Oh, Marilyn!

“Do I Look happy?  I should – for I was a child nobody wanted.  A lonely girl with a dream – who awakened to find that dream come true.  I am Marilyn Monroe.  Read my Cinderella story.”

Jean Harlow.  She was Marilyn’s Marilyn: her inspiration, and the stimulation of her passion for the cinema.  Harlow was the idol of the time and she awed everyone surrounding Monroe.   So Marilyn set her sights early on.  She got married very young so as not to return to foster care, however her spouse enlisted with the war efforts and she divorced him upon his return.  During this time, she was considering having children and becoming a housewife.  Instead, she signed with Blue Book Modeling Agency and bleached her hair blonde.  She began experimenting with countless names, none of which she liked.   A short list of her aliases and married names can be found below.

After being discovered by Twentieth Century-Fox, she started developing the look that would later be known as trademark and adopted the name Marilyn Monroe.  She mainly played as an extra, having only silent background roles.  She then signed with Columbia and her overbite was corrected.  She returned to modeling after acting roles became scarce.

For the only time in her life, Marilyn posed nude for pay.  The release was signed “Mona Monroe” and these pictures later resurfaced; scandal was not far behind.  However, Monroe handled the situation with grace and class, explaining her need as a struggling actress to pay her rent.  She signed again with 20^th Century-Fox for seven more years after being discovered once more.  She then had a slight bump removed from her nose and started making appearances at the Academy Awards (presenter) and magazine covers (in GTech wear supporting women’s rights to enroll and multiple magazines covering her life story in a sympathetic light).  She started dating famous baseball player Joe DiMaggio and overall became very popular in the limelight.  Hugh Hefner used a picture of her in the previously mentioned extremely low-cut dress on Playboys first cover, with a picture inside from her earlier nude shoot in 1949.  (Although Hefner had never met the young starlet, he has reserved the crypt next to Monroe's as his resting place, attributing his magazine's success to its first issue).

Marilyn was one that took risks.  She wore controversial clothing: skintight with plunging necklines.  She posed for nude photos at the beginning of her career.  She bleached her hair in a second and revolutionized the “dumb blonde” persona.  She was a risk-taker that knew the odds before she played the game.  She conquered the industry in a way that granted her a ridiculous amount of power.  For example, when discussing her third (and final) contract with 20^th Century-Fox, she was able to on her terms after Seven Year Itch.  She demanded the right to reject any script, director, or co-star, as well as investments and shares to newly founded Marilyn Monroe Production Company.

Ms. Marilyn Monroe died so young, at the age of 36.  She was just reaching the peak of her career, or at least the highest it had been yet.  She had multiple films lined up, with a 10-year contract overseas.  All deals were again negotiated on her terms; she had become very powerful.  The world lost one of its brightest shining stars.  Monroe never stopped standing up for unity and kinship throughout the diversity in America, and even begged an interviewer to include a closing quote telling her of belief in brotherhood between all people.

After her death, Marilyn Monroe continues to influence the entertainment industry to this day, as many would love to fall into her footsteps and conquer the world as she did.  But it did not come easy to her, and she knew nothing but a life of struggle and loneliness.  Largely unknown, Marilyn (born Norma Jeane) was raised in multiple foster homes, with a mentally ill mother continuously reappearing and trying to kidnap her.  She was harassed and assaulted in multiple familiar homes, and was finally declared a ward of the state and married young so as to not be sent back to foster care.  She conquered more obstacles in her early years than most people come across in a lifetime.  And throughout the remainder of her years, she refused to give up on the entertainment industry.  She sat through bad years along with the good ones, and she never stopped putting her all into her roles.

Monroe is highly regarded as one of America’s most popular sex icons.  She is considered the sixth greatest female star of all time by the American Film Institute, as well as first in Sexiest Women of All Time.  Her image is still widely distributed (via posters, clothing, make-up, jewelry, collectibles, calendars, Instagram, film, inspirational quotes, etc.) and her look is largely emulated (Anna Nicole, Madonna, Christina Aguilera, Gwen Stefani, Michelle Williams, Lindsay Lohan, Nicole Kidman, Rachel McAdams, Paris Hilton, Pamela Anderson, Taylor Swift, Katherine McPhee, Megan Hilty, Kelly Osbourne, Lady Gaga, Scarlett Johansson, Blake Lively, etc.).  As far as the world is concerned, there is only one true Marilyn Monroe.  This is further proved with every new sexy, fiery, seductive actress that surfaces but never surpasses this Pioneer of Beauty.

Some names and aliases used by Ms. Monroe:

Norma Jeane Mortenson (she never knew her father but was born under his misspelled name)

Norma Jeane Baker (her mother immediately changed Marilyn's legal name to match her own)

Norma Jeane Dougherty (name change after first marriage)

Norma Jeane DiMaggio (name change after second marriage)

Norma Jeane Monroe (she followed Harlow's lead in taking her mother's maiden name Monroe)

Norma Monroe

Jeane Monroe (several varieties using "Monroe" were tried &trashed before she was satisfied)

Marilyn Monroe (the name Marilyn was suggested due to her resemblance to Marilyn Miller)

Mona Monroe (she used this name on the release form when shooting the nude series)

Marilyn Monroe Miller (name change after third/final marriage)

Be the Change

If you want to make the world a better place, then be the change you want to see in it. This is the most simplest of advice that all of us have heard our entire lives.  However, it is the most effective and the more daring of methods, and so not enough of us instill this wisdom in our practices.

It might be that girl, the one you’re looking at.  She’s that model in the magazine and she is everything a girl would want to be.  But the world doesn’t know that she might have an eating disorder or be addicted to any kind of drug.  She is such a good actress that no one suspects a thing, and she makes both vices look cool to everyone around her.  However, the perfume in the ad smells even sweeter because she is selling it.  You’d never guess that your fantasy girl might have problems herself.  One day it’ll be too late, because everyone around her refuses to notice or intervene.

Or maybe it’s the actor on the big screen.  He can’t distinguish real relationships from fake ones and so he is depressed.  He abuses alcohol on a regular basis.  But it makes everything better for him, and he is able to smile on camera.  Perhaps he suffers from a recent accident, or perhaps a parasitic cancer is consuming his body.  But he finds a way to numb the pain and do what he loves.  It puts pep in his step and a twinkle in his eye.  And people idolize him.  He keeps it a secret until he can’t conceal it anymore.

It’s probably the song you can’t get enough of on the radio.  Did you know the songwriter committed suicide a month after her song hit the charts?  She found the passion to write after she was recently attacked and raped.  She experimented dangerously with drugs and ODed three times in a week before the fourth attempt took her.  She tried to cry out to the world through another voice, and still no reply came that would save her.  The artist now sings the song with so much emotion and honor, it is hard not to believe it is not her own and no one remembers the pain of the songwriter.

These are popular themes in all types of work, the entertainment industry included.  However if we take Michael’s advice, the world would be better instantly.  For example, I work out instead of eating too little, I prefer to use raw/minimally-edited photos, and I strive to lift others up along with me, rather than isolating myself from inspirational talent.  Be the change you want to see in the world and lead by example.  Make an impression that lasts a lifetime and put your efforts toward that which matters.  How can you make a change?  Go out of your way to throw that energy into the universe and see what you reap.  Maybe it’s eating better, not smoking, saving money, being more considerate or humble, recycling, etc.  Whatever you choose to pass forward, good luck and stay true!