Almost everyone knows who Marilyn Monroe was. She is recognized as being a beautiful blonde bombshell who was given a “playmate” persona. There was a time when Marilyn Monroe was actually a professional actress before becoming the ultimate on-screen sex symbol. As with many celebrities, most people do not know the full story of how they became famous. I always knew Marilyn Monroe as a sex symbol, who many men desired to be with, and many women wanted to be like. To quote her character in the movie, “Don’t you know that a man being rich is like a girl being pretty? You might not marry a girl just because she’s pretty, but, my goodness, doesn’t it help?” It is incredible to me that Marilyn Monroe is still relevant in my generation. From people dressing up like her or even just watching her movies over again. One of the movies discussed was Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. I had heard of the title of this film but never got around to watching it. It perfectly depicts the stereotype in which Marilyn was used to being showcased. One of the topics that stuck out to me the most was from the reading ‘Monroe the Building of Popular Images.’ This reading discusses how stars were manufactured to get their image out into the world. It made me think of the possibility that Marilyn could have been stereotyped as an entirely different character than what we all know of her. This reading then continued to discuss how each network markets its star. I never even realized that stars back then were marketed through their movie companies. The reading would then give examples of some of the big companies that marketed these types of stars. These companies being MGM and Paramount. These companies would hire publicists who would try and get their stars in the public eye as much as possible. I understand that celebrities today also undergo the same advertisements; I just never knew it was the same back then. What stood out the most to me in this reading was the use of a “unit man.” This “unit man” went around to different types of outlets to get their star shown, which means they would try to get their star’s stereotype advertised very frequently. This was the case for Marilyn, as the media would continue to showcase her body and sultry poses as much as possible. It made me curious whether or not Marilyn enjoyed being classified as “the blonde.” During the weeks where we learned about Marilyn, I never realized that she started her career off as a pin-up model. This helped me better understand why she continued to be type-casted into these “blonde” stereotype characters. In the reading of ‘Monroe and Sexuality,’ it talks about how Marilyn was sexualized in her films. When watching these movies from this time period, you expect to see a lot of misogynistic comments from the male characters. It is interesting to see how the male characters would treat Marilyn. Marilyn made comments about how she is stereotyped as being what men desire and how she tries to then come off as being more vulnerable and desirable. I believe that Marilyn Monroe was such a talented actress and deserved a lot more respect and credit in her film career.