Marilyn Monroe And Other Icon In Pop Culture

Pop-culture uses some interesting people as idols including people from the past. Let’s see if you can guess who this one is. She was constantly portrayed as blonde, ditzy, shallow and most importantly as a sex symbol. She was an actress of her time and while 55 years have passed, even now she is used as an icon in pop culture. While she can be commended for not fitting today’s idea of the perfect body, she is still quite the contender for today’s most popular idol for use of sex appeal to gain an audience. While we look at her today as a woman of natural beauty to be respected and admired, many of us forget or don’t even know that she often abused drugs and alcohol. This wasn’t her only downfall though; this lady of entertainment was also known for her sexual encounters and affairs including the suspicions of having one with our very own president John F. Kennedy. 

If you haven’t figured out who I am speaking of, now is the time to tell you. This woman was one of America’s sweethearts and is none other than Marilyn Monroe. At only 36, Marilyn Monroe died of a drug overdose. She was known as a great American beauty and today is viewed as someone that spoke out for self-love and feminism. However, for all her own outspokenness of those things, she often played characters that were meant to prove how women need a male’s masculinity to survive. Our current culture is uneducated in this area of Monroe’s career. We only see a portrayal of her as being a smart, beautiful woman that was independent. Pop culture has misconstrued what Monroe’s life was really like to serve their own needs for an idol that fit their description of what they needed her to be. Pop-culture is exploiting a symbol they don’t even actually have any actual knowledge of.

Back in the 50’s Marilyn Monroe was known for her adulterous acts, mainly for her suspected affair with President John F. Kennedy. On May 6th, 1962, Marilyn performed a rendition of “Happy Birthday” that only made the speculation grow. Many consider this the beginning of the downfall for her. On August 4th, 1962, Marilyn Monroe was found dead from an overdose of sleeping pills. The suspected Kennedy affair even played a major part in what people thought about her death. In an article referencing multiple accounts of Monroe’s death this bit of information came up, “Joe DiMaggio also once told Positano of the Kennedys: “They did in my poor Marilyn. She didn’t know what hit her. “Positano clarified DiMaggio’s statements in an exclusive interview with PEOPLE in May. “The understanding was that her involvement with … the Kennedy clan put her in a position where maybe it wasn’t good for her mental health or her emotional health,” Positano said. “He didn’t think they were good people for her to be around.” (Gillette, 2017)

Monroe’s lifetime was short and while she was famous around the nation, few people really recognize how tragic and sad her life truly was. Today’s culture celebrates her success and yet doesn’t even know about her misfortune. Marilyn was a beauty but far from an idol. She was married three times. She had a drug and alcohol problem and yet we plaster her face to our t-shirts, walls and even our fingernails. Her beauty is a significant part of our history, but her life is not one to be envious of. Even in death the possibility of foul play isn’t ruled out in societies mind due to her sexual nature.

As far as envy goes, Liz Taylor was yet another gorgeous idol in the early 50’s. Again, we use her on our shirts, buy her fragrances and generally view her as this perfect female role model. Yet we negate the fact that she was married eight times, was also addicted to pills and alcohol and was a heavy smoker. Liz Taylor was the first celebrity to openly admit herself into the Betty Ford Center and while we may support her with her decision to seek help we also tend to negate the fact that this ever happened. When it comes to pop culture and the oldies that we have made goodies, it appears we are uneducated or unwilling to recognize the facts of their lives that may make them less then desirable to idolize.

Another oldie but goodie that we use in pop-culture today is Judy Garland. If you don’t recognize the name, then I’m sure you will the role. At only 16 years old she was already known as Dorothy in “The Wizard of Oz”. What many people don’t know is that she was already addicted to barbiturates and amphetamines. Once again, a beautiful face that died earlier then they should have has been exploited for their roles while their problems have been forgotten. The last and more recent example I have to offer is none other then the actor of Princess Leia, Carrie Fisher. Fisher was and is another popular icon that society only accepts her for her role and not her life. Very few people know the tragedies, mental health problems and drug abuse that Fisher endured leading up to her death. Before boarding the last flight of her life, Carrie had ingested cocaine and various other medications.

The definition for pop-culture is: modern popular culture transmitted via mass media and aimed particularly at younger people. While there are historical reasons to focus on Marilyn Monroe, I don’t feel as though enough attention is being drawn to the fact that 13+ year old girls are wearing t-shirts with the face of a once famous sex symbol plastered on them. Growing up my mother idolized Monroe, still does. After researching her to see what the fascination was about I couldn’t help but wonder how my own mother could think so much out of someone that made a career out of their sexuality especially in a time where our country was needing a different kind of strength.

I really connected with an article I read recently by a woman named Meg Bergeron. She says, “There’s a lot to be said about this woman – a lot that’s undoubtedly as fascinating as she was beautiful. What most people find the most striking, of course, is her untimely death, and the tragedy that surrounded her in life. I really believe that if she had not died near the height of her popularity—if she had grown old—she would not be placed on a pedestal the way she is now. The fact that she was deeply troubled to the point of dying of a drug overdose doesn’t attest to her suitability as an inspirational role model. I see women posting pictures of her on social media all the time, yet this was a woman who got her early roles based (to some degree) more on her sexuality than her talent. Am I slut-shaming? No. There’s a difference between accepting a woman’s behavior and glorifying it, and I’m not about to glorify a woman for doing things she likely would not have done if she had not been in such deep emotional pain.” (Bergeron, 2014)

I can see exactly where she comes from and feel as though we are pushing these older idols on younger generations without realizing or knowing what these people went through or were really like. Pop-culture should be full of positivity all the way around. We want our youth to see that everybody can succeed and that being famous isn’t always tied into the sex and drug lifestyle. We need to stop idolizing those with untimely deaths due to drug abuse. The most important thing to me is that our kids and other younger generations have a good personal definition of success. If we are not their teachers and the guides to the right definitions, then we are nothing.