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“When you’re famous, you kind of run into human nature in a raw kind of way. People you run into feel that, well, who is she—who is she, who does she think she is?”-Marilyn MonroeThink about Marilyn Monroe, and a picture of her gorgeous smile, her lips stained in crimson, her blonde hair; curled and bobbed to perfection,her sleepy, siren eyes, her raspy voice soaked in her own breath and the iconic "flying skirt" scene from the New York subway pops into mind. However, her effulgent yet cataclysmic odyssey is a gentle reminder of how much can be stripped from a person, bit by bit, until nothing is left of oneself. Who was the real Marilyn Monroe? – a debate that has roused many critics, historians, filmmakers, and the general public for decades. Narratives of Monroe’s life fixate on the controversies and scandals surrounding her at the expense of her artistry and dedication. For the millions of people she has inspired over the years, Marilyn Monroe still remains something of a mystery. A sensational icon, much more than just her body and a pretty face–the absolute essence of femininity, but reduced only to a series of messy love affairs, drug addiction, sexual glamour, and a sorrowful demise. However, Marilyn's mystery is not that of her ascent but of the radical contradictions of her life. But is there nothing else worth saying about Marilyn and her cinematic legacy?The movie ‘Blonde’ fails to break away from the bleakly familiar trajectory that portrays Marilyn's life as a catastrophe.Pop culture has dehumanised Monroe’s legacy, again and again, using it to sell a dream of desirability, exploiting and objectifying her persona as a platinum blonde sex explosion. And with the latest biopic of the movie star ‘Blonde’, her legacy has once again been debased. Based on the fictional novel by Joyce Carol Oates, the movie turns out to be a formidable display that creates a maddening paradox. The lurid depictions sometimes just become too much to bear as the movie exploits the idea of Marilyn Monroe. Although the movie is constantly dexterous with its tone and narrative, touching on a series of factual details of her life, it remains miles apart from the truth of it. The movie fails to break away from the bleakly familiar trajectory that begins with an unhappy childhood, paternal absence, fraught fame, abusive relationships, and a catastrophic downfall. Rather than being the great star, her status has been dropped back to just a chewed-up starlet, ground down and spat out by the monolithic stakeholders of Hollywood. It seems to disregard her talent as an artist, as if her agonies shaped her performances or because she was considered a ‘sexpot’. The adaptation antagonises all the men in her life and reinforces her image merely as a ‘dumb blonde’, something it was expected to undo.“I don’t think there was a ‘real’ Marilyn Monroe. She was a character and a persona to be played, both on and off the screen.”- Michelle VogelMarilyn Monroe – a name that has outgrown decades – is an emblem of twentieth-century America. A woman of convictions, a portrait of wit, savvy and intelligence. She graced the screen with her transcendent talent, brilliant comic timing and gestures that reflected the true depth of her professional prowess. She strove for equality and change in the Hollywood system. She took steps to fight back against the studio system, which enabled male executives to wield unprecedented control over her career. Her undeniable charisma, charm and aggressive earnestness were as disarming as they were captivating. The entirety of her being makes people fall under her spell, even today. Her natural flowing sensuality can be captured by her feline femininity and an air of sublime reality without leaning towards her sex appeal. Pop culture consistently does her wrong, and she remains one of the world’s most misunderstood icons. The reality of Marilyn’s persona, or rather Norma Jean, is a complete paradox to the general pre-conceived notion of Marilyn Monroe as a sex symbol. It is in between the unexpected spaces that people discard or consider irrelevant, in which lies her lively persona. Norma Jean had to vanish to make way for Marilyn in front of the camera, which is when her life changed irrevocably. She strived to make her reality her own to find fulfilment and happiness. Despite everything that she was subjected to during her lifetime, she ultimately emerged as a defiant survivor and that too with a wonderfully ironic sense of humour about it. Today Marilyn has become a significant part of the texture of our everyday lives, an ageless deity, her platinum hair a golden halo, and her sensual face a shining icon."A wise girl knows her limits, a smart girl knows that she has none."- Marilyn MonroeMarilyn Monroe rose from total obscurity and an abject beginning to become a Hollywood star of the most compelling stature. She was shuffled between foster homes and orphanages while her mother was hospitalised with paranoid schizophrenia, during which she was sexually molested and abused. But she took the tinsel town by storm, reinvented her image and took control of her brand and later even founded her own production company–a rare thing for a woman at that time. The myths surrounding her life have obscured what initially helped make her famous – her craft as an actress and the hard work that cemented her rise to stardom. Few movie stars have contributed as many iconic images to cinema as Marilyn Monroe. She turned many heads with her raw and lively performances and irrefutable classics such as ‘Gentlemen Prefer Blondes’, ‘How to marry a millionaire’, ‘Niagara’, among others.She was also a savvy political operator, and something so luminous exploded in her that she could turn even scandals into success. She kept herself at center stage even as she lost control. Even six decades after her death, her acclaim is even more commendable and has had a powerful and lasting impact on the world. Her drop-dead gorgeousness was laced with a liberal amount of vulnerability and a palpable sense of innocence. Over time she has evolved into an extremely complex figure owing to the global fascination with her life that has perhaps played the role of divine muse to many artists.There will always be a bizarre obsession with dead celebrities when the circumstances of their untimely demise have the perfect ingredient to curate a convincing conspiracy theory. Was her death a suicide? An accident? A planned murder at the hand of the Kennedys. Six decades later, the exact nature of her demise remains subject to spirited debate. But this is another reason why the pseudonym Marilyn Monroe remains immortally young and alive in the fantasies of the public imagination. Marilyn’s lingering memories are enshrined in a story with endless possibilities, plots, characters and events, that have been reduced to merely flexible and plastic representations. Her films enliven her myth but also remind us of the person she was. Yes, her life was a tragedy, but it was also a triumph – a platinum phantasm.Who was the real Marilyn Monroe? - a story, a motif, a warning bell, or a tantalising mystery better left unsolved.”Monroe epitomised all that was carefree and enjoyable about western pop culture and idealised femininity. She was a key inspiration behind the iconography of some of the most eminent artists; the grace and poise with which she carried herself throughout her entire life have been a profound influence on many celebrities. Even the queen of Pop, Madonna, has famously appropriated Monroe’s look into her own image, as well as Dolly Parton, Gwen Stefani and many other stars have had their Monroe moments. Monroe became a fashion icon due to her unique and irreplaceable aura, imposing an aesthetic code for the red carpet. She was always daring and epitomised glamour with her nonchalant yet bold style. Eleven years after her death, Elton John sang an ode to her: “Your candle burned out long before your legend ever did.” The painting "Colour Her Gone" by Pauline Boty depicts Marilyn Monroe, who fascinated Boty both as an actress and a sex symbol.Who was the real Marilyn Monroe? - a story, a motif, a warning bell, or a tantalising mystery better left unsolved. A young woman lost in the blinding lights of Hollywood, who could never really make her life her own. A candle in the wind whose fumes surpass immortality, whose scent shall never fade. She was the extraordinary waiting and wanting the much ordinary ways of life, and in that, she reflected what every other person ever really wants; to be loved, respected and understood.
–Anushka Singh