Thursday, June 2, 2011

Happy Birthday, Marilyn!

June 1st marked the birthday of Marilyn Monroe. She would have been 85.

At the start of this year, I began to update my fantasy list--the top 10 female celebrities that I would love to spank, given the opportunity. So far, I've done numbers 1 through 8, with two to go. I have a couple of ladies in mind for those spots, but I haven't absolutely decided yet.

I only had two rules: no reality "stars", and they had to be living. So, no Kardashians, no Snooki, and no dead actresses.

If I had ignored those rules, though, there's no question which actress would be at the top of the list.

Marilyn Monroe.

Even to this day, she is (for me, anyway) the very personification of the Hollywood Sex Symbol. She is the Gold Standard. She is the Icon.

As it frequently seems to happen in the land of sunshine and celluloid, she left us all too soon. Who knows how long she could have kept making movie--who knows what roles she could have created as she became older and wiser and more skilled in her craft? It's a shame we'll never get the chance to find out.

It's hard to imagine what Marilyn might have looked like at 85. It's perhaps for the best that the only way we can remember her now is in the way she wanted to live her life--in pictures.

Happy birthday, Norma Jean--not "goodbye".












































3 comments:

sixofthebest said...

You picked a beauty Dr. Ken, a real beauty. The photo that I liked the most, was the one when she was over a grate, and her skirt flew, sky, showing us her sexy panties, and her long legs. One of my 'old time favorites.

Anonymous said...

Marilyn Monroe is certainly an interesting subject. I'd like to try to "parse" her appeal. I wonder if any other actress ever equalled her ability to seem vulnerable on screen? Somehow I don't think so. And where did that vulnerability come from? Was it her childhood as an orphan? Was it an "accident" of her beauty?

i think it's doubtful Marilyn could have made it as an actress if she were starting out today, since her style of beauty is largely out of fashion these days, though we still regard HER as beautiful.

But I think that's largely because of all the social proof around her past stardom. Of course I may well be wrong about this. But I think she wouldn't have made it past all the people telling her she couldn't do it.

Interesting comparison here with Audrey Hepburn, a woman who's style is, I'd say, more contemporary: http://thegloss.com/beauty/the-editors-debate-marilyn-monroe-vs-audrey-hepburn/

Karl Friedrich Gauss

Dr. Ken said...

sixofthebest -- the various publicty stills of that scene from "The 7 Year Itch" are definitely classics!

Karl -- talent is talent. I think she would have made it today, but she might not have been as big a star, mostly due to the absence these days of the old "studio system".