Gentlemen Prefer A Good Brand

This weekend I ended up watching two Marilyn Monroe films: Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and Some Like It Hot. I’d seen both of them before, a long time ago and I’d forgotten why people love Marilyn –after all, with the wealth of pretty blondes on the large and small screens, why would she stand out – a plump blonde in Technicolor?

But the truth is that she really does stand out: her studied sultriness is unmatched by any of her platinum blonde successors and her wardrobe hints at carnal knowledge without being overly revealing. She was a natural beauty but not shy about makeup and bling – this was after all the girl who sang Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend in a bold magenta dress, bedecked in sparkling stones. 

But everything about her – the grace with which she abandons herself into a man’s arms, the eyes that are half-closed most of the time except when she ogles (you guessed it) diamonds rings, the pouting lips, everything is true to the brand – a disciplined, well-manicured platinum blond brand that comes off effortlessly, a tribute to Marilyn’s real acting skills that come into play off the screen. If she comes off as a mediocre actress on screen, it’s an indication of the energy she siphoned off into sustaining her personal brand in real life.    

It takes a real woman to take on Marilyn’s roles in real life and on the big screen: the blonde seductress, the material girl, the unrepentant bombshell who can talk even the shrillest penny-pinching bachelor into submission. She stayed true to her brand in silly roles like “Sugar” (I mean, really, Sugar?) of Some Like it Hot and the blond half of the cabaret couple in Gentlemen… , and very few people, indeed very few women (authors included) can probably appreciate the burden of being the Belle of all balls, the pressure, the scrutiny, the malignancy of the jealous gaze in tandem with being reduced to a sexual object for all men, of all ages and all occupations (easily verifiable through an inventory of the men she charms in her films: from decrepit old oligarchs to pre-pubescent shoe-shine boys). 

But she stuck with it, unapologetically, until her untimely end. What a powerful brand!