It’s hard to believe the star was born 96 years ago. Frozen in time, her image still smiles back at us from a variety of places, from T-shirts to Marilyn tattoos. Along with James Dean, she remains one of the icons of the era.
Immortalized in Elton John’s song and Andy Warhol’s paintings, she’s also become a gay icon and a symbol of Feminism.
Almost a century after her birth, Marilyn Monroe is still one of the most recognizable faces in the Western world.
Perhaps the best-known photo of Monroe is the one where she is flirtatiously holding her billowing dress down as she stands over a subway grate. People love it, even though very few of them have ever seen the film it comes from.
It's much more than just an amazing image: It tells a story about how famous the actress was in her lifetime, how real she was despite her fame, how she fought for her rights, and why she is still an icon, 60 years after her death.
Used as the publicity shot for the 1955 film The Seven-Year Itch, the photoshoot was part of a cleverly planned publicity stunt. Monroe had to fight to be allowed to do the movie, and it was a battle she won. It would be a move that would cement her status as an icon.
Ahead of the shoot, details were “leaked” to the press, and the plan worked brilliantly. Marilyn’s star power ensured a crowd of about 3,000 spectators arrived, and the actress played to the onlookers as much as to the cameras.
The next day, her picture made the front page of every newspaper, and it’s stayed in our hearts since then.
Ironically, the campaign that cemented her iconic status also led to the collapse of her marriage. The response from the mainly male crowd at the shoot was the last straw for Joe Di Maggio and saw the end of Marilyn’s marriage to the baseball legend.
Monroe's Struggles Make Fans Identify With Her
That very realness of Monroe’s life story encapsulates what it is that makes her so accessible to fans. The fact that she was vulnerable despite her eminence and beauty, keeps us loving her.
Even today, prominent entertainers continue to emulate her. Despite being stars in their own right, artists like Madonna, Christina Aguilera, and Lady Gaga have all donned Monroe looks during their careers. And they're not the only ones.
In 2019, Kylie Jenner transformed into Marilyn for Halloween, recreating the actress's famous appearance in Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend. And recently, older sister Kim Kardashian made news when she wore Marilyn's authentic dress at the Met Gala.
But Marilyn’s allure is about much more than her looks. Despite being depicted as a ‘Blonde Bombshell’, the public’s enduring interest stems from the fact that she was a complex and fascinating woman.
It’s long been said that women wanted to be her, and men wanted to be with her. The truth is that 60 years after her death, she is still America's premier female superstar.
Fans Considered Marilyn To Be Magic
Part of the magic for fans is that Monroe achieved what she did against the odds. She never knew her father, and as a result of her mother's mental illness, grew up in foster homes.
Despite having no acting experience, Marilyn educated herself about the world of film and became a major Hollywood star with a career that spanned 16 years and saw her featuring in 29 movies.
Audiences were attracted to the duality that saw a quintessential American woman become a sex symbol during a time of immense sexual oppression. She sang a sultry happy birthday to the president and appeared on the cover of the first Playboy magazine. But amazingly, one of the world's most famous sex symbols has also become a feminist icon.
Marilyn Furthered Women's Rights
Despite being dismissed as nothing more than a cheap sex object by those heading the film industry of the time, Monroe became the first woman to challenge a major studio, when she took on 20th Century Fox. She was also the first woman to establish a movie production company of her own.
Plus, years ahead of other stars, she was the first to endorse a female keep-fit workout book.
Despite playing the archetypal 'Dumb Blond' her whole life, it was just a role for Marilyn, who was highly intelligent. As she once said,"It takes a smart Brunette to play a dumb Blond."
Monroe would be happy to know that years after her death, Time magazine has named her one of the 100 women who defined the last century. And the award was not about her looks, but about the fact that she fought against an unfair system.
Conspiracy Theories Still Linger
Another part of what draws fans to the Marilyn story is the fact that till today, many fans believe there was something sinister around the death of the actress.
Despite the findings that she died after a drug overdose, ex-husband Joe Di Maggio believed her death was connected to the Kennedys until the day he died.
A Large Part Of Monroe’s Allure Is That She Died Young
Whatever the circumstances around her death, Monroe died when she was just 36. That probably plays the biggest part in the preservation of her legacy. Unlike other stars who are seen aging, becoming progressively less glamorous in front of their fans, it’ll never happen with Marilyn. The only images we have of her will eternally be vibrant and beautiful. She will never be past her prime.
Nearly a century after Norma Jean Baker was born, her star continues to shine.
As the icon once said, "We are all of us stars, and we deserve to twinkle." And no one shines quite as brightly as Marilyn Monroe.