WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.980 Welcome back to the Deep Dive. We're here to 00:00:01.980 --> 00:00:04.700 take, well, a whole stack of research biographies, 00:00:04.700 --> 00:00:07.620 articles, film analysis, and really dig into 00:00:07.620 --> 00:00:10.720 the complex structure beneath the icons. Find 00:00:10.720 --> 00:00:14.259 out what makes them tick. And today, maybe the 00:00:14.259 --> 00:00:17.620 ultimate icon, Marilyn Monroe. Our mission is 00:00:17.620 --> 00:00:20.719 to look past that, you know, the blonde bombshell 00:00:20.719 --> 00:00:22.960 image everyone knows. The caricature. Exactly. 00:00:23.059 --> 00:00:27.019 And find the sharp businesswoman, the serious 00:00:27.019 --> 00:00:29.320 artist, and maybe understand the trauma that 00:00:29.320 --> 00:00:32.340 really fueled that incredibly intense but short 00:00:32.340 --> 00:00:34.380 burst of startup. Yeah. And you have to start 00:00:34.380 --> 00:00:36.299 with the scale, don't you? I mean, just the raw 00:00:36.299 --> 00:00:38.520 numbers. She was a top -billed star for, what, 00:00:38.579 --> 00:00:40.820 about a decade? Roughly, yeah. But in that time, 00:00:40.840 --> 00:00:43.500 her films pulled in $200 million, which today, 00:00:43.759 --> 00:00:45.880 you adjust that, it's easily over $2 billion. 00:00:46.280 --> 00:00:48.840 Wow. That's staggering. It really is. And the 00:00:48.840 --> 00:00:52.560 American Film Institute ranks her sixth greatest 00:00:52.560 --> 00:00:55.799 female screen legend. That kind of impact, it's 00:00:55.799 --> 00:00:58.700 not an accident. It's constructed. It's a performance 00:00:58.700 --> 00:01:01.859 of femininity, yes, but also ambition. And maybe 00:01:01.859 --> 00:01:04.480 even rebellion. Absolutely. So, okay, our job 00:01:04.480 --> 00:01:06.879 today is to look at the person she started as 00:01:06.879 --> 00:01:10.180 Norma Jean Mortensen and trace the steps, sometimes 00:01:10.180 --> 00:01:12.599 really strategic, sometimes, frankly, heartbreaking 00:01:12.599 --> 00:01:15.140 steps she took to become Marilyn Monroe. It's 00:01:15.140 --> 00:01:16.980 more than history, isn't it? It's almost like 00:01:16.980 --> 00:01:22.400 survival tactics, coping with just immense instability. 00:01:23.280 --> 00:01:27.129 Okay, let's unpack this early life. Los Angeles, 00:01:27.269 --> 00:01:30.269 1926. The thing that just leaps out from all 00:01:30.269 --> 00:01:32.269 the sources about Norma Jean's childhood is, 00:01:32.329 --> 00:01:35.189 well, the lack of permanence. It feels like she 00:01:35.189 --> 00:01:37.409 was always searching for something solid. That's 00:01:37.409 --> 00:01:39.609 exactly it. And it's the root, really, of so 00:01:39.609 --> 00:01:42.189 much later on, the anxiety, the need for control. 00:01:42.310 --> 00:01:45.709 Her mother, Gladys Pearl Baker, she just wasn't 00:01:45.709 --> 00:01:47.370 equipped for motherhood, financially, mentally. 00:01:48.010 --> 00:01:49.909 Gladys suffered from paranoid schizophrenia, 00:01:50.090 --> 00:01:53.450 and by January 1934, she had to be committed. 00:01:54.769 --> 00:01:56.310 Institutionalized. And Norma Jean was only seven. 00:01:56.450 --> 00:01:58.310 Seven years old. And just like that, she becomes 00:01:58.310 --> 00:01:59.989 a ward of the state. Ward of the state. That 00:01:59.989 --> 00:02:01.950 means foster homes. Right. A constant shuffling. 00:02:01.969 --> 00:02:04.049 I read about the Bollingers, these sort of evangelical 00:02:04.049 --> 00:02:07.930 foster parents. Yes, them. And later, her mother's 00:02:07.930 --> 00:02:10.669 friend, Grace McKee Goddard. But there were also 00:02:10.669 --> 00:02:13.909 long stretches and institutions. Specifically, 00:02:14.129 --> 00:02:17.229 the Los Angeles Orphan's Home, number two. Hollygrove. 00:02:17.270 --> 00:02:19.770 An orphanage. Even if some people remembered 00:02:19.770 --> 00:02:22.990 it okay for her. It must have felt like abandonment. 00:02:23.110 --> 00:02:26.629 Pure abandonment. And this constant moving, this 00:02:26.629 --> 00:02:29.750 psychological whiplash, it started showing up 00:02:29.750 --> 00:02:31.789 physically, behaviorally. The sources mentioned 00:02:31.789 --> 00:02:34.370 she developed quite a bad stutter. Yeah, I read 00:02:34.370 --> 00:02:36.449 that. And became very withdrawn. You know, she 00:02:36.449 --> 00:02:38.909 never had what you or I would think of as a stable 00:02:38.909 --> 00:02:41.229 home. Not really. It's interesting, though, how 00:02:41.229 --> 00:02:44.409 that instability kind of fueled her dreams. Her 00:02:44.409 --> 00:02:46.330 foster families, maybe just to keep her busy, 00:02:46.469 --> 00:02:49.370 they sent her to the movies a lot. A lot. And 00:02:49.370 --> 00:02:52.889 it wasn't just fun, was it? A lifeline. An escape. 00:02:53.330 --> 00:02:55.530 An antidote, she called it, to a world she saw 00:02:55.530 --> 00:02:58.969 as grim. Really grim. She figured out if she 00:02:58.969 --> 00:03:01.610 sat right in the very front row, the screen just 00:03:01.610 --> 00:03:04.370 filled her vision. Total escape. A way to reinvent 00:03:04.370 --> 00:03:07.250 things. So the thinking was, if life is grim, 00:03:07.430 --> 00:03:10.210 don't just watch the fantasy. Become it. Exactly. 00:03:11.289 --> 00:03:14.189 That's the first, maybe subconscious, but fundamental 00:03:14.189 --> 00:03:17.569 strategic move. Her whole life became about escaping 00:03:17.569 --> 00:03:20.469 Norma Jean. And on top of the instability, there 00:03:20.469 --> 00:03:23.550 was real trauma. Biographers seem pretty convinced 00:03:23.550 --> 00:03:26.189 she was sexually abused, possibly by a lodger, 00:03:26.210 --> 00:03:28.469 maybe the foster parent. George Atkinson's the 00:03:28.469 --> 00:03:31.490 name that comes up. Around age eight. Yes. And 00:03:31.490 --> 00:03:34.210 that's not just some footnote, you know. That 00:03:34.210 --> 00:03:36.750 specific trauma, her psychoanalyst talked about 00:03:36.750 --> 00:03:38.750 it later, it gets tangled up with her struggles 00:03:38.750 --> 00:03:41.430 with self -worth, with emotional stability throughout 00:03:41.430 --> 00:03:43.830 her life. It connects directly to her acting 00:03:43.830 --> 00:03:45.750 process later, doesn't it? When you think about 00:03:45.750 --> 00:03:48.909 method acting, digging into... past pain for 00:03:48.909 --> 00:03:51.530 authenticity. Oh, absolutely. The psychological 00:03:51.530 --> 00:03:53.990 cost must have been immense. She was essentially, 00:03:54.229 --> 00:03:56.750 maybe unknowingly at first, being asked to revisit 00:03:56.750 --> 00:03:59.569 and in a way monetize the very trauma she was 00:03:59.569 --> 00:04:01.669 desperate to escape. So fast forward to when 00:04:01.669 --> 00:04:04.250 she's 16. Her marriage isn't really about romance, 00:04:04.409 --> 00:04:06.889 is it? It's a defense mechanism. Totally pragmatic. 00:04:06.930 --> 00:04:09.990 It's 1942. The Goddards, her foster parents at 00:04:09.990 --> 00:04:12.449 the time, they're moving to West Virginia. And 00:04:12.449 --> 00:04:15.469 under California law back then, that meant Norma 00:04:15.469 --> 00:04:18.040 Jean faced one thing. Back to the orphanage. 00:04:18.139 --> 00:04:20.519 Unless. Unless she wasn't a ward of the state 00:04:20.519 --> 00:04:23.060 anymore. The only way out was marriage. So the 00:04:23.060 --> 00:04:26.699 solution. Marry the neighbor's son, James Doherty. 00:04:27.139 --> 00:04:29.560 Factory worker. Five years older. Just after 00:04:29.560 --> 00:04:34.120 she turned 16. June 1942. A calculated escape. 00:04:34.360 --> 00:04:36.860 It got her out of the system. Gave her a bit 00:04:36.860 --> 00:04:40.180 of stability, some autonomy. But her own words 00:04:40.180 --> 00:04:42.689 about the marriage. dying of boredom. Right, 00:04:42.730 --> 00:04:44.850 so the moment she felt safe, that ambition, that 00:04:44.850 --> 00:04:47.389 drive to escape the grimness, it just kicked 00:04:47.389 --> 00:04:50.189 right back in. She needed more. Okay, next phase. 00:04:50.329 --> 00:04:52.829 This is where she starts to actively shed Norma 00:04:52.829 --> 00:04:54.870 Jean. World War II is kind of the trigger, right? 00:04:55.009 --> 00:04:57.110 Doherty gets shipped out. Mm -hmm, overseas. 00:04:57.509 --> 00:04:59.529 And she ends up working, of all places, at the 00:04:59.529 --> 00:05:02.120 radio plane company. A munitions factory. Building 00:05:02.120 --> 00:05:04.519 drones, essentially. Sounds completely unglamorous. 00:05:04.720 --> 00:05:06.939 But that's where the spark happens. Late 1944, 00:05:07.319 --> 00:05:09.279 this photographer, David Conover, from the Army 00:05:09.279 --> 00:05:11.360 Air Force's first motion picture unit. Right, 00:05:11.459 --> 00:05:13.699 the FMPU. He's sent there to take pictures of 00:05:13.699 --> 00:05:16.339 women working for the war effort. Morale boosters. 00:05:16.540 --> 00:05:20.300 And he spots her. Pure chance he was there. But 00:05:20.300 --> 00:05:23.560 her reaction. That was strategy. She quits the 00:05:23.560 --> 00:05:26.639 factory almost instantly. 1945. Signs of the 00:05:26.639 --> 00:05:29.279 Blue Book Model Agency. And the sources really 00:05:29.279 --> 00:05:32.199 stress this. They immediately pushed her towards 00:05:32.199 --> 00:05:34.959 pinup modeling. Yeah. Not high fashion. Why is 00:05:34.959 --> 00:05:37.399 that so key? Well, think about the time, post 00:05:37.399 --> 00:05:40.600 -war America. The pinup market was booming. It 00:05:40.600 --> 00:05:42.920 catered directly to that returning male days. 00:05:43.139 --> 00:05:46.180 By going into pinups, she was consciously choosing 00:05:46.180 --> 00:05:49.540 the sex symbol route, using her looks as currency. 00:05:49.699 --> 00:05:52.680 It was probably the fastest, most direct path 00:05:52.680 --> 00:05:54.660 to getting notice. And then comes the physical 00:05:54.660 --> 00:05:57.100 transfer. Yeah. Which was like really deliberate, 00:05:57.279 --> 00:05:59.339 straightening the naturally curly brown hair. 00:05:59.480 --> 00:06:02.360 Light brown, yeah. And dyeing it that platinum 00:06:02.360 --> 00:06:04.199 blonde, that iconic color, and then the name. 00:06:04.259 --> 00:06:07.540 Name change, August 46, Marilyn Monroe. Yeah, 00:06:07.600 --> 00:06:09.500 the Marilyn apparently came from a Fox executive, 00:06:09.759 --> 00:06:11.379 thought she looked like Marilyn Miller, the Broadway 00:06:11.379 --> 00:06:15.000 star. And Monroe was her choice, her mother's 00:06:15.000 --> 00:06:17.819 maiden name, which is kind of poignant, isn't 00:06:17.819 --> 00:06:20.500 it? A little nod back to the instability she 00:06:20.500 --> 00:06:23.000 was leaving, even as she built this totally new 00:06:23.000 --> 00:06:26.040 persona. And this drive, this ambition, it just 00:06:26.040 --> 00:06:30.639 steamrolled her personal life. She divorces Doherty 00:06:30.639 --> 00:06:33.319 in September 46. He didn't approve of the career 00:06:33.319 --> 00:06:36.000 path. No. The marriage that got her out of the 00:06:36.000 --> 00:06:38.120 orphanage became just another thing holding her 00:06:38.120 --> 00:06:40.220 back. She had to cut it loose. Her commitment 00:06:40.220 --> 00:06:43.459 was absolute. Because even when those first studio 00:06:43.459 --> 00:06:46.149 contracts fizzled out, She had brief deals with 00:06:46.149 --> 00:06:49.310 Fox, then Columbia. Yeah, she was basically dropped. 00:06:49.410 --> 00:06:51.290 A failed starlet, really. But she didn't give 00:06:51.290 --> 00:06:54.050 up. She worked as a pacer. What is that? Basically 00:06:54.050 --> 00:06:56.410 dancing behind the scenes to keep extras in rhythm, 00:06:56.490 --> 00:06:58.470 whatever work she could get. And she was taking 00:06:58.470 --> 00:07:00.430 serious acting classes, the Actors Laboratory 00:07:00.430 --> 00:07:02.449 Theater. She wasn't just relying on looks. She 00:07:02.449 --> 00:07:05.009 was working on the craft. And that work started 00:07:05.009 --> 00:07:08.509 to pay off. 1950. Small but noticeable parts 00:07:08.509 --> 00:07:10.990 in really good films. The Asphalt Jungle, All 00:07:10.990 --> 00:07:13.750 About Eve. Tiny part in All About Eve, but... 00:07:13.879 --> 00:07:16.459 unforgettable. These roles were crucial. They 00:07:16.459 --> 00:07:18.740 showed she wasn't just a model. Critics started 00:07:18.740 --> 00:07:21.420 noticing. People point to Asphalt Jungle as the 00:07:21.420 --> 00:07:23.899 moment she began that shift, you know, from movie 00:07:23.899 --> 00:07:27.220 model to serious actress. She wanted the credibility 00:07:27.220 --> 00:07:31.399 and the fame. But then March 1952, potential 00:07:31.399 --> 00:07:34.180 disaster strikes. Yeah. Those nude calendar photos 00:07:34.180 --> 00:07:38.660 from 1949 leak out. Ah, yes. The calendar scandal. 00:07:38.800 --> 00:07:41.279 And this is where you see her shift from maybe 00:07:41.279 --> 00:07:43.480 being lucky to being strategically brilliant 00:07:43.480 --> 00:07:46.300 with the media. She posed back in 49, used the 00:07:46.300 --> 00:07:48.420 name Mona Monroe because she was flat broke, 00:07:48.579 --> 00:07:50.959 needed 50 bucks. Right. So when it breaks, the 00:07:50.959 --> 00:07:54.740 studio instinct would be denial. Cover up. Shame. 00:07:54.759 --> 00:07:57.939 Yeah. Damage control. But Marilyn and the studio 00:07:57.939 --> 00:07:59.699 kind of went along with her instinct here. They 00:07:59.699 --> 00:08:01.699 did the opposite. They admitted it flat out. 00:08:01.800 --> 00:08:03.899 Expun it. Right. Yeah. Emphasize she was broke, 00:08:04.079 --> 00:08:06.939 desperate. The narrative became I had to do it 00:08:06.939 --> 00:08:09.740 to survive. Genius. Absolutely genius. It did 00:08:09.740 --> 00:08:12.399 two things. One, it killed the photos as blackmail 00:08:12.399 --> 00:08:14.259 material. You can't expose a secret everyone 00:08:14.259 --> 00:08:17.139 already knows. And two, it generated this wave 00:08:17.139 --> 00:08:20.339 of public sympathy. America loved that story. 00:08:20.439 --> 00:08:22.439 The struggling girl forced into a tough spot. 00:08:22.980 --> 00:08:26.060 Result. Instant boost. Top billing in her next 00:08:26.060 --> 00:08:29.100 movie, cover of Life magazine. Talk of Hollywood. 00:08:29.519 --> 00:08:32.240 The scandal literally made her bigger. Turned 00:08:32.240 --> 00:08:36.210 a massive liability into pure leverage. Incredible. 00:08:36.370 --> 00:08:38.830 And right after that, she digs deeper into the 00:08:38.830 --> 00:08:41.110 acting, starts studying with Michael Chekhov. 00:08:41.309 --> 00:08:43.350 Yeah, she's actively pushing back against the 00:08:43.350 --> 00:08:46.389 dumb blonde thing almost before it fully solidifies. 00:08:46.590 --> 00:08:49.509 Look at her roles in 52. Clash by Night, she's 00:08:49.509 --> 00:08:51.429 playing a working class woman in a fish cannery. 00:08:51.429 --> 00:08:53.889 Good reviews, too. Hollywood Reporter called 00:08:53.889 --> 00:08:56.149 it an excellent interpretation. And Don't Bother 00:08:56.149 --> 00:08:58.149 to Knock. That was a serious thriller. She played 00:08:58.149 --> 00:09:00.990 a mentally unstable babysitter. A really dark, 00:09:01.009 --> 00:09:03.389 traumatic role. Trying to show range. Definitely. 00:09:03.990 --> 00:09:06.190 But this pressure. the intensity of trying to 00:09:06.190 --> 00:09:07.889 prove herself combined with all that background 00:09:07.889 --> 00:09:10.470 trauma, this is where the stories about her being 00:09:10.470 --> 00:09:12.490 difficult start to surface. Right, the reputation. 00:09:13.000 --> 00:09:15.460 And we need to be careful here. It wasn't just, 00:09:15.460 --> 00:09:18.440 you know, diva behavior. The lateness, forgetting 00:09:18.440 --> 00:09:21.200 lines, needing endless retakes, relying heavily 00:09:21.200 --> 00:09:24.059 on her coach, Natasha Light. Yeah. It stemmed 00:09:24.059 --> 00:09:27.519 from crippling stage fright, sources say. Perfectionism, 00:09:27.620 --> 00:09:30.720 rock -bottom self -esteem, all symptoms of that 00:09:30.720 --> 00:09:33.000 deep anxiety, the terror of failing, maybe the 00:09:33.000 --> 00:09:35.580 terror of being exposed as Marma Jean again. 00:09:35.820 --> 00:09:37.899 She needed everything to be perfect because the 00:09:37.899 --> 00:09:40.600 fantasy, the Marilyn persona, felt so fragile. 00:09:40.940 --> 00:09:43.960 Exactly. Any crap. Crack in the facade felt catastrophic. 00:09:44.279 --> 00:09:46.379 And the sources also mentioned she hated the 00:09:46.379 --> 00:09:48.299 lack of control on a film set. The director's 00:09:48.299 --> 00:09:50.000 in charge there. It wasn't like a photo shoot 00:09:50.000 --> 00:09:51.639 where she could control the image completely. 00:09:51.899 --> 00:09:54.419 Ah, interesting distinction. Yeah. The set was 00:09:54.419 --> 00:09:56.399 the system telling her what to do. The photo 00:09:56.399 --> 00:09:57.919 shoot was her telling the system what to see. 00:09:58.460 --> 00:10:02.639 This conflict plus chronic insomnia. That's when 00:10:02.639 --> 00:10:04.600 the reliance on barbiturates and amphetamines 00:10:04.600 --> 00:10:07.240 really begins. A coping mechanism that sadly 00:10:07.240 --> 00:10:11.539 stuck with her. So 1953. Marilyn Monroe is now 00:10:11.539 --> 00:10:14.340 a full -blown phenomenon. Huge box office draw. 00:10:14.539 --> 00:10:17.679 That trademark look, the makeup, is locked in 00:10:17.679 --> 00:10:20.720 with Alan Whitey Snyder. And the films from that 00:10:20.720 --> 00:10:23.879 year really cement the screen persona. Niagara, 00:10:24.279 --> 00:10:27.960 hugely sexualized. They even marketed it based 00:10:27.960 --> 00:10:31.259 on her walk, that famous hip -swaying walk. There's 00:10:31.259 --> 00:10:33.360 that one long shot. Nearly 30 seconds, yeah. 00:10:33.460 --> 00:10:35.639 Women's clubs protested it, called it immoral. 00:10:36.120 --> 00:10:37.519 Which, of course, just made more people want 00:10:37.519 --> 00:10:39.759 to see it. Guaranteed hit. And then Gentlemen 00:10:39.759 --> 00:10:42.139 Prefer Blondes and How to Marry a Millionaire. 00:10:42.179 --> 00:10:45.139 These are the absolute peak dumb blonde movies. 00:10:45.519 --> 00:10:48.919 But watching her, especially in blondes, singing 00:10:48.919 --> 00:10:52.519 Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend, it doesn't 00:10:52.519 --> 00:10:54.759 feel just dumb. There's a wink there. It's almost 00:10:54.759 --> 00:10:57.769 parody. It's performing dumbness. Which is actually 00:10:57.769 --> 00:10:59.289 incredibly smart. She's playing with the stereotype, 00:10:59.470 --> 00:11:01.649 using it, but also kind of undermining it from 00:11:01.649 --> 00:11:03.750 within. Like you said, a gender trickster. The 00:11:03.750 --> 00:11:05.690 sad part is a lot of people, critics included, 00:11:05.909 --> 00:11:08.210 just saw the surface. They missed the act. Which 00:11:08.210 --> 00:11:10.169 made it harder for her to get those serious roles 00:11:10.169 --> 00:11:12.649 she wanted. Exactly. And in the middle of all 00:11:12.649 --> 00:11:15.809 this, December 53, Hugh Hefner uses her image, 00:11:15.850 --> 00:11:18.490 those old calendar shots for the very first Playboy. 00:11:18.990 --> 00:11:21.590 Cover and centerfold. Without her consent. And 00:11:21.590 --> 00:11:24.269 no pay. No consent for that specific use. No 00:11:24.269 --> 00:11:27.289 pay. It just shows her image was now public domain, 00:11:27.450 --> 00:11:30.210 basically. Making millions for others while she's 00:11:30.210 --> 00:11:32.330 still fighting for control herself. And the media 00:11:32.330 --> 00:11:35.850 storm just intensifies when she marries Joe DiMaggio. 00:11:36.289 --> 00:11:40.070 January 54. Baseball hero, movie goddess, front 00:11:40.070 --> 00:11:42.909 page news everywhere. Biggest celebrity wedding 00:11:42.909 --> 00:11:46.950 imaginable. But it barely lasted. Nine months. 00:11:47.129 --> 00:11:50.149 Why so short? Just a fundamental clash. Her explosive 00:11:50.149 --> 00:11:54.269 sexualized fame versus his kind of quiet traditionalism. 00:11:54.529 --> 00:11:56.690 Sources say he was deeply uncomfortable with 00:11:56.690 --> 00:11:58.909 her image, became intensely jealous, even abusive. 00:11:59.169 --> 00:12:01.169 Physically abusive. Indications point that way, 00:12:01.210 --> 00:12:03.750 yes. And the tension really peaks right after 00:12:03.750 --> 00:12:06.379 the wedding. She goes off to Korea alone. USO 00:12:06.379 --> 00:12:08.480 tour. Right, singing for the troops. Over 60 00:12:08.480 --> 00:12:11.080 ,000 Marines. She felt this incredible direct 00:12:11.080 --> 00:12:13.259 connection with her audience, this huge wave 00:12:13.259 --> 00:12:15.659 of adoration, something DiMaggio couldn't really 00:12:15.659 --> 00:12:18.419 compete with or maybe understand, kind of sealed 00:12:18.419 --> 00:12:20.759 the marriage's fate. And the final nail in the 00:12:20.759 --> 00:12:23.419 coffin comes, ironically, during the filming 00:12:23.419 --> 00:12:27.100 of arguably her most iconic moment, the subway 00:12:27.100 --> 00:12:29.669 great scene for The Seven Year Itch. That's 1955. 00:12:30.269 --> 00:12:32.350 And remember, she didn't even want to do that 00:12:32.350 --> 00:12:35.110 film initially. Fox basically forced her into 00:12:35.110 --> 00:12:37.070 it after suspending her for refusing another 00:12:37.070 --> 00:12:40.230 movie. The studio head, Daryl Zanuck, apparently 00:12:40.649 --> 00:12:43.129 really disliked her personally, wanted to keep 00:12:43.129 --> 00:12:46.289 her in that blonde box. So they staged this subway 00:12:46.289 --> 00:12:49.389 great scene in Manhattan. Huge publicity stunt. 00:12:49.509 --> 00:12:52.730 Thousands of onlookers press flashbulbs going 00:12:52.730 --> 00:12:55.730 off like crazy. Her skirt blowing up. An iconic 00:12:55.730 --> 00:12:59.070 image is born. But for DiMaggio watching this. 00:12:59.559 --> 00:13:02.000 His wife being put on display like that. It was 00:13:02.000 --> 00:13:04.460 the last straw. Huge fight back at the hotel. 00:13:05.059 --> 00:13:08.019 Explosive. Days later, she files for divorce. 00:13:08.320 --> 00:13:10.980 Cites mental cruelty. The image that made her 00:13:10.980 --> 00:13:13.700 a global icon simultaneously destroyed her marriage. 00:13:13.799 --> 00:13:16.200 The price of fame. But even as Fox's biggest 00:13:16.200 --> 00:13:18.840 star, she's still underpaid compared to her box 00:13:18.840 --> 00:13:21.580 office power. Still typecast. And this is the 00:13:21.580 --> 00:13:23.779 moment she decides enough. The actress becomes 00:13:23.779 --> 00:13:26.179 the businesswoman. She needed control. Real control. 00:13:26.360 --> 00:13:27.779 And she wasn't going to get it by playing nice. 00:13:27.840 --> 00:13:30.340 So after finishing Seven Year Itch late 54, she 00:13:30.340 --> 00:13:32.460 doesn't just refuse roles. She leaves Hollywood, 00:13:32.659 --> 00:13:34.500 goes to New York. And starts her own company. 00:13:34.759 --> 00:13:38.059 Marilyn Monroe Productions. MMP with Milton Green, 00:13:38.179 --> 00:13:40.139 the photographer. That must have sent shockwaves 00:13:40.139 --> 00:13:42.820 through the studio system. Oh, huge. Sources 00:13:42.820 --> 00:13:45.179 call it instrumental in eventually breaking that 00:13:45.179 --> 00:13:47.980 old system. Stars locked into those long, restrictive 00:13:47.980 --> 00:13:50.799 contracts. Marilyn showed there was another way. 00:13:51.210 --> 00:13:53.610 How did she force their hand legally? She essentially 00:13:53.610 --> 00:13:56.490 sued Fox, claimed they hadn't fulfilled their 00:13:56.490 --> 00:13:59.009 contract by offering her suitable roles, declared 00:13:59.009 --> 00:14:02.289 she was tired of the same old sex roles. By forming 00:14:02.289 --> 00:14:04.990 MMP, she was saying, I control my projects now, 00:14:05.110 --> 00:14:08.149 my directors, my schedule. It set a massive precedent. 00:14:08.330 --> 00:14:10.769 If Marilyn could do it. Others would follow. 00:14:11.299 --> 00:14:14.080 Brando Newman. Exactly. Demanding more power, 00:14:14.120 --> 00:14:16.379 more money. The press mocked her at first, of 00:14:16.379 --> 00:14:18.919 course, compared her to Jane Mansfield. But she 00:14:18.919 --> 00:14:22.960 was deadly serious. She spent 1955 not making 00:14:22.960 --> 00:14:25.240 movies, but educating herself. Right. She enrolled 00:14:25.240 --> 00:14:27.700 at the actor's studio, studying method acting 00:14:27.700 --> 00:14:30.279 with Lee Strasberg. And Paula Strasberg, his 00:14:30.279 --> 00:14:32.799 wife, became her personal coach. And at the same 00:14:32.799 --> 00:14:35.580 time, she starts intensive psychoanalysis, which 00:14:35.580 --> 00:14:37.860 is key. How do those two things connect? The 00:14:37.860 --> 00:14:40.779 acting and the therapy. Well, method acting often 00:14:40.779 --> 00:14:43.419 asks you to pull on your own deep emotional memories, 00:14:43.519 --> 00:14:45.480 right? Your own pain, to make the performance 00:14:45.480 --> 00:14:47.779 authentic. Okay. Now, imagine doing that when 00:14:47.779 --> 00:14:50.759 your past is Norma Jean's past. Abandonment, 00:14:50.759 --> 00:14:53.620 abuse, dredging that up constantly for your job. 00:14:53.639 --> 00:14:55.799 It's incredibly risky, emotionally destructive. 00:14:56.240 --> 00:14:58.240 The psychoanalysis wasn't just for healing. It 00:14:58.240 --> 00:15:00.980 was almost a tool to access those very feelings 00:15:00.980 --> 00:15:03.759 the Strasbergs wanted her to use. Her ambition 00:15:03.759 --> 00:15:06.100 and her mental health were in constant conflict. 00:15:06.240 --> 00:15:08.980 Wow, that's a dick. It really was. But the corporate... 00:15:08.970 --> 00:15:12.450 gamble paid off, Fox needed her back badly. By 00:15:12.450 --> 00:15:15.590 the end of 55, they caved. New seven -year contract, 00:15:15.929 --> 00:15:19.830 $400 ,000 for four films. And crucially, approval 00:15:19.830 --> 00:15:22.250 over projects, directors, even cinematographers. 00:15:22.529 --> 00:15:24.350 She'd gone from ward of the state to ward of 00:15:24.350 --> 00:15:27.429 the studio to CEO of her own career. So 1956 00:15:27.429 --> 00:15:30.850 marks this new era. She legally changes her name 00:15:30.850 --> 00:15:33.690 to Marilyn Monroe. Makes it official. Even Time 00:15:33.690 --> 00:15:35.929 magazine has to admit she's a shrewd businesswoman. 00:15:36.210 --> 00:15:38.490 Recognition. And then another huge personal shift. 00:15:38.649 --> 00:15:41.950 She marries Arthur Miller, the playwright. Intellectual 00:15:41.950 --> 00:15:45.269 heavyweight. Talk about a PR whirlwind. The press 00:15:45.269 --> 00:15:48.500 went nuts. egghead weds hourglass that was the 00:15:48.500 --> 00:15:51.080 famous headline yeah i remember that for her 00:15:51.080 --> 00:15:53.460 it was clearly another attempt to gain something 00:15:53.460 --> 00:15:55.860 she felt she lacked intellectual respectability 00:15:55.860 --> 00:15:59.360 maybe a sense of grounding family she even converted 00:15:59.360 --> 00:16:01.679 to judaism aligning with miller's background 00:16:01.679 --> 00:16:04.620 identified as a jewish atheist interestingly 00:16:04.620 --> 00:16:06.960 enough did that conversion have other consequences 00:16:06.960 --> 00:16:09.120 i feel like i read something it did internationally 00:16:09.120 --> 00:16:12.519 egypt banned all her films saw the conversion 00:16:12.519 --> 00:16:15.929 as support for israel shows how even her personal 00:16:15.929 --> 00:16:18.929 choices had this global ripple effect wow okay 00:16:18.929 --> 00:16:21.429 so her first film under this powerful new contract 00:16:21.429 --> 00:16:25.870 is bus stop yeah 1956 and this was her chance 00:16:25.870 --> 00:16:27.889 to prove the fight was worth it and she nailed 00:16:27.889 --> 00:16:31.730 it deliberately chose a non -glamorous role sheree 00:16:31.730 --> 00:16:34.779 the saloon singer adopted an ozark accent insisted 00:16:34.779 --> 00:16:36.980 on looking less polished she wanted to act not 00:16:36.980 --> 00:16:38.940 just be looked at in a critic they were stunned 00:16:38.940 --> 00:16:41.960 blown away the saturday review said her performance 00:16:41.960 --> 00:16:44.740 effectively dispels once and for all the notion 00:16:44.740 --> 00:16:47.779 that she is merely a glamour personality golden 00:16:47.779 --> 00:16:49.940 globe nomination she proved her point she was 00:16:49.940 --> 00:16:52.279 a serious actress professional triumph but then 00:16:52.279 --> 00:16:56.539 personal difficulty right after her first independent 00:16:56.539 --> 00:16:59.960 production through mmp the prince and the showgirl 00:17:00.970 --> 00:17:02.909 Co -starring and directed by Laurence Olivier. 00:17:03.269 --> 00:17:06.190 Oh, that set was famously tense. Olivier, you 00:17:06.190 --> 00:17:08.190 know, Sir Lawrence, the great Shakespearean actor. 00:17:08.589 --> 00:17:11.250 He apparently couldn't stand her method approach. 00:17:11.829 --> 00:17:14.230 Hated having Paula Strasberg, her coach, on set 00:17:14.230 --> 00:17:16.289 all the time. Pure clash of styles. And cultures. 00:17:16.609 --> 00:17:18.910 British theatrical royalty versus Hollywood method. 00:17:19.089 --> 00:17:21.849 His attitude was reportedly incredibly condescending. 00:17:21.849 --> 00:17:23.849 The famous line attributed to him is telling 00:17:23.849 --> 00:17:26.569 her, all you have to do is be sexy. Ouch. After 00:17:26.569 --> 00:17:28.890 everything she fought for. Devastating for her 00:17:28.890 --> 00:17:31.890 and her response. She became difficult, deliberately 00:17:31.890 --> 00:17:34.569 late, holding up production. She later said something 00:17:34.569 --> 00:17:36.390 like, if you don't respect your artists, they 00:17:36.390 --> 00:17:39.670 can't work well. It was partly defense, partly 00:17:39.670 --> 00:17:42.450 maybe proving she still had power. Despite all 00:17:42.450 --> 00:17:44.390 that friction, she still got a BAFTA nomination 00:17:44.390 --> 00:17:47.250 for the performance. This period, though, it 00:17:47.250 --> 00:17:49.190 seems like the personal toll was getting heavier. 00:17:50.029 --> 00:17:53.140 Miscarriages, health problems. The reliance on 00:17:53.140 --> 00:17:56.279 pills increasing. Definitely escalating. Managing 00:17:56.279 --> 00:17:58.640 the stress, the insomnia, the physical pain from 00:17:58.640 --> 00:18:01.839 conditions like endometriosis. Yet somehow, she 00:18:01.839 --> 00:18:03.940 follows this difficult period with one of her 00:18:03.940 --> 00:18:07.559 greatest triumphs. Some like it hot, 1959. A 00:18:07.559 --> 00:18:10.500 masterpiece. So funny, so smart about gender 00:18:10.500 --> 00:18:13.259 roles. Huge hit, critical acclaim, she won a 00:18:13.259 --> 00:18:15.160 Golden Globe. But the making of it, legendary 00:18:15.160 --> 00:18:17.460 for being difficult. This is where the stories 00:18:17.460 --> 00:18:20.079 of her struggles on set really peak. The conflict 00:18:20.079 --> 00:18:22.099 between the brilliant performer, and the incredibly 00:18:22.099 --> 00:18:24.859 fragile person was just right there on the surface. 00:18:25.160 --> 00:18:27.599 The stories are wild. Dozens and dozens of takes 00:18:27.599 --> 00:18:30.099 for simple lines. Forgetting dialogue constantly. 00:18:30.380 --> 00:18:32.500 They supposedly had pew cards hidden all over 00:18:32.500 --> 00:18:35.240 the set. Yeah. And Tony Curtis's infamous quote 00:18:35.240 --> 00:18:37.920 about kissing her being like kissing Hitler. 00:18:38.099 --> 00:18:40.460 Which sounds awful, but it came from the sheer 00:18:40.460 --> 00:18:43.539 frustration of doing scenes over and over and 00:18:43.539 --> 00:18:46.160 over. But the performance is magic. How does 00:18:46.160 --> 00:18:48.819 that happen? That's the paradox, isn't it? Billy 00:18:48.819 --> 00:18:51.160 Wilder, the director, was tearing his hair out, 00:18:51.200 --> 00:18:53.200 but he admitted it later. He said something like, 00:18:53.240 --> 00:18:55.660 anyone can remember lines, but it takes a real 00:18:55.660 --> 00:18:57.980 artist to come on the set and not know her lines 00:18:57.980 --> 00:19:01.019 and yet give the performance she did. Her perfectionism, 00:19:01.039 --> 00:19:04.279 her insecurity, it somehow fueled the magic on 00:19:04.279 --> 00:19:07.380 screen. Agonizing, but brilliant. That internal 00:19:07.380 --> 00:19:09.319 struggle really comes to a head with her last 00:19:09.319 --> 00:19:13.109 finished film, The Misfits. 1961. Written for 00:19:13.109 --> 00:19:15.269 her by Arthur Miller. Yeah, Miller wrote it as 00:19:15.269 --> 00:19:18.369 a serious, dramatic showcase for her. A gift, 00:19:18.410 --> 00:19:20.829 supposedly. But the production itself became 00:19:20.829 --> 00:19:22.730 the backdrop for their marriage completely falling 00:19:22.730 --> 00:19:25.410 apart. Miller started an affair during filming 00:19:25.410 --> 00:19:28.049 with the set photographer Inge Morath, who he 00:19:28.049 --> 00:19:30.769 later married. And Marilyn realized with growing 00:19:30.769 --> 00:19:33.470 horror that the character Miller wrote for her, 00:19:33.569 --> 00:19:37.200 Rosalyn. It was based on her, but in a really 00:19:37.200 --> 00:19:40.220 critical, almost resentful way. She felt the 00:19:40.220 --> 00:19:42.980 male roles, Gables and Cliffs, were written with 00:19:42.980 --> 00:19:45.220 much more depth and sympathy. That must have 00:19:45.220 --> 00:19:47.380 felt like such a betrayal. Profound betrayal. 00:19:47.940 --> 00:19:51.279 On top of that, the shoot itself was brutal Nevada 00:19:51.279 --> 00:19:54.339 desert heat. Her health was terrible gallstones, 00:19:54.500 --> 00:19:57.019 the endometriosis flared up, and her drug use, 00:19:57.180 --> 00:20:00.220 it was out of control. Sources say her makeup 00:20:00.220 --> 00:20:02.019 sometimes had to be applied while she was basically 00:20:02.019 --> 00:20:04.059 still asleep, semi -conscious from the drug. 00:20:04.180 --> 00:20:06.099 Just functioning must have been agony. At one 00:20:06.099 --> 00:20:08.039 point, production had to stop for a week while 00:20:08.039 --> 00:20:10.160 she went into detox. Just to get her well enough 00:20:10.160 --> 00:20:12.279 to finish, it's heartbreaking. But again, the 00:20:12.279 --> 00:20:15.180 performance. Critics now see it as maybe her 00:20:15.180 --> 00:20:17.700 deepest, her most mature interpretation. She 00:20:17.700 --> 00:20:20.079 poured all that pain, all the Norma Jean trauma 00:20:20.079 --> 00:20:23.940 directly into Rosalyn, achieved this raw authenticity, 00:20:24.140 --> 00:20:27.099 but at the cost of her own well -being. And it's 00:20:27.099 --> 00:20:29.980 just so tragically fitting that The Misfits was 00:20:29.980 --> 00:20:32.900 the last film for both her and Clark Gable. Her 00:20:32.900 --> 00:20:34.900 divorce from Miller was finalized right after 00:20:34.900 --> 00:20:39.259 January 61. So after the divorce, 1961 is just 00:20:39.259 --> 00:20:41.980 rough. More health problems, surgeries, treatment 00:20:41.980 --> 00:20:44.039 for depression. And there was that really scary 00:20:44.039 --> 00:20:46.339 incident where she checked herself in for psychiatric 00:20:46.339 --> 00:20:48.799 help. Right, but ended up mistakenly placed in 00:20:48.799 --> 00:20:51.450 a high security ward. for patients with severe 00:20:51.450 --> 00:20:53.569 psychosis. That must have been terrifying for 00:20:53.569 --> 00:20:55.670 her. Echoes of her mother's institutionalization, 00:20:55.849 --> 00:20:59.829 the orphanage. Exactly. Deep -seated fears. Thankfully, 00:21:00.029 --> 00:21:02.829 Joe DiMaggio, they had reconnected, formed this 00:21:02.829 --> 00:21:04.589 kind of supportive friendship. He stepped in 00:21:04.589 --> 00:21:07.009 immediately, got her transferred somewhere appropriate. 00:21:07.349 --> 00:21:10.589 It shows, despite everything, he was still protective 00:21:10.589 --> 00:21:13.190 of her in some fundamental way. She needed that 00:21:13.190 --> 00:21:14.970 support because she went right back to work. 00:21:15.400 --> 00:21:18.000 Started filming Something's Gotta Give for Fox 00:21:18.000 --> 00:21:20.900 in early 62. But it was plagued with problems 00:21:20.900 --> 00:21:23.420 from the start. Yeah, she got sinusitis, missed 00:21:23.420 --> 00:21:26.259 days. But the timing for Fox was just awful. 00:21:26.400 --> 00:21:28.599 They were hemorrhaging money on Elizabeth Taylor's 00:21:28.599 --> 00:21:31.319 Cleopatra. That film's budget was spiraling out 00:21:31.319 --> 00:21:33.319 of control. So they had no patience for delays 00:21:33.319 --> 00:21:35.779 on Marilyn's film. None. They needed a hit and 00:21:35.779 --> 00:21:37.720 they needed it on schedule. They started putting 00:21:37.720 --> 00:21:39.819 pressure on her publicly, implying she was faking 00:21:39.819 --> 00:21:42.960 illnesses. The relationship got really antagonistic. 00:21:43.220 --> 00:21:46.950 And then comes the breaking point. May 1962. 00:21:47.569 --> 00:21:50.269 She takes an unapproved leave from the set. To 00:21:50.269 --> 00:21:52.450 go sing at Madison Square Garden for President 00:21:52.450 --> 00:21:55.069 Kennedy's birthday gala. The happy birthday Mr. 00:21:55.210 --> 00:21:58.009 President moment wearing that dress. The sheer 00:21:58.009 --> 00:22:01.369 rhinestone covered dress basically looked nude 00:22:01.369 --> 00:22:04.109 under the spotlights. It was this huge defiant 00:22:04.109 --> 00:22:07.329 reclaiming of her star power, her sexuality on 00:22:07.329 --> 00:22:10.630 a national stage. But for Fox, already furious, 00:22:10.930 --> 00:22:13.099 it was the last straw. Utterly unprofessional 00:22:13.099 --> 00:22:16.460 in their eyes. Did the affair rumors with JFK 00:22:16.460 --> 00:22:19.119 play into Fox's reaction? The rumors were flying, 00:22:19.220 --> 00:22:21.599 certainly, though most reliable sources suggest 00:22:21.599 --> 00:22:23.619 the relationship was fairly casual, not some 00:22:23.619 --> 00:22:26.119 grand love affair. But the public spectacle of 00:22:26.119 --> 00:22:28.140 her singing so intimately to the president while 00:22:28.140 --> 00:22:30.619 absent from their set, that was unforgivable 00:22:30.619 --> 00:22:34.079 to the studio bosses. So Fox fires her June 62 00:22:34.079 --> 00:22:38.900 and sues her for $750 ,000. Yep. replaced her 00:22:38.900 --> 00:22:41.539 with Lee Remick. But then another twist showing 00:22:41.539 --> 00:22:44.930 Marilyn's power even when fired. Dean Martin, 00:22:45.150 --> 00:22:48.089 her co -star, refused to make the film with anyone 00:22:48.089 --> 00:22:50.950 else. Really? Pulled out, which basically shut 00:22:50.950 --> 00:22:53.430 down production. Fox was stuck. They realized 00:22:53.430 --> 00:22:55.869 pretty quickly they'd made a huge mistake. The 00:22:55.869 --> 00:22:58.450 film was probably worthless without Monroe. So 00:22:58.450 --> 00:23:00.369 they started negotiating to get her back. Exactly. 00:23:00.430 --> 00:23:02.609 In the final weeks of her life, it seemed she 00:23:02.609 --> 00:23:05.089 was gearing up for a comeback, doing interviews, 00:23:05.369 --> 00:23:07.910 planning projects. She did that famous photo 00:23:07.910 --> 00:23:10.109 session with Burt Stern, the one called The Last 00:23:10.109 --> 00:23:12.369 Sitting, trying to control her image again, maybe 00:23:12.369 --> 00:23:14.380 on her own terms. But she never got the chance. 00:23:14.480 --> 00:23:18.039 August 4th, 1962. She dies at home. She was only 00:23:18.039 --> 00:23:21.000 36. Found by her psychiatrist, Ralph Greenson, 00:23:21.019 --> 00:23:23.859 and her housekeeper, Eunice Murray, the coroner's 00:23:23.859 --> 00:23:26.660 report was clear. Acute barbiturate poisoning. 00:23:27.200 --> 00:23:29.500 Lethal levels way over the limit found in her 00:23:29.500 --> 00:23:31.660 system. And the official cause of death. Probable 00:23:31.660 --> 00:23:34.319 suicide. The deputy coroner, Thomas Noguchi, 00:23:34.500 --> 00:23:37.079 cited her history of depression, previous overdoses. 00:23:37.119 --> 00:23:39.759 It fit a pattern, sadly. The impact was just 00:23:39.759 --> 00:23:43.069 immediate. Huge shockwaves. Didn't the suicide 00:23:43.069 --> 00:23:45.730 rate in L .A. spike that month? Reportedly doubled, 00:23:45.849 --> 00:23:48.309 yeah. Her death felt personal to so many people. 00:23:48.569 --> 00:23:51.990 The funeral was small, intensely private, arranged 00:23:51.990 --> 00:23:55.369 by DiMaggio. He famously barred most of the Hollywood 00:23:55.369 --> 00:23:58.990 bigwigs, blamed them, the industry, for her death. 00:23:59.190 --> 00:24:00.890 Of course, the conspiracy theory started almost 00:24:00.890 --> 00:24:03.740 immediately. Murder? Accidental overdose? Oh, 00:24:03.779 --> 00:24:06.799 endlessly. They persist even today. But it's 00:24:06.799 --> 00:24:09.799 important to mention, in 1982, the L .A. District 00:24:09.799 --> 00:24:13.220 Attorney did a thorough review, a threshold investigation, 00:24:13.640 --> 00:24:16.279 precisely because of those theories. And they 00:24:16.279 --> 00:24:19.539 found? No evidence of foul play. None whatsoever. 00:24:19.900 --> 00:24:22.420 Their conclusion upheld the original finding, 00:24:22.720 --> 00:24:25.539 probable suicide. Okay, let's step back and look 00:24:25.539 --> 00:24:28.220 at the legacy. That image. It was so perfectly 00:24:28.220 --> 00:24:30.990 crafted for its time, wasn't it? Post -war America, 00:24:31.170 --> 00:24:34.609 the male gaze. A softer kind of sexuality compared 00:24:34.609 --> 00:24:37.130 to the tough dames of the 40s. Deliberately constructed. 00:24:37.470 --> 00:24:39.390 But as we've discussed, that dumb blonde thing 00:24:39.390 --> 00:24:41.109 was the ultimate performance. She was anything 00:24:41.109 --> 00:24:44.369 but dumb. Very smart indeed. Very tough, as biographers 00:24:44.369 --> 00:24:46.789 say. Smart enough to beat the studio system at 00:24:46.789 --> 00:24:49.250 its own game. Using the stereotype against itself, 00:24:49.470 --> 00:24:52.029 that gender trickster idea. Right, and you see 00:24:52.029 --> 00:24:54.410 her wit in those little deflections, the Monroe 00:24:54.410 --> 00:24:56.690 -isms. Like, when asked what she wore to bed, 00:24:56.950 --> 00:25:00.220 I had the radio on. Classic. Completely sidesteps 00:25:00.220 --> 00:25:02.759 the question with humor. Exactly. She just embodied 00:25:02.759 --> 00:25:05.680 the era in so many ways. Post -war optimism, 00:25:06.119 --> 00:25:09.000 sex seeming somehow natural and innocent, consumer 00:25:09.000 --> 00:25:11.880 culture, that populist glamour. It makes sense 00:25:11.880 --> 00:25:14.240 she's on the Smithsonian's list of the hundred 00:25:14.240 --> 00:25:16.819 most significant Americans. And the image just 00:25:16.819 --> 00:25:19.420 endures. It keeps getting reinterpreted. Warhol, 00:25:19.539 --> 00:25:23.640 Madonna. academics study her through lenses of 00:25:23.640 --> 00:25:26.259 feminism, media, fame. She's called the eternal 00:25:26.259 --> 00:25:28.960 shapeshifter. Each generation kind of remakes 00:25:28.960 --> 00:25:30.779 her in their own image, finds something relevant. 00:25:30.880 --> 00:25:33.299 It's that tension, isn't it? Between the vulnerable 00:25:33.299 --> 00:25:35.599 Norma Jean and the powerful creation Marilyn 00:25:35.599 --> 00:25:38.839 Monroe. That's what keeps us fascinated. Hashtag 00:25:38.839 --> 00:25:41.309 tag tag outro. So when you pull it all together, 00:25:41.410 --> 00:25:44.009 what we've seen today is, well, Marilyn Monroe 00:25:44.009 --> 00:25:46.529 was this master of creating herself, a really 00:25:46.529 --> 00:25:48.750 dedicated actress who fought for and earned critical 00:25:48.750 --> 00:25:51.829 respect and a truly strategic businesswoman who 00:25:51.829 --> 00:25:53.769 actually helped change how Hollywood worked. 00:25:53.910 --> 00:25:56.069 It was a constant calculated battle against the 00:25:56.069 --> 00:25:58.400 system and maybe against her own past. Yeah, 00:25:58.440 --> 00:26:00.859 absolutely. And that leaves us with something 00:26:00.859 --> 00:26:03.200 to really chew on, doesn't it? A final thought 00:26:03.200 --> 00:26:05.799 for you, the listener. Think about this. Norma 00:26:05.799 --> 00:26:08.920 Jean had to invent Marilyn Monroe, this larger 00:26:08.920 --> 00:26:11.480 -than -life, untouchable, sexualized persona, 00:26:11.640 --> 00:26:14.599 just to survive her own grim beginnings and the 00:26:14.599 --> 00:26:16.839 pressures of Hollywood. She fought tooth and 00:26:16.839 --> 00:26:18.779 nail to gain control over that image, and she 00:26:18.779 --> 00:26:21.059 largely succeeded. So what does it tell us about 00:26:21.059 --> 00:26:23.660 fame, about image, about us, maybe? That her 00:26:23.660 --> 00:26:26.579 biggest, most tragic fight was trying to get 00:26:26.579 --> 00:26:28.720 the world and maybe... herself sometimes to see 00:26:28.720 --> 00:26:30.980 past the character to believe in the complex 00:26:30.980 --> 00:26:33.039 ambitious intelligent actress underneath the 00:26:33.039 --> 00:26:35.079 blonde hair and the whispery voice she created