Within Hollywood, we have learned, there is a tradition of crafting movie stars and the persona’s that go along with them. We have scene examples of personas like this such as the dumb blonde and the femme fatale, but when we look at Bette Davis, her star persona is a bit different. While most female movie stars are most identified by their look, especially so in the earlier days of Hollywood, Davis was more known for her talent. Some may say this is because she lacked the sexual appeal or charisma as the other stars we have looked at, yet to me it seems more likely her pure talent and passion for acting was so powerful that it took the spotlight; to this day she is still regarded as one of the greatest actresses of all time. With that fact established, it was still interesting for her persona to be crafted so much around her actual career, as this was something not heard of at the time. She stood our against her peers by not just being classified for her sex appeal or specific role type, she brought in recognition for her outstanding characters and emotionally moving performances. Rather than be identified for a specific role, she was often recognized through her mannerisms and technique she brought to her characters. In the article we read by Shingler, there is a quote from Maria LaPlace about her style that stands out, “Her performances are ‘bravura’ they draw attention to their own skill and display pleasure in it.” This to me felt like a key summation of not only her acting style but her star persona as well. She was dedicated to her craft, and trained well to achieve as much as she did and this is what set her apart from the other actors and actresses in that time; she knew what she was doing and she loved doing it. What also sets her apart from the other personas in Hollywood at that time is that not many were as closely based off the actual personality of the actor/actress, yet we see that Davis’s was closely linked to her career more than anything; this speaks volumes to me about how dynamic her skill and personality really were.

In discussion of how women were often portrayed in media at this time and whether or not certain stars could be looked at as feminist personas, I want to acknowledge Davis for her piece in that. While there are arguments to be made for stand out women like Monroe or Dietrich, Davis is in a lane all her own that cuts a new path for female success that feels much more modern. Stars like Monroe or Dietrich have power in there own ways but with so much of their career being tied to their appearance and their popularity amongst a male audience, there are much more susceptible to a vulnerable place in Hollywood. New actresses that may be younger or fit more into the style of the current day will always be coming along, however a talent such as Davis is much harder to come by. I believe that Davis’s raw talent and passion for acting set her apart in such a powerful way she was able to transcend past the evolution of attraction and styles and have an expansive career that spread across several decades giving her the reputation of one of the greatest actresses Hollywood has seen.

Unlike Monroe, I had no prior personal interaction with Marlene Dietrich and was first introduced to her through Morocco. I also had little interaction with the persona of the ‘Femme Fatale’ yet was interested to learn about it. However through my interactions with both Dietrich and the persona, I was interested enough to do my own personal research and give myself more context into her career. This lead to a couple interesting revelations, both pertaining to sexuality surrounding Dietrich and how she is both perceived and how she interacts with her own sexuality. First I want to look at the femme fatale persona by itself. As I have previously mentioned this immediately has a larger appeal to me as a female empowering trope, more so than Monroe’s dumb blonde, however that is not to say it is without flaw. Despite showing a stronger side to femininity, in its origin it is still played for the desire of a male audience to be entranced by a mysterious and alluring woman. This is not to say that there isn’t power in commanding the attention from men yet it is important to have feminine figures set apart from men. All that aside, given the time period I have much respect for the femme fatale persona and how Dietrich presents it. One of the lines from Morocco that stood out to me in this way the most was ‘Husband, I never found a man good enough for that’, with this line we see her character immediately put the power in her own hands presenting the idea that she is not a woman who needs to wait for a man to choose her, in fact it’s quite the opposite.

I also want to look at the other piece of Morocco that really stood out to me; like many female movie stars has an alluring presence she brings with her to every scene she is in, both on and off screen, however this is not always feminine. Within this movie we have a scene with Dietrich in male presenting clothes performing to audience that is truly enjoying it, we even see her kiss a woman in the same scene. While this doesn’t have large effect on the movie as a whole it made me wonder how this was apart of Dietrich’s star persona off screen. After doing a little research I discovered this was one of the first ever scenes showing two women kissing and I was pleasantly surprised to learn this was in line with Dietrich’s own sexuality. As is often true of stars from a certain era, there was never any explicit reveal of her interest in woman although it was fairly documented that she has relations with both men and women. This gave me so much more interest in this scene in the movie as something much more empowering, rather than my fear that it was a kiss presented for the pleasure of a male audience. As a bisexual woman myself it is refreshing to see positive instances of representation dating even earlier than I had thought. Dietrich, outside of her movies was no stranger to dressing more masculine and kissing women and the incorporation of this into her star persona is not something I was expect from this era of Hollywood, though I do acknowledge the sexualization of this for a male audience most likely played a big part in the acceptance of it.

While Monroe is a movie star from well beyond my time, her legacy has lived on far enough for her to have created an impact on my life from an early age. One of my earliest interactions with her was with quotes, which have always seemed to created a modern life to her character. Now, having been further exposed to her character and how her persona was sold, her quotes tell a different story to me. When we look at the idea of the ‘dumb blonde’ in most of the readings we have looked at, we see a key factor is the vulnerability and the availability to men, which can be seen in quotes like how she fits into a ‘mans world’. To me this is what I would expect from a ‘Monroeism’ as her persona seemed to  portray a trust in men as a lot of her stage presence was centered around her appeal to men so the idea of being okay existing within a society not built for her seems on brand for her. This could also be said for the classic ‘Diamonds are a girls best friend’ which I once viewed as a power statement, but with more context I now realize is also dependent upon a male intervention. After having seen the movie this originates from I now see this quote is much more about in line with ‘gold-digging’ than feminine power. This further creates the picture that, while women have goals and motivations outside of men, they are still often required to achieve those goals. Reading Dyer’s chapter on Monroe’s relationship with sexuality was eye-opening to me about how she was presented in her own time and gave me a new lens to view the Monroe media I had seen up until that point. As I have expressed in pervious writings, I do not feel that Monroe, in her time, is the best example of modern feminism and may not be the best female role model however, Monroe is presented a bit differently today than she once was. This brings me to the other quote presented on this page, which has personal significance to me. My first interaction with Monroe was with a series of ‘Monroeism’ framed along side photos of her and sold as room decor; the quote about self worth lived on the walls of my bedroom for several years of my childhood. I remember reading that quote as a young and insecure girl and admiring the power those words held. The idea that even at your worst moments you are still worthy of admiration was groundbreaking to me. Now, as an adult I still admire the sentiment created with that quote but I now question what that means within the veil of the ‘dumb blonde’. After learning a majority of Monroe’s character was marketed to men I now look for the male appeal to a lot of these images but I start to realize, despite how her persona was marketed in her time, her image is still up to interpretation. This creates the opportunity for her to presented in a way that is more in line with modern feminism, despite how far from that ideal she was at one point and while I am happy to have more information about her career I am happier that this came to me as an adult rather than an impressionable young girl.