Immortality of Art

Cyn Rene' Whitfield

This is the 50^th anniversary of Marilyn Monroe's death. I wonder what her beauty would have transpired to at the age of 86. Today, more than any other day I am channeling her troubled energy. I wonder what her beauty would have looked like at the age of 55. Norma Jeane Mortenson’s troubled childhood as a ward of the county of Los Angeles shuffled between 11 homes and a mother who was committed to a psychiatric hospital was beginning to manifest to what later would be an outlet and escape as Marilyn Monroe. Not unlike Norma Jean at a young age when reunited with her mother they admired, like I, the star power of concrete impressions at Grauman’s Chinese Theater.  I have placed my hands where hers were placed celebrating Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) where she was paid 10 times less than her female co-star Jane Russell. I have walked where she walked at the Coronado de Hotel filming Some Like It Hot (1959) considered by many to be her best romantic comedy. Some Like It Hot received a "C" (Condemned) rating from the National Legion of Decency (formerly the Catholic Legion of Decency).  But this distinction was in good company alongside the Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho (1960). Some Like It Hot won the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture yet sadly her flame went out three years later.

Marylyn’s complexity was little known as she owned and read over 200 books, listened to Beethoven records, took literature classes at UCLA and admired the late 18^th century Spanish artist Francisco de Goya. Her enlightenment included  Anthroposophy until she converted to Judaism entering her marriage to distinguished playwright, Arthur Miller. She was a smart mind trapped by a troubled soul who underwent psychoanalysis to learn more about herself.  She wanted serious acting to replace the sexpot image enabled by studio contracts with 20th Century Fox studios, and studio head, Darryl Zanuck, who continued to cast her in stereo-typical roles of the dumb-blonde.  Not unlike Elvis who strived for a better showcase of his talents, Marilyn studied to receive the respect she so craved. She wanted serious acting and respect by attending New York's Actors Studio leaning heavily on acting coach Paula Strasberg, second wife of the great film Director, Lee Strasberg. She wanted her own voice. Like any artist Marilyn wanted the control so she formed her own production company Marilyn Monroe Productions which produced The Prince and the Showgirl (1957). But sadly something had to give.

Perhaps the medium she chose was the wrong one ignited by the feeling she got when she posed for the Blue Book Agency. She loved being in front of the camera and the likes of photographer Tom Kelly who paid Marilyn (Mona Monroe) $50 for the famous pin-up picture and Playboy publisher Hugh Hefner who later bought that picture from Kelly for $500 agreed. Hefner was so enamored by Marilyn he bought the burial vault next to hers in 1992 for $78,000. Named “The Most Advertised Girl in the World” by the Advertising Association in 1953 her licensing rights were sold for $30 million in 2011. The success of Niagara (1953) wasn’t Marilyn’s first firm but certainly her most acclaimed as reviews calling her out as more than one of the Seven Wonders of the World.  She was notoriously known for retakes and late arrivals. During the filming of Let’s Make Love (1960) Marilyn’s no-shows added 28 days to the shooting time and $1 million to the budget.  Why? Because she was perfectionist. Strasberg has stated that she was theater trained not film trained. The stage is where she belonged. She took advantage of the retake because she could. Marylyn’s own admission said she was most at home on the stage performing for the troops in Korea, 10 shows in two days interrupting her honeymoon with Joe DiMaggio, was instant gratification that fed her talent. She got nothing more than criticism with film directors who guided her down a path of insecurity. On stage she could embrace the response.

Marilyn wanted to feel good about herself but seldom did. She brought joy and warmth and laughter to many but seldom felt its return throughout her short lifetime. Adored by millions, considered the world’s most desirable woman, and fighting the veil of loneliness of several miscarriages and failed marriages Marilyn was successful in a career where theater is a steady diet of rejection despite the celebrity and glamour yet her art was the only thing she could cling to. She evoked emotion and praise by others yet not in herself.   What is left behind are many markings that tell us that Marilynn Monroe passed by here. Marilyn found iconic attention she so craved posthumously as probably the most celebrated actresses of all time, certainly the most recognizable. How sad that we remember the controversy of how she died rather than the contributions she made in how she lived but, how grateful we are to have the immortality of her art on film. How sad that what is immortalized is limited by the control imposed upon her by others in her art rather than the maturity it could have been had she lived.