people only see her beauty, but ignore her mind.
In a dark hotel corridor, two tall agents pulled Monroe's arms, her feet were almost completely off the ground, unable to control her body, and helplessness, fear and tears flowed on her face. She was dragged into the room of the then-US President Kennedy . The scene of
appears in the new film "Blonde Monroe" which was launched recently. It is adapted from the fictional novel by American writer Joyce Carol Oates . In the whole movie, Monroe appears almost in this state, and her pain and tears are infinitely amplified by the camera. The movie almost completely ignores Monroe's career, but instead focuses on her emotional life in a straightforward and explicit manner, and through a large number of fictional plots, it shapes Monroe into a poor woman trapped in an emotional swamp.
This is obviously a dwarf of Monroe, greatly underestimating her charm as an actor and her unique position in pop culture. Monroe is not just a female star, but a cultural marker of an era.
"There were only two kinds of women in the 1960s, Jacqueline Kennedy and Marilyn Monroe ." The former was the first lady of the United States at that time, dignified and elegant; the latter was a hot big star, sexy and beautiful. This sentence in the American drama " Mad Men " shows the symbolic meaning of Monroe.
At the same time, Monroe's influence was not limited to the 1960s. This year marks the 60th anniversary of her death, but she seems to have never left.
In 1964, artist Andy Warhol created the portrait painting "Shooting Marilyn" for Monroe. In May this year, the painting was auctioned for US$195 million (about RMB 1.312 billion), becoming the most expensive 20th century artwork in auction history.
● "Shooting Marilyn"
In May this year, Kim Kardashian appeared at the fashion event Met Gala in Monroe's antique dress. The social network started a war of words about "whether Kardashian broke Monroe's skirt."
● In "Blonde Monroe", the big head photo of Monroe played by Anna de Armas is printed on mugs, cultural shirts , postcards ; she appears in paintings, books, and films and TV series; the clothes she wears and the jewelry she wears become exhibits treasured in museums; there are always female stars imitating her classic looks in fashion magazines.
She is like a little girl who can be dressed up, and everyone has their own Monroe in their hearts.
Maybe no one knows what the real Monroe is like, but at least one thing is certain, she is definitely not just a sexy beauty.
"I will be very smart when it is important,
But most men don't like it."
When it comes to Monroe, most people's first impression may be the photo of the flying skirt. This photo was taken on the set of " Seven Years Itch ". The wind in the underground road in New York blew up Monroe's white skirt. She bent down slightly, pressed her skirt with her hands, and had an iconic smile on her face.
In this photo, Monroe's sexy is clear at a glance.
When we talk about Monroe, sexy is an unavoidable word. Her curly blonde hair, slightly blurred eyes, lazy accent, concave and convex figure, and innocent and mysterious temperament, bring together to form people's definition of the word sexy.
Monroe's sexy is not only retained in these widely circulated photos, but also permanently preserved through movies.
In Monroe's few movies, she almost without exception plays the role of a sexy blonde, although Monroe's blonde hair is actually dyed after all.With her sexy side, she is also labeled as "brainless". The blonde beauty she plays is always simple and even clumsy. " Hot as Fire " directly uses the mouth of the character to make her say "Maybe I'm just a little stupid."
● Monroe in "Feeling as Fire"
is consistent with her role. Most people have a similar impression of Monroe, treating her as a female star who is not smart enough but beautiful enough. The body is regarded as Monroe's greatest capital and even her full source of charm.
Unfortunately, this stereotype has been strengthened over and over again in the various legends about Monroe. In the latest "Blonde Monroe", the camera is once again aimed at her body only.
movie hinted that Monroe's first important role in her career was exchanged for her acceptance of unspoken rules. The director even spent a lot of effort to reproduce the moment her skirt was blown up, and 360 degrees without blind spots under her skirt to the audience in the 21st century. In one uncontrollable and unnecessary nude shot after another, the film blows another wind towards Monroe’s skirt.
In fact, from an unknown female factory worker to a well-known big star, Monroe has never been a fool. When filming " Gentleman Loves Beauty ", she suggested adding a classic line: "I will be very smart when it is important, but most men don't like it." The sentence
is also largely Monroe's voice.
Monro once said this, "If you are born with a sexy sensuality that is praised by the world, you either let it ruin you or make good use of it to gain a foothold in the cruel entertainment industry, and choosing the right path is not easy."
She clearly knows her strengths and knows how to use beauty to achieve success in her career. At the same time, she was sober enough and was alert to her malicious eyes.
In 1953, Monroe published an open letter "The Hungry Wolves I Know" in a magazine, counting the sexual harassment she had encountered along the way. Among these "hungry wolves", there are strangers on the street, rich married old men, and composers and screenwriters of Hollywood . Monroe wrote: "Girls from all walks of life need to be careful, but in Hollywood, we have to redouble our efforts to defeat the hungry wolf. Because all kinds of hungry wolf come from all directions and want to trap the 'Little Red Riding Hood' in the movie." In the letter
, Monroe also mentioned an impressive conversation. A man who once tried to get close to her felt that she was not "interesting" enough and said to her, "I don't like smart girls." Monroe hit back: "This is the best compliment I have received."
Monroe's mind is more directly reflected in her career planning. In the early 1950s, Monroe became popular quickly through films such as " Wish to marry a rich man " and "Gentleman Loves Beauty". Studio Fox took advantage of the opportunity to arrange more sexy and brainless blonde roles for her, but she quickly felt tired.
She doesn't want to be regarded as just a sexy symbol, she wants to be a serious actor. She worked hard to adapt the classic work "Nana" by French writer Zola into a movie, but Fox was dissatisfied with her "rebellion" and the two sides quickly confronted each other.
At that time, her contract was completely controlled by the studio, and the status between her and the studio was very different. But she resolutely rejected the bad script handed to her by the studio, and wrote a big "trash" on the script and returned it to the studio. She came to New York and studied method and acting in the famous actor studio with Marlon Brando and then set up her own production company to become the second woman in Hollywood history to do so.
, and the studio once said that she wanted to "make her no longer get a job in this industry", claiming that they could easily find a bunch of girls like Monroe. But it is obvious that Monroe is irreplaceable, and the studio finally compromised.In 1955, the two sides reconciled, and Monroe gained a higher voice, and she could choose a script, a director, or even a photographer. To some extent, Monroe made history, Time praised her as a smart business woman, and The Los Angeles Mirror called the victory "one of the greatest wins an actress has ever seen."
Monroe is never stupid. She likes to read, and it is said that there is always a book in her car. When she died, she owned a small library with more than 400 books. The list of books contains many large-scale world-class works, from " Ulysses " by Joyce to " Karamazov Brothers " by Dostoevsky .
● Monroe's bookshelf
She once held a press conference to plan to bring "Brothers Karamazov" to the screen. The reporter at the scene asked her contemptuously, "Marilyn, do you know how to spell Dostoevsky?" She replied with a smile: "Actually, have you read this book? There is a great character called Gruschenka, which will be a good character for me."
However, most people often, like this arrogant reporter, only see Monroe's beauty, but ignore her mind. When people discuss Dostoevsky, Marilyn Monroe doesn’t think of it; but when Kim Kardashian appears on the red carpet in a vintage dress of Monroe, people immediately start discussing Monroe and her dress. Her name is tied to her delicate dress and graceful figure, but at least, we need to know that she is much more than that.
● Kardashian appeared in a Monroe antique dress this May. Met Gala
"Diamond is a girl's best friend"
"Diamond is a girl's best friend".
This is almost one of Monroe's most classic lines. At the opening of "The Gentleman Loves Beauty", Monroe wore a pink close-fitting long skirt and dazzling jewelry, surrounded by a group of men in suits and ties. She waved the fan in her hand lightly and neatly, and Niao Niao sang this sentence: "The French are happy to die for love, they like duels; but I prefer a living man to give me expensive jewelry. kissing gift may be very European, but diamonds are a girl's best friend."
●6 The scene of Monroe in "Gentleman Loves Beauty" has always remained in film history and has been paid tribute to future generations. In his MV, Madonna paid tribute to it in Nicole Kidman in the movie " Moulin Rouge ". Although the director of the film intends to satirize materialism in exaggerated form, it also directly binds Monroe's image with "money worship".
This straightforward and eagerly longing for diamonds is deeply imprinted in everyone's mind. In the unshakable collective impression, Monroe has become the embodiment of material desire. When we see Monroe, we see the prevalence of consumerism and the undisguised desire of a girl.
also because of this public image. When Truman Capote's famous novel "Breakfast of Tiffany" will be brought to the big screen, his first choice is Marilyn Monroe. This novel tells the story of a country girl named Hawley, who is unwilling to be poor. She came to New York alone at the age of 15, plunged into the upper class with a chaotic and charming eye, and became a high-level escort girl wandering among men of all kinds.
The character and Monroe both have an unfortunate childhood and vigorous ambitions. Monroe was raised by her mother since she was a child. After her mother was sent to a mental hospital when she was young, she could only grow up in an orphanage, and when she grew up, she traveled alone in Hollywood. However, conservative studios tend to transform this ambitious country girl into a naive Cinderella, and the character ended up falling into Audrey Hepburn .
Ironically, Monroe lost this role because she didn't look pure enough, but in real life, the public subconsciously hopes to see some less pure female stars, and Monroe's existence satisfies this subconscious. When she sang "Diamond is a girl's best friend" on the big screen, "Market worship" and "Degenerate" were stuck on her at the same time.
From screen image to private life, Monroe's image greatly satisfys the public's desire to peek at. People take it for granted that she is passionate about gorgeous jewelry and expensive fashion, and looks at her emotional life with a magnifying glass, and various conspiracy theories about power and eroticism follow when she sang the famous "Happy Birthday, Mr. President" at Kennedy's birthday party. Monroe's private life with her has become a "commodity" in popular culture.
● 65th Cannes Film Festival takes photos of Monroe blowing candles as a poster
"Blonde Monroe" presenting Monroe's private life is deepening this cruel imagination.
Although in real life, there is no evidence to prove that there is a sexual relationship between Monroe and Kennedy, the film explicitly presents the sexual scene between the two and places Monroe's death directly behind the relationship. Such a narrative seems to be repeating an old Hollywood-style dogma: when a female star sings "Happy Birthday" to the president in public, people take it for granted that they have an injustice; when the director thinks she is too shallow and not self-love, he portrays her as a "learning from the past" and punishes her with death.
However, Monroe in real life is very different from this imagination. She cares about money, but she does not worship money; her emotional life has gone through many ups and downs, but it is by no means degenerate.
When faced with money, Monroe's attitude was more open-minded.
When she first entered Hollywood, she took nude photos due to livelihood issues. After becoming popular, this past was revealed. She responded that she was penniless at the time and could not afford a meal. There were only two choices in front of her: a rich married old man claimed to use money to exchange for her short "companiment". A photographer suggested that she take nude photos, pay her a commission, and promised that her wife would also be on the shooting site. She chose the latter because she thought it was safer to take nude photos than to "accompany" the old man.
● Monro's last work " on the verge of collapse " Stills
After becoming famous, Monroe was squeezed by the studio again. Although she quickly became a box office guarantee, the studio did not pay her what she deserved, and when she filmed "Gentleman Loves Beauty", she was paid $500 per week, while actress Jane Russell, who co-starred with her, was paid $200,000. Monroe therefore fought a long-term struggle with the studio, and eventually, through legal means, the studio increased Monroe's pay to $100,000 per film.
From these two examples, Monroe believed in the principle of using work for rewards. When she is treated unfairly in money, she will bravely resist; and when she is tempted by "get it for nothing", she will decisively choose to refuse.
And emotionally, for Monroe, the more appropriate keyword may be love and tragedy.
After she became famous, she had two well-known marriages. The first marriage was with baseball player Joe DiMaggio. Monroe once described "the way he treated me made me feel special", but this marriage soon encountered problems. Jody does not support Monroe's career and hopes that she can focus on family life. Monroe is unwilling to do so. The famous photo of the white dress also made Jody very dissatisfied. Monroe even suspected of having suffered domestic violence. The marriage soon ended with a divorce.
From 1956, Monroe fell in love with the well-known writer Arthur Miller in New York. The two quickly got married. Monroe once said, "This is the first time I really fell in love."But the marriage was not going well. Monroe suffered several miscarriages and found in Miller's diary that he had been "disappointed" with himself and sometimes felt embarrassed by himself in front of his friends.
● Monro and Arthur Miller
Miller's children once described their marriage in this way, "She is a rose, and he should be that gardener, but the reality is that he is also a rose, and he needs his own gardener." A marriage may not be able to tolerate two roses. In 1961, the two ended this marriage. 19 months later, Monroe died in Los Angeles due to excessive medication at the age of 36.
In Monroe's short ten years of career, she has not starred in many movies, but it has left a deep mark in the hearts of the audience. She is certainly a sexy stunner, but she is far from just a sexy stunner. She is smart and enthusiastic, she is rich and successful, her life is multifaceted, with happiness and highlights, tragedy and troughs. Today, 60 years after Monroe's death, when we revisit her, we need to know that before all the labels and stereotypes, she is a real person first.
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