WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.839 Everyone recognizes her face. The blonde hair, 00:00:03.100 --> 00:00:06.820 the red lipstick, that white dress. Marilyn Monroe 00:00:06.820 --> 00:00:09.759 was one of the most famous women in history. 00:00:09.960 --> 00:00:12.560 But do you know her life outside of the movies? 00:00:13.000 --> 00:00:15.580 Welcome back to the Learn English Podcast, the 00:00:15.580 --> 00:00:17.839 podcast teaching English in context so you can 00:00:17.839 --> 00:00:21.739 learn naturally. It is March, which is Women's 00:00:21.739 --> 00:00:24.960 History Month. And March 8th is International 00:00:24.960 --> 00:00:28.399 Women's Day. In honor of this month, I wanted 00:00:28.399 --> 00:00:31.750 to talk about one of the most famous women from 00:00:31.750 --> 00:00:35.429 the past hundred years, and that is Marilyn Monroe. 00:00:35.770 --> 00:00:39.229 But a lot of people don't know her story and 00:00:39.229 --> 00:00:42.030 really only know her from her famous roles. So 00:00:42.030 --> 00:00:44.549 on today's episode, we are going to talk about 00:00:44.549 --> 00:00:47.490 her early life, the creation of Marilyn Monroe, 00:00:47.689 --> 00:00:50.469 the roles that made her famous, and the parts 00:00:50.469 --> 00:00:53.270 of her life that many fans didn't know about. 00:00:53.929 --> 00:00:56.950 As we do this, you're going to hear real, natural 00:00:56.950 --> 00:01:00.270 English vocabulary that we use to tell the story. 00:01:00.649 --> 00:01:05.069 Words about identity, fame, and of course, Hollywood. 00:01:05.450 --> 00:01:08.090 So are you ready to practice your listening comprehension 00:01:08.090 --> 00:01:11.430 and learn these vocabulary terms? Then follow 00:01:11.430 --> 00:01:19.930 along, because we're about to begin. Now let's 00:01:19.930 --> 00:01:22.900 talk about Marilyn Monroe. Before she was known 00:01:22.900 --> 00:01:27.599 by that name, she was actually Norma Jean. Norma 00:01:27.599 --> 00:01:31.959 Jean Mortensen was born in Los Angeles in 1926. 00:01:32.379 --> 00:01:35.079 That's right, she was actually a California and 00:01:35.079 --> 00:01:38.780 LA native. Sadly though, her childhood was very 00:01:38.780 --> 00:01:42.340 unstable, meaning that she didn't have one consistent 00:01:42.340 --> 00:01:45.140 home. Her mother struggled with mental health 00:01:45.140 --> 00:01:48.180 issues and spent a lot of time in hospitals. 00:01:48.939 --> 00:01:52.040 Norma Jean therefore got sent to live in different 00:01:52.040 --> 00:01:56.299 locations, including even foster homes and orphanages. 00:01:56.560 --> 00:01:59.640 Foster homes are homes where you are sent to 00:01:59.640 --> 00:02:02.159 live with someone who is not your biological 00:02:02.159 --> 00:02:05.019 family. Sometimes it's a temporary situation 00:02:05.019 --> 00:02:09.240 or sometimes it lasts much longer. This is usually 00:02:09.240 --> 00:02:13.199 because a child does not have a very stable parent 00:02:13.199 --> 00:02:17.419 to take care of them. During this time, she did 00:02:17.419 --> 00:02:20.699 not feel very secure and she may have even been 00:02:20.699 --> 00:02:25.039 abused at one or more of these places. As a result, 00:02:25.120 --> 00:02:28.080 she became withdrawn, which means that she was 00:02:28.080 --> 00:02:31.639 very quiet and she did not connect with other 00:02:31.639 --> 00:02:34.560 people easily. She did not have a very friendly 00:02:34.560 --> 00:02:37.979 or outgoing personality. Her childhood had a 00:02:37.979 --> 00:02:41.330 lasting effect on her. She learned that things 00:02:41.330 --> 00:02:43.969 could change really quickly and that the people 00:02:43.969 --> 00:02:46.969 around her might just disappear at any time. 00:02:47.189 --> 00:02:50.870 As a teenager, she left high school, got married 00:02:50.870 --> 00:02:54.310 very young, and then took a job in a factory 00:02:54.310 --> 00:02:57.689 to support herself during World War II. While 00:02:57.689 --> 00:02:59.969 she was working in this factory, a photographer 00:02:59.969 --> 00:03:03.189 noticed her. He took photos of her for a magazine 00:03:03.189 --> 00:03:06.050 and those photos changed the course of her life. 00:03:06.250 --> 00:03:08.969 She began to model and quickly found success. 00:03:09.629 --> 00:03:12.770 It was during these modeling years that she straightened 00:03:12.770 --> 00:03:16.270 her natural dark curly hair and also started 00:03:16.270 --> 00:03:19.650 to lighten it. This was the beginning of her 00:03:19.650 --> 00:03:23.370 physical transformation. In 1946, she signed 00:03:23.370 --> 00:03:27.449 a contract with 20th Century Fox, a major Hollywood 00:03:27.449 --> 00:03:31.349 film studio. A contract is a legal document and 00:03:31.349 --> 00:03:34.729 an agreement to work, and it was necessary in 00:03:34.729 --> 00:03:37.509 the studio system that existed in Hollywood at 00:03:37.509 --> 00:03:40.509 that time. We will talk more about the studio 00:03:40.509 --> 00:03:44.110 system next week, but for the moment, it's just 00:03:44.110 --> 00:03:46.830 important to know that when you signed a contract 00:03:46.830 --> 00:03:50.210 with a Hollywood film studio, they took control 00:03:50.210 --> 00:03:52.949 of your life. The studio gave her a new name, 00:03:53.110 --> 00:03:56.590 Marilyn Monroe. Marilyn was inspired by a Broadway 00:03:56.590 --> 00:03:59.530 actress, and Monroe was her mother's maiden name. 00:03:59.710 --> 00:04:03.530 A maiden name is a woman's last name before she 00:04:03.530 --> 00:04:06.729 gets married. At the same time, her appearance 00:04:06.729 --> 00:04:10.009 was strictly controlled. The studio had her dye 00:04:10.009 --> 00:04:12.569 her hair blonde and maintained as part of her 00:04:12.569 --> 00:04:15.229 public image. From that point on, Marilyn Monroe 00:04:15.229 --> 00:04:18.949 was no longer a private citizen. She was a professional 00:04:18.949 --> 00:04:23.290 creation created for studio audiences. In Hollywood, 00:04:23.470 --> 00:04:26.529 Marilyn was given a very specific role. She was 00:04:26.529 --> 00:04:30.870 typecast. Typecast means to be given one type 00:04:30.870 --> 00:04:34.470 of role in multiple different movies or TV shows. 00:04:34.730 --> 00:04:38.310 In Marilyn's case, she was typecast as the dumb 00:04:38.310 --> 00:04:41.250 blonde. Blonde because that was the color of 00:04:41.250 --> 00:04:44.250 her hair, and dumb because the roles were always 00:04:44.250 --> 00:04:47.269 women who did not seem very intelligent. Even 00:04:47.269 --> 00:04:49.990 though she herself was very intelligent and worked 00:04:49.990 --> 00:04:52.930 very hard, the studios continued to put her in 00:04:52.930 --> 00:04:55.470 these roles that focused more on her appearance 00:04:55.470 --> 00:04:58.980 than her acting abilities. Some of her most famous 00:04:58.980 --> 00:05:04.120 roles are 1953's Gentleman Prefer Blondes and 00:05:04.120 --> 00:05:07.759 How to Marry a Millionaire. But the most famous 00:05:07.759 --> 00:05:10.860 image of her in that white dress comes from the 00:05:10.860 --> 00:05:15.199 1955 movie The Seven Year Itch. That image became 00:05:15.199 --> 00:05:18.420 iconic and entered into pop culture, which means 00:05:18.420 --> 00:05:21.519 that it became widely known. Of course, her beauty 00:05:21.519 --> 00:05:24.620 helped her, but it was her comedic timing that 00:05:24.620 --> 00:05:27.399 really made these movies popular. and made her 00:05:27.399 --> 00:05:31.019 famous. Comedic timing means knowing when to 00:05:31.019 --> 00:05:35.240 speak or react in order to be funny. As she became 00:05:35.240 --> 00:05:37.759 more famous, her private life, the life that 00:05:37.759 --> 00:05:40.399 she lived away from the camera, became harder 00:05:40.399 --> 00:05:44.220 to protect. Many people expected her to act like 00:05:44.220 --> 00:05:46.860 the characters that she played on screen. This 00:05:46.860 --> 00:05:50.199 caused her a lot of stress and her private life 00:05:50.199 --> 00:05:53.730 began to suffer. In 1954, she married the famous 00:05:53.730 --> 00:05:56.870 baseball star Joe DiMaggio after meeting him 00:05:56.870 --> 00:06:00.629 on a blind date. If you listened to our Valentine's 00:06:00.629 --> 00:06:03.629 Day episode on dating vocabulary, you will know 00:06:03.629 --> 00:06:06.310 what that term means. Their relationship was 00:06:06.310 --> 00:06:09.629 not good, mainly because he was so jealous and 00:06:09.629 --> 00:06:13.129 because she was so famous and got so much public 00:06:13.129 --> 00:06:16.050 attention. There are even reports that suggest 00:06:16.050 --> 00:06:19.209 that the relationship turned violent after he 00:06:19.209 --> 00:06:22.230 saw the white dress scene. in The Seven Year 00:06:22.230 --> 00:06:25.329 Itch. Later, she had a relationship with the 00:06:25.329 --> 00:06:28.970 writer Arthur Miller and married him in 1956 00:06:28.970 --> 00:06:32.209 after he divorced his wife. I mentioned Arthur 00:06:32.209 --> 00:06:34.870 Miller in the episode I did on the Salem Witch 00:06:34.870 --> 00:06:38.490 Trials because he was a famous playwright and 00:06:38.490 --> 00:06:42.050 he wrote a play about those trials. With him, 00:06:42.050 --> 00:06:44.949 she was hoping to find stability and to be taken 00:06:44.949 --> 00:06:47.730 more seriously for her intelligence. She even 00:06:47.730 --> 00:06:50.430 told him that she was willing to leave Hollywood 00:06:50.430 --> 00:06:53.430 and just go live a quiet life with him. But that 00:06:53.430 --> 00:06:56.529 didn't happen. She continued acting, and she 00:06:56.529 --> 00:07:00.250 continued to struggle more. Monroe was an avid 00:07:00.250 --> 00:07:03.050 reader, which meant that she read all the time, 00:07:03.089 --> 00:07:07.089 in dressing rooms, on film sets, on planes. Reading 00:07:07.089 --> 00:07:09.970 for her was not just a hobby, it was a form of 00:07:09.970 --> 00:07:13.350 self -development and a way to obtain knowledge. 00:07:13.949 --> 00:07:16.829 She was influenced by writers and thinkers who 00:07:16.829 --> 00:07:19.629 were critical of racism, censorship, and authoritarian 00:07:19.629 --> 00:07:22.730 power. These were writers like James Baldwin, 00:07:23.089 --> 00:07:26.910 John Steinbeck, Walt Whitman, and her husband 00:07:26.910 --> 00:07:31.189 Arthur Miller. Monroe was also rather politically 00:07:31.189 --> 00:07:34.589 liberal for her time. She supported civil rights, 00:07:34.790 --> 00:07:38.089 workers' rights, and peace movements. This was 00:07:38.089 --> 00:07:40.730 not always safe to do in Hollywood at that time. 00:07:41.209 --> 00:07:43.310 There was something called the McCarthy era that 00:07:43.310 --> 00:07:45.689 was occurring. What it meant was that if you 00:07:45.689 --> 00:07:48.310 were seen as being too liberal, you could actually 00:07:48.310 --> 00:07:52.370 destroy your career. But Monroe knew that she 00:07:52.370 --> 00:07:57.170 could use her fame to help change things. She 00:07:57.170 --> 00:08:00.209 publicly praised African -American artists when 00:08:00.209 --> 00:08:03.269 that was not socially safe to do, and she maintained 00:08:03.269 --> 00:08:06.930 close friendships with Black musicians and actors. 00:08:07.680 --> 00:08:10.600 One of the most documented and important actions 00:08:10.600 --> 00:08:13.379 she took was her support of Ella Fitzgerald. 00:08:13.600 --> 00:08:16.740 Ella Fitzgerald was an African -American jazz 00:08:16.740 --> 00:08:19.480 singer and is considered to be one of the best 00:08:19.480 --> 00:08:22.339 and most important jazz singers in American history. 00:08:22.519 --> 00:08:25.899 But at the time, many of the top clubs in Los 00:08:25.899 --> 00:08:29.160 Angeles and Las Vegas were segregated. I've mentioned 00:08:29.160 --> 00:08:31.980 segregation in previous episodes, but it was 00:08:31.980 --> 00:08:35.220 a practice where the American citizens were separated 00:08:35.220 --> 00:08:38.899 based on race. Because the clubs were segregated, 00:08:39.360 --> 00:08:42.440 that meant that black performers were often not 00:08:42.440 --> 00:08:46.000 allowed to perform for white audiences. Monroe 00:08:46.000 --> 00:08:49.440 used her fame because she personally called the 00:08:49.440 --> 00:08:52.440 manager of the Macabo Club in Los Angeles and 00:08:52.440 --> 00:08:56.179 said, If you hire Ella Fitzgerald, I will sit 00:08:56.179 --> 00:08:59.299 in the front row every night. Of course, the 00:08:59.299 --> 00:09:02.419 club agreed because she was Marilyn Monroe. And 00:09:02.419 --> 00:09:06.019 her presence made press come to the club. as 00:09:06.019 --> 00:09:09.139 well as members of the public. Because of that, 00:09:09.419 --> 00:09:13.580 Ella Fitzgerald's career exploded. As her career 00:09:13.580 --> 00:09:16.120 continued, Marilyn Monroe tried to change the 00:09:16.120 --> 00:09:19.139 way she was seen. She started studying acting 00:09:19.139 --> 00:09:22.279 seriously and tried to take more challenging 00:09:22.279 --> 00:09:25.399 roles. She really wanted to be respected for 00:09:25.399 --> 00:09:29.259 her abilities as an actress. However, this pressure 00:09:29.259 --> 00:09:32.399 that she put on herself affected her confidence. 00:09:32.779 --> 00:09:36.370 She started getting very anxious. worrying that 00:09:36.370 --> 00:09:39.269 she was making mistakes, and started to doubt 00:09:39.269 --> 00:09:42.509 herself. She often needed reassurance from those 00:09:42.509 --> 00:09:46.090 around her. Reassurance means that you get emotional 00:09:46.090 --> 00:09:49.830 support or encouragement from someone. She also 00:09:49.830 --> 00:09:52.269 started spending a lot of time with her acting 00:09:52.269 --> 00:09:55.549 coach. These struggles started to affect her 00:09:55.549 --> 00:09:58.409 professionalism, which means how reliable she 00:09:58.409 --> 00:10:03.129 was on the film set. She could arrive late, not 00:10:03.129 --> 00:10:05.830 remember her lines, and not be able to film a 00:10:05.830 --> 00:10:09.450 scene. Of course, this started frustrating people 00:10:09.450 --> 00:10:12.909 around her. This tension is shown in the film 00:10:12.909 --> 00:10:16.269 My Week with Marilyn, which depicts a week of 00:10:16.269 --> 00:10:20.269 1956 when she was filming The Princess and the 00:10:20.269 --> 00:10:23.250 Showgirl. This movie depicts her as vulnerable, 00:10:23.509 --> 00:10:27.330 struggling with her acting, her fame, and her 00:10:27.330 --> 00:10:29.950 marriage. But the movie also showed that she 00:10:29.950 --> 00:10:33.750 was really difficult to work with and how she 00:10:33.750 --> 00:10:37.590 was maybe taking advantage of how people, especially 00:10:37.590 --> 00:10:41.590 men, treated her. As the pressure increased, 00:10:41.990 --> 00:10:45.190 her health declined. She started relying more 00:10:45.190 --> 00:10:48.889 on prescription medication to help with her anxiety 00:10:48.889 --> 00:10:53.070 and exhaustion. Over time, the situation worsened. 00:10:53.149 --> 00:10:56.750 She suffered multiple miscarriages and was hospitalized 00:10:56.750 --> 00:11:01.350 after a severe drug overdose. However, she continued 00:11:01.350 --> 00:11:04.830 acting and made one of her most successful films, 00:11:05.029 --> 00:11:08.750 Some Like It Hot. She struggled while filming 00:11:08.750 --> 00:11:12.769 this because she did not know her lines and constantly 00:11:12.769 --> 00:11:16.070 fought with the director. However, the film was 00:11:16.070 --> 00:11:20.059 a massive success. And it is considered one of 00:11:20.059 --> 00:11:23.620 her best performances. But after that movie, 00:11:23.759 --> 00:11:28.059 her reputation for being difficult and her increasing 00:11:28.059 --> 00:11:31.039 drug use really started to affect her career. 00:11:31.299 --> 00:11:34.600 She tried to change her image, but she was still 00:11:34.600 --> 00:11:37.460 struggling with addiction and her mental health. 00:11:37.659 --> 00:11:41.639 And sadly, in August of 1962, she was found dead 00:11:41.639 --> 00:11:45.740 in her house after an apparent overdose. Of course, 00:11:45.799 --> 00:11:48.580 you can watch any of Marilyn Monroe's famous 00:11:48.580 --> 00:11:52.100 films if you want to see how she was as an actress. 00:11:52.360 --> 00:11:55.799 And you can also see some fictional depictions. 00:11:55.940 --> 00:11:59.179 Like I said, there is the film My Week with Marilyn, 00:11:59.399 --> 00:12:03.200 which shows how she was struggling later in her 00:12:03.200 --> 00:12:07.019 career. Also shows how she could be very charming 00:12:07.019 --> 00:12:11.240 and very charismatic. There's also the 1996 HBO 00:12:11.240 --> 00:12:14.799 television film called Norma Jean and Marilyn. 00:12:15.240 --> 00:12:17.960 This separates Norma Jean and Marilyn as two 00:12:17.960 --> 00:12:21.480 different identities and shows the conflict she 00:12:21.480 --> 00:12:24.799 had with her identity and with her mental health. 00:12:25.440 --> 00:12:27.980 You'll notice that a lot of depictions of her 00:12:27.980 --> 00:12:31.000 try to show the struggle that she had especially 00:12:31.000 --> 00:12:34.299 later in her career. I know she's known for being 00:12:34.299 --> 00:12:37.080 very beautiful but to me she always seemed like 00:12:37.080 --> 00:12:40.450 such a sad and tragic figure. She had a difficult 00:12:40.450 --> 00:12:42.850 life, she struggled with her mental health and 00:12:42.850 --> 00:12:46.570 addiction, and she died very young. And also, 00:12:46.629 --> 00:12:49.330 Sally, that's a story that we see with a lot 00:12:49.330 --> 00:12:52.330 of different celebrities. However, even after 00:12:52.330 --> 00:12:55.789 death, she still remained famous. Her image is 00:12:55.789 --> 00:12:58.450 still referenced today, all of these decades 00:12:58.450 --> 00:13:02.490 later. However, a lot of people might just remember 00:13:02.490 --> 00:13:06.009 her for being as simple and not as the full person 00:13:06.009 --> 00:13:09.460 that she was. When people get known for one image, 00:13:09.720 --> 00:13:12.679 a lot of the time the rest of their life is ignored. 00:13:12.960 --> 00:13:16.139 And remembering that can help us understand her 00:13:16.139 --> 00:13:20.120 life more clearly and more honestly. I hope you 00:13:20.120 --> 00:13:22.039 enjoyed this episode and I hope you learned a 00:13:22.039 --> 00:13:25.179 little bit about Marilyn Monroe. And more importantly, 00:13:25.360 --> 00:13:28.340 I hope you learned some natural English terms 00:13:28.340 --> 00:13:31.299 that you can use in everyday conversations. A 00:13:31.299 --> 00:13:33.779 reminder to look at the description of this podcast 00:13:33.779 --> 00:13:36.580 episode for helpful links. and for the vocabulary 00:13:36.580 --> 00:13:39.639 list. If you enjoyed this episode, if you want 00:13:39.639 --> 00:13:42.340 more of them in the future, please leave a comment 00:13:42.340 --> 00:13:44.960 and let me know. And if you found the episode 00:13:44.960 --> 00:13:47.679 helpful, share it with somebody. Share it with 00:13:47.679 --> 00:13:50.259 someone who is learning English so they can also 00:13:50.259 --> 00:13:53.320 build their English fluency. You can also leave 00:13:53.320 --> 00:13:56.399 us a review on whatever app you are using to 00:13:56.399 --> 00:13:59.159 listen to this podcast on. You can follow us 00:13:59.159 --> 00:14:01.639 on social media or go to our website, Learn English 00:14:01.639 --> 00:14:05.070 Pod. And remember to follow the show so you don't 00:14:05.070 --> 00:14:07.110 miss our next episode when it comes out next 00:14:07.110 --> 00:14:09.950 week. Until then, keep learning English.