“One of the most unappreciated people in the world.”
– Joshua Logan on Marilyn Monroe
“Imperfection is beauty, madness is genius and it’s better to be
absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring.” – Marilyn Monroe
“Will the wind ever remember / the names it has blown in the past?”
– Jimi Hendrix, “The Wind Cries Mary”
There’s something about Marilyn that can bring tears to the eyes like no other actress can do, and that fact does not arise from any one movie she made, whether good or bad, unless it’s The Misfits, her last, in which she is truly brilliant as a performer; she flowers and blooms into a new “her” in that film, especially in a few scenes.
In one of these scenes, she suddenly floats away from the drinking group she’s been partying with, all of whom are now drunk, herself included; she goes over as if lost and separated from the rest of humanity forever, then hugs a tree while looking up into the sky; if I remember correctly (which isn’t the point), that scene was not written into the script by her estranged husband, Arthur Miller; instead, she invented it; the scene lives in my memory as if it were something I’d witnessed in real life, not just in a film; the eternal loneliness of human life here on Planet Earth is captured in this simple black-and-white scene so effortlessly, and so completely, that this is an artistic moment which can stand beside any of the great artistic moments of the twentieth century: Picasso’s drawing of Jesus’ face with the crown of thorns; the ending of Hemingway’s novel A Farewell to Arms; the song “If You See Her, Say Hello” by Bob Dylan; “The Wind Cries Mary” by Jimi Hendrix are comparable minimalist artistic moments of and for forever which also capture, like Marilyn’s movements with the sky and the tree, our condition of babes who have been forced from our mother’s wombs and then wrenched from her arms into a world which doesn’t love us like she did, and will never love us like she did, no matter who we are, until the end.
For me, Marilyn Monroe’s greatest creation will always be MARILYN MONROE, most famous American female (woman or girl) of all time; like John Wayne in this regard, she’s an American character who can truly be found in the full effect of her presence in and on the culture at large, and not in any one single Hollywood movie she made or didn’t make.
And yet she was a great actress, too. Her underrated performances in Bus Stop and Niagra, as well as The Misfits and perhaps a few others, are proof enough of that. James Dean only made three movies; Marlon Brando appeared in Apocalypse Now for fifteen minutes; Orson Welles’ reputation to this day rests predominantly on a single film (which isn’t his best one) plus a few other things; Leonardo da Vinci only completed eleven or twelve major paintings in his entire life.
Leonardo only completed a handful of paintings, but, of course, these include the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper. In the same way, Marilyn Monroe was an artist who often appeared in her films in a minor role; a minor role as regards the time which she appeared on screen, and yet she stole away any film she ever appeared in, especially now, over sixty years after her passing, when she remains, hands down, the most famous American female of all time.
And I think it can be rightly said of her, as was once said by Elton John and Bernie Taupin: “Goodbye Norman Jean / while I never knew you at all / you had the grace to hold yourself / while those around you crawled…/ Goodbye Norma Jean, from the young man in the twenty-second row / who sees you as something more than sexual / more than just our Marilyn Monroe…”
She was, indeed, amazingly sexy but other aspects of her character shine through just as, or more, strongly, especially IF you’re paying attention.
Many sources have discussed how she was a great reader, and had an inborn ability to understand great poetry, including difficult verses by the likes of William Butler Yeats and T.S. Eliot. Ulysses, by James Joyce, was one of her favorite novels, and she very deeply identified with one of the novel’s three great protagonists, Molly Bloom. Marilyn had longstanding plans to bring Molly to life on stage or screen, or both; it would have happened had she lived longer, but we can imagine Marilyn as Molly very easily if we try to; on that level, the fact that she wanted to do this and made it known is more than enough. She never had a chance to fail at this; the dream in our minds is often the best art there is.
Marilyn was the type of woman many other beautiful women resemble, even if they don’t look like her – because her beauty has mostly to do with her spirit. She’s at her most beautiful with uncombed hair and no make-up (there’s film of this).
Edward Lear, the great Shakespearean nonsense poet who did much to popularize the limerick (his weren’t obscene, though they sometimes danced around the edges of this), had two mothers, one a 25-years-older-than-him sister who acted very much like his mother until her death when he was 50; the other his biological mother, who abandoned Lear to his sister for two reasons: one, he was her twentieth child; two, pressing financial considerations and lack of money. This fact of both having and not having a mother surely influenced Lear’s comic, sometimes despairing sense of an absurd world. In the same way, Marilyn, who both did and did not have a mother, turned into a comedian who suffered from melancholia, deep, in her bones. In many ways, she can be seen as the most beautiful orphan who ever lived, especially when she represents the rest of us orphans.
She was a great comedian who lived the tragic side of life – an unbeatable combination for an artist, which even makes her Shakespearean on that level, and is also surely one of the reasons she’s still so popular among young people, too.
She died at the Christological age, which is either 33 or 36 (Marilyn and Bob Marley were both 36).
“I restore myself when I’m alone,” she said, and she died very much alone, because she both did and did not want to be alone. She also said, “Fear is stupid. So are regrets.”
For the most part, she lived life in a fearless way, dancing on the edge of the abyss.
Few people have ever combined Loneliness and Life-affirming as powerfully in the same body. I don’t know why, but she reminds me of my own mother.
(This is where the tears come from.)
Image: A colourful display of dried leaves, flowers and seeds from pixabab.com
literally stories 
Dale
I read interviews with Marilyn in which she expressed some regret for allowing herself to become a sex symbol. She could act, had wit (saying the “radio was on” regarding a pin up) and was a first rate comic. It is clear she drifted from father figure to father figure and that it never worked out. That’s what you get when children are treated the same as unwanted animals. I certainly do not blame her for the brilliant persona she created and was trapped by. I have a feeling she knew she was not long for the game.
Another fine essay, with depth and compassion for the subject.
Leila
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Leila
Joan C and MM had amazingly similar childhoods. One wonders why Joan survived twice the length of Marilyn and became such a clearly strong and untroubled (on one level) woman. And they both boozed and smoked about the same amount, which was huge. Anyway, I don’t believe Marilyn was murdered by the Kennedys like Norman Mailer said she was, and I also don’t believe she committed suicide. I believe she got too exhausted from overwork, was trying to hole up to get over it, and accidentally took too many pills combined with too much booze. So I guess that was probably what did it. She had three kinds of alcohol and three kinds of pills in her system when she died and I believe it was self-destruction addiction, not deliberate suicide.
I became obsessed with Marilyn long before I ever saw any of her movies. It was from the still photos of her. And it was, and is, HER EYES that have always fascinated me most (by far).
Dale
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Hi Dale
The cliche’ just another pretty face, isn’t the case with Marilyn.
“The Misfits,” is a classic criticism of society. I didn’t know that was M.M.’s last film. Wow what a good one to flee the glitz into a brighter light.
Eli Wallach, the bomber pilot, talking about, bombing people and puppy dogs over Germany. That line never really left me. Gave me a whole new view of war. That’s what art does.
I love, “The Wind Cries Mary,” a beautiful composition. Slow and haunting and I was drunk or going to get drunk. Or maybe taking a break listening to the wind before it passed.
The paragraph you wrote about her in this lonely moment with the tree is truly poignant on many levels and visual–makes me want to watch the movie again just to see this. Clark Gable was coming to the end too.
I think she would have transitioned beyond a total sex symbol, probably never really losing that, into more and more roles like in The Misfits. What a great title. Drunks, dreamers, and schemers make for a great drama.
When you listen to the lines of some of Elton John’s songs they are edgy. I get lost in Elton John’s voice but the lyrics are thick with cynicism and truth.
This is a powerful essay, beautifully written! Brings out a lot of emotion and shows Marilyn the person, and great artist.
Christopher
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CJA
What a great description of THE MISFITS you’ve given here. It is a great movie. Gable died before it was released and MM passed on a year after. It has a lot of uncanny moments if one is paying attention. Absolutely unpredictable and surprising. Probably one of the most literary American movies ever. I can no longer stand to watch anything when I know how it will end before it begins (which is almost all movies). I would say “LOL” but it’s more like “boo hoo,” how sad it is.
Another reason for its greatness is the director and the screenwriter. John Huston is not too shabby and Arthur Miller, while he can’t truly compete with Sam Shepard or Tennessee Williams (at all), is pretty darn good as a dramatist, too.
I saw Dustin Hoffman in Miller’s DEATH OF A SALESMAN in Chicago in the 1980s. I remember the whole thing from beginning to end (it seems). (Not word for word but the arc of the piece.)
Gable died two days after filming ended (of a heart attack. Six packs of Camels per day and daily, heavy boozing. Ouch.).
The horses in THE MISFITS are also so beautiful!
DWB
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Hi Dale
Great move The Misfits. It was a stunning film that I have only seen once. Eli Wallach always comes across as sinister.
Movies are definitely not what they used to be. It sounds like age talking, but now it’s a bunch of Marvel comics–sick of those.
It must have been amazing watching D. Hoffman in that play! John Malk. is in the movie or theatre production.
Sad about Clark G–talk about a smokehouse!
Yes the horses were part of their scheme, and beauties. Wild mustangs is there any other creature that represents freedom like they do? besides Eagles.
John Huston was a great director. His father Walter in “The Treasure of the Sierra Madres.” was terrific. J Huston in Chinatown played his role of power broker/slash incestuous monster to a T!
The Misfits with its stark reality reminds me of “Only the Brave.” And “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf.” Richard Burton and E. Taylor , they were incredible! as drunks. Those three movies around the same time changed cinema from Doris Day to something like “dirty realism” that they labeled Carver. Which he didn’t like.
Christopher
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CJA
Don’t know if you’ve ever seen the movie SHORT CUTS, directed by Robert Altman (another great director). Came out in 1993 and has a ton of good actors in it, including Tom Waits and Julianne Moore. It’s directly based on Raymond Carver short stories and one poem (Altman did the script with a co-writer) with the setting moved to southern California.
I haven’t seen it since it came out in theaters (to say the least we smoked and drank heavily before and after) but I remember liking it a ton at the time. To this day, I would think it’s still a good film to watch for analytical purposes if nothing else.
Back around the same time, I also saw an adaptation of Carver’s stories on the stage in the little theater scene of Chicago. It only had two characters as opposed to the massive cast in the film, a woman and a man. To say the least, we smoked and drank a ton before, during, and after the production since the stage was located in the back of a bar in Lincoln Park.
WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF is an intense film! Cleopatra does a great job in that film and Burton himself is not too shabby. I’m sure the effect of drunkenness was enhanced by the fact that they were both drunk: SPECTACULARLY.
DWB
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Hi DWB
Short Cuts sounds like it would be right down my alley. Anything about Carver’s work would draw me.
It must have been great to watch all of these plays in Chicago! This is where the big city really does offer a culture that is hard to find in the sticks. lol.
Burton and E. Taylor definitely had the scathing drunk character down to a T. I’m not surprised that they were loaded. E. Taylor was one steamy beautiful broad.
I just found “The Junky’s Christmas” after reading today’s comments on The Springs. Looking for some inspiration to write. I wrote a sort of bizarre Christmas story but I don;t know it its any good.
CJA
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PS That was really interesting what you wrote yesterday about writing poetry. The why for the words. The mumbling and awkward rhythms are things the ordinary person does not know. At least this ordinary half crazy person, lol.
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Apart from her beauty and, ultimately, acting ability, I never understood what all the fuss about MM was about. After reading this essay, I do.
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David
I know otherwise intelligent and functional adults who can never change their minds about anything (or at least can never admit it). “Set in their ways” is an idiomatic phrase that nails it.
But being able to change one’s mind is a sign of even greater intelligence, not to mention a much stronger personality.
Thanks for letting me know the effect this essay produced in you.
The real feel wind chill temp where I am right now in Illinois (Berwyn) is ten below F!
Dale
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Hi Dale,
I’ve always thought of MM as an enigma. Was she what was seen or was she what she wanted to be seen?? She was in one of my most favourite films, ‘Some Like it Hot’ and I reckon her and Jack Lemon blew Tony Curtis out the water. His Carey Grant impression did nothing for me!!
I read that it was a photographer who advised her to go blonde. That was ironic…Or the opposite as that lady did make love to the camera. (Same as Bogart and Cagney)
Brilliant review as always.
All the very best my fine friend.
Hugh
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Hugh
Yes. Enigma is a great word for her. There was and is something mysterious there which goes a lot deeper than the usual unbelievably gorgeous Hollywood starlet. It had to do with the depth of the humanity behind the act (visible in her eyes). She had a burning desire to “be somebody” in a world that had tried to ignore her (and then pigeonhole her). The early exit from the stage froze her in a phase of becoming and “what might have been” is just as important as what was.
Dale
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Another great essay from you Dale, told with expertise and affection. I love how you juxtapose Marilyn with the likes of Picasso, Hemingway, Hendrix – other 20th century greats and icons in their own field, because, as you so gracefully put, that is where she belongs.
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Paul
A lot of people don’t know that Hemingway wrote hundreds of pages about trans issues in the 1950s, material so incendiary at the time that it could never be published then (and not even close, unless it was by some underground publisher in Paris), and that it was later reshaped into one of his best novels, The Garden of Eden. His son also had gender transition surgery in the 1990s (becoming a she) and died in jail. Picasso, who was just as macho as Hemingway on the surface (or even more so), also had another side to him. As far as Jimi, he was so far out there that his soul could be anything it wanted whenever it wanted. All of this shows that these famously male artists, known for being hardcore macho, also had a feminine side, just like Freud said everybody does (and Freud in his outward person was also macho, even though he used to faint around Jung all the time, probably because he was hyper aware that here was his greatest competitor).
And Marilyn had an iron willpower that is often thought of as male. She had an urge to dominate an industry that was run by men. And for the most part, I do believe she succeeded (in the long run, which is what matters most).
Thanks for your great commentaries on my essays, they help draw out the important meanings in an important way.
Dale
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Thank you, Dale – I didn’t know any of that about Hemingway, and it’s truly fascinating, and though a fan of his short stories in particular, knowing this about him is an oddly refreshing antidote to the much cliched masculinity of his persona.
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Nobody knows much about Norma Jean. Growing up in foster homes, marrying at 16, working in factories during WW2. How did she become Marilyn Monroe? I often compare and contrast her to Elizabeth Taylor, another very talented actress of the time…. my favorite actress of that era….we sort of knew Taylor’s strong persona, but Monroe’s true self remained a mystery, she seemed to be always acting, even in her marriages. My parents told me she died of loneliness. You captured that hidden persona in the first few paragraphs, thanks for the essay, DWB.
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