I'm the first to admit, there was something about Marilyn. It went beyond beauty; it went beyond charisma. She had something that jumped right off the screen at you. I also believe she had a solid comedic ability as well as the potential to become a dramatic actress. Where I stop loving Marilyn is the point at which we made her into misunderstood, victimized Norma Jean. The commonly-accepted wisdom is that Norma Jean Baker got chewed up by the Hollywood machine. Marilyn herself perpetuated that idea by complaining frequently about her fame and of the expectations that came with it. "An actress is not a machine, but they treat you like a machine," she once said. "A money machine." On another occasion, she said, "Hollywood is a place where they'll pay you a thousand dollars for a kiss and fifty cents for your soul."
I'm puzzled by her naivete. Hollywood is a business after all. Did she think all that fame and money came with no obligations? I would propose that her analogy about Hollywood being a money machine went both ways. Marilyn treated Hollywood as a money machine, and she often chewed it up and spit it out.
I have never cared for the song Candle in the Wind by Elton John and Bernie Taupin. I dislike the representation of Marilyn as some little girl lost character in Hollywood. Maybe I'm wrong. Allow me to pick apart my judgment of her by picking apart the most maudlin of her tributes.
They set you on the treadmill and they made you change your name
As part of Hollywood's starlet-making process, names were changed to fit a persona. Rock Hudson, manly man. Sandra Dee, girl next door. Marilyn Monroe, bombshell. No one made Norma Jean Baker change her name. It was one of the prices of fame and fortune that she was willing to pay. She enthusiastically participated in her Hollywood makeover, including the name change. She chose the name Monroe because it was her mother's maiden name. A studio executive suggested to her that Marilyn flowed nicely with Monroe, and she agreed. You had the grace to hold yourself while those around you crawled
Throughout her career, Marilyn was chronically late for work or absent altogether. When she did show up, she was often strung out on barbiturates or in such an emotional state that she was unable to work. That's not particularly graceful.
I'm not sure who Bernie Taupin and Elton John thought were crawling, but it wasn't Marilyn's minions. They were scrambling to keep her together. When the film Something's Got to Give began filming, Marilyn called in sick the very first day. She had a sinus infection and it kept her absent from the set for a full month. The production schedule had to be reorganized. Other cast members had to abandon their own schedules in order to fill the gaps. It wasn't just this movie, either; this type of behavior hampered almost every film Marilyn made. Again, not graceful.
All the papers had to say was that Marilyn was found in the nude
When she died, the press reports focused on her drug addictions, her marriages, and her troubled final film. There was indeed a comment about her nudity in every report, but so what? Marilyn was comfortable with nudity. For example, Something's Got to Give featured a scene in which she was to appear as though she were swimming nude. She was given a flesh-colored bodysuit to wear, but she took it off immediately. Further, she arranged for photographer Lawrence Schiller to be on set so that he could photograph her nude after filming was done for the day. This was a career move on Marilyn's part. She was 36 years-old (elderly by the Hollywood standard for women then). She hadn't made a movie in over a year. Even worse, Elizabeth Taylor was emerging as the new leading lady in Hollywood. Liz was a double threat. Not only was she beautiful, but she was enormously versatile as a dramatic actress. The public was losing interest in Marilyn and becoming fascinated by Liz. Marilyn needed to do something to divert attention back to herself. She arranged to have Schiller photograph her nude, but only on the condition that any magazine to whom he sold the photos could not feature Elizabeth Taylor anywhere within the pages of that issue.Hollywood created a superstar and pain was the price you paid
The truth is, Hollywood kept up its end of the bargain. A fortune was spent on Marilyn's career. All Hollywood asked is that Marilyn show up on time for work and make the associated publicity circuit. Dozens of other actors of the time were able to comply with the same demands. The pain Marilyn was experiencing--and clearly, she was--was probably due to a childhood that left her feeling undeserving of love. She was a meltdown in the making long before she made her first film. Never knowing who to cling to when the rain set in
As any Hollywood celebrity, Marilyn's life was filled with a lot of users. However, there were plenty of supportive, well-intentioned people, too. Playwright and second husband Arthur Miller, for example, was supportive of Marilyn's desire to become a serious actress. He genuinely believed in her abilities. What derailed their marriage, for the most part, was Marilyn's dependence on alcohol and barbiturates, which only worsened after two heartbreaking miscarriages. Her addictions left Miller feeling angry and helpless. Paula Strasberg, wife of Marilyn's acting coach Lee Strasberg, was a close friend and confidante. During the filming of The Misfits in Reno, Paula had to intervene when she discovered that Marilyn was drunk and naked and riding up and down in the hotel elevators. (No judgment here; that actually sounds like a blast). My point is, though, there were people who cared for Marilyn. They were right there in front of her.
Whoa. Don't sugar coat it, tell us what you really think. LOL. I think you make a lot of fair points about Marilyn's off-screen behavior. I also think that the Elton John song reflected mostly on her vulnerability and whether that vulnerability was more actually hers or rather that of the on-screen persona that made her so fascinating is debatable. As for us holding celebrities accountable, we've done that when exactly? And, is that your real argument against her? Or are you arguing whether she deserved her fame? I ask, because, speaking strictly for me, I'd say, even taking into account the "mystique" that gets heaped upon someone when they die young (as with her, James Dean, Jim Morrison, and others), I think she was pretty darn dazzling, and certainly one of a kind. She was a totally unique product of America and impossible to ignore. How much better does she have to be?
ReplyDeleteWe do hold celebrities accountable, more now than in the past. For example, Lindsay Lohan, Anna Nicole Smith, Courtney Love. I'm sure there are others I'm forgetting. My point is, we don't hold Marilyn accountable for her substance abuse or the resulting behavior because she was so dazzling. We've made her into a victim.
ReplyDeleteDo I think she deserved her fame? Yes, most certainly. She had star quality and heaps of it. She was also a pretty solid actress.
What angers me about Marilyn is that we tend to blame Hollywood for her frailty and I don't think that's fair. She had a horrific childhood; thus, she was a wreck before she ever got to Hollywood. I do feel very, very sorry for her that as a child, no one seems to have cared about her at all. She spent the rest of her life looking for validation.
Upon re-reading, my words do sound harsh. I had just read yet another article about Marilyn as the victim of the mean Hollywood people and I was annoyed. I do believe she was one of a kind and she's a national treasure. However, I think we need to see her as who she really was, not as we wish her to be.