some Like It Hot). She often portrayed characters who were showgirls or actresses in her films. When I watch Marilyn Monroe’s films now, knowing so much about her life and her career, I can’t help but feel disappointed for her. Monroe was cast to play the same character in various films, over and over again throughout her career. She was sexualized and portrayed by and for the lens of the male gaze. She was not able to show all of her abilities as an actress, because she was constantly being judged by her looks and her body. The readings Monroe and Sexuality and The Building of Popular Images both explain this very well. Marilyn Monroe was seen as extremely sexy and sensual and was thought of as the ideal “playmate” or sexual partner by men. Because of the way men perceived her, Marilyn Monroe was unable to break away from her typecast and the views that were projected onto her. She was never able to grow as an actress because Hollywood only saw her fit for one role, that of the sexy showgirl and the ‘dumb blonde”.
Because of Monroe’s untimely death, she was never able to truly show her chops as an actress, in my opinion. She died tragically at a young age, and even in the decades since her death, she is remembered primarily as a sex symbol. I am disappointed for Marilyn Monroe because of this, too. She was a very progressive and accepting person, who was ahead of her time in many ways. And yet, instead of being remembered for being a good person or even a good actress, she is remembered for being beautiful. Because she died young and was unable to grow old, she is remembered only as a beautiful, sexy woman by Hollywood.
Whenever I read about Monroe or watch her films, I try to keep an open mind and look for ways that she could have defied her role as the sexy dumb blonde, which I think she often did. Marilyn Monroe was able to take her roles and put a feminist spin on them, or at least she performed in a way that allowed her audience to perceive her in a feminist way. In Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, she allegedly tricks a rich man into marrying her, and we are to think that she marries him for his money, while he marries her for her good looks. Instead of playing her character as a “dumb blonde” who is after money, Monroe plays her as a smart and clever woman who takes care of herself and gets what she wants. She is honest about herself and who she is, which she demonstrates in the Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend scene.
After learning more about Marilyn Monroe in the first weeks of our class, I have a deeper admiration for her. I think she genuinely was a good actress, however, Hollywood stopped her from using her talent to her full capability by typecasting her in the same role so many times. Monroe can be seen as a sex symbol and can be remembered as such, but she can also be seen as a feminist icon and an example of the so-called “American dream” for becoming a star despite her humble upbringing. I think Marilyn Monroe is a woman worth studying, especially when studying Hollywood, and she deserves to be remembered for more than just being beautiful.