Marilyn's is probably the second most-recognised face after Mona Lisa in the history of images. For a month now, I've been fascinated by the transformation of Norma Jeane (left) to Marilyn Monroe (right).
Though she played the 'dumb blonde' to a T, she was a brunette. She was very intelligent and successful in giving the visual male what he wanted to see - John Kennedy (president), Bobby Kennedy, Arthur Miller (author, activist) and Joe DiMaggio (baseball superstar) were all in love with this woman. Everything from her breathy voice to her smile and walk (she cut one heel lower to sway better) was pure artifice.
No woman has probably worked harder at her image, since or after. She had a drama coach watch and correct her every move for the 15 yrs she crawled up the sordid Hollywood production chain until the top. She earned every bit of her fame the hard way - living with severe stagefright, suicide attempts and abortions, miscarriages and divorce - the true road of fame and fortune is a tough master.
There's always a story to such driving ambition: She was brought up in foster homes as her mother struggled with mental illness and never knew a father. She was repeatedly assaulted as a child, worked at a factory as a nobody and was constantly drunk or on uppers and downers through most of her adult life. She only came alive in front of the camera and an audience - otherwise she was an uncertain, hesitant, dull alcoholic.
Like Princess Di, she couldn't get enough love to fill up the void. One masseur said that her body was electric with energy like no one he'd ever touched. So, whether we like it or not, some people are larger-than-life from another level.;) I'm going to review 3 of her movies.
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