It has been 50 years to the day since the death of Marilyn Monroe.
When I was young I didn’t really care for Marilyn because she didn’t seem the model of the strong woman I wanted to be. Her weakness now seems to me to be her inability to reconcile her working life with her inner life, which only occasionally overlapped. I now love her for the wonderfully talented actress she was along with the golden lady that she became. Her beauty and intensity were so real, yet the look in her eyes often was so vulnerable, it is hard for an onlooker to reconcile. I can only imagine how difficult it was to be behind those eyes. I am so sad for all that brought her down. I’m positive she was so much more than she got to be by the terribly young age of 36.
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Marilyn Monroe photographed by Bert Stern, 1962
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Marilyn, in a few of her own words:
“No one ever told me I was pretty when I was a little girl. All little girls should be told they’re pretty, even if they aren’t.
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“The truth is I’ve never fooled anyone. I’ve let people fool themselves. They didn’t bother to find out who and what I was. Instead they would invent a character for me. I wouldn’t argue with them. They were obviously loving somebody I wasn’t.”
“It’s better to be unhappy alone than unhappy with someone - so far.”
“To put it bluntly, I seem to have a whole superstructure with no foundation. But I’m working on the foundation.”
“It’s often just enough to be with someone. I don’t need to touch them. Not even talk. A feeling passes between you both. You’re not alone.”
“Dogs never bite me. Just humans.”
“Men are so willing to respect anything that bores them.”
“I want to grow old without facelifts... I want to have the courage to be loyal to the face I’ve made. Sometimes I think it would be easier to avoid old age, to die young, but then you’d never complete your life, would you? You'd never wholly know you.”
“I knew I belonged to the public and to the world, not because I was talented or even beautiful, but because I had never belonged to anything or anyone else.”
“I’ve never dropped anyone I believed in.”
“I restore myself when I’m alone.”
“I am not interested in money. I just want to be wonderful.”
6 comments:
Beautiful, Maggie - thank you for posting. I've loved MM since meeting her, aged 12. She was a woman that continues to fascinate, and elude.
Love those photos! I really enjoy seeing images of her in a different setting, she really looks pretty with her hair pulled back, her eyes look so dreamy, like she knows a secret, mysterious.
Some great quotes here. Her dumb blonde image belied her innate intelligence and her own efforts to overcome that image. A complicated & beautiful women, as we all are.
such a STRONG woman,to overcome an insane mother,being molested & raped as a young lady -on top of all the plethora of unnecessary ludicrous and often horrifying ways of society let alone the immense mind games in the film industry-she was like a lotus flower-how a lotus flower blossoms and grows despite the fact it is growing in manure.Not to forget how innovative she was from her persona, to her talents to being one of the most empowering actors & producers.Her quotes really reflect the genuineness, kindness and honesty she had within.
Thanks for an interesting post! I love all the quotes, and I agree with you completely...she was so much more than the world got a chance to see.
BTW, I wrote a blog about MM a few days ago, as well, that you might enjoy reading:
www.vintageadvantage.blogspot.com
I've been obsessed by MM since I was a child. She was a goddess, and she will live forever.
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