Marylin Monroe : figure d'icône féministe, pionnière d'une forme de résistance à Hollywood
·4 min
The episode begins by framing Marilyn Monroe as a feminist icon and pioneer of resistance in Hollywood, challenging her long-held image as a naive blonde. It notes that 100 years after her birth, an exhibition in Paris celebrates this reinterpretation. Marilyn's career is summarized with about 30 films, including the cult comedy 'Certain Lame Show' for which she won a Golden Globe, and 30 songs often from her films. Her real name was Norma Jean Baker, and she worked to shed the naive blonde persona imposed by studios. She showed talent by founding her own production company, Marilyn Monroe Production, and opposing Century Fox for equal pay with male colleagues. Marilyn also supported her friend Ella Fitzgerald, who faced discrimination in Hollywood venues. Her childhood was hostile: she never met her father, her mother Gladys had paranoid schizophrenia, and Marilyn was placed in an orphanage at age 9. She experienced 11 host families and suffered multiple sexual assaults. At 16, she married a neighbor, divorced four years later, and later married baseball star Joe DiMaggio and writer Arthur Miller. Marilyn struggled with a stutter, which led to her being fired from a shoot; an orthophonist advised her to adopt a murmuring voice to camouflage it. Naturally brown and frizzy, she first bleached her hair in 1945 for an advertisement and maintained it until her death, using the dye Blondoreiller every three weeks, sometimes wearing wigs due to damage. She suffered from endometriosis and had several miscarriages, including a probable pregnancy with actor Yves Montand in 1960. Her secret relationship with John F. Kennedy is mentioned, highlighted by her singing 'Happy Birthday, Mr. President'. Despite being seen as a blonde bombshell, Marilyn was intellectual, devouring philosophical essays and surrounding herself with intellectuals, though her marriage to Arthur Miller was mocked by the press. After her death in 1962, her ex-husband Joe DiMaggio, described as jealous and violent, organized her funeral and delivered roses to her grave three times a week for 20 years. The episode concludes by promoting the Marilyn Monroe retrospective in Paris until July 26, featuring photos, film excerpts, and dresses.
