N IS FOR NORMA JEANE

"I believe that everything happens for a reason. People change so that you can learn to let go, things go wrong so that you appreciate them when they're right, you believe lies so you eventually learn to trust no one but yourself, and sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together."    ~Marilyn Monroe

I was in junior high school when I read my first biography on Norma Jeane (Mortenson) Baker, more commonly known as Marilyn Monroe.   Her story was one of triumph and utter despair.  It was that rise from the ashes story, and yet... She never really escaped the bondage of her past.  Her fears were always with her.  They rode piggyback on everything that she did and guided every decision that she made.  They tarnished even her brightest successes.  It made me so sad, because it was clear that there was a fighter, a winner, a girl who had that magic *something* in there.

Her mother was emotionally unbalanced.  Her father was out of the picture altogether.  So, young Norma Jeane lived with family members, and friends of the family, until she became a Ward of The State.  She lived in foster care.  This system was not good for her, as it was not good for many young people.  She was sexually assaulted in one or more homes.  I have no doubt that left scars.  Her mother's "going crazy" haunted her for the entirety of her life.  She lived in fear of reaching that age when she would also just lose it and go insane like dear old mom.  It is impossible to build good things for yourself when you have these ghosts nipping at your heels.

Given this foundation, look at what she accomplished: She went from a pin-up girl to a full-fledged movie star.  She sang and acted and made America love her.  In fact, people today still know who Marilyn Monroe is even if they haven't seen one of her films.  Everyone recognizes her face.

Norma Jeane was a very complicated person, aside from her rocky start in life.  She looked like one thing on the outside, but was a totally different thing on the inside.  She looked like a "dumb blonde".... all curvy body and long legs.  People like for people to be on the inside the way that they look on the outside.  Pretty and not so bright.  Instead, Marilyn was smart.  She liked to read and talk politics.  She nearly didn't even meet Joe DiMaggio, much less marry him, because she didn't like jocks.  She wanted to be able to talk to a man.  He turned out to be a pleasant surprise.  Their conflict came because he didn't like his wife being this big Sex Symbol for all of America to ogle.  Her career kept getting bigger and bigger and so did their arguments.  It didn't mean he didn't love her.  In fact, he put roses on her grave until the day he died.  And she sent him a letter AFTER they divorced telling him she loved him.  Love is a crazy thing.

Marrying Arthur Miller is further proof that she was all about having good conversation with her partner.  He was not a looker by any means.  I hope that I am not offending anyone.  Just calling it like I see it.  He was a genius writer, and I imagine very interesting to converse with, but not easy on the eyes.  However, that marriage did not last, either.  The signs point to the poor performance at the box office of the movie Let's Make Love.  That was followed up with The Misfits.  It is rumored that Monroe was a real pill on-set, and Clark Gable died right after that was finished filming, so that whole film was fraught with tragedy.   At the time it came out with mixed reviews, won some awards,  but today it is considered a Classic.  I am sure it didn't help the tension between Miller and Monroe.  They separated within days after the filming of the movie, and soon divorced.

As for her death, I am not certain that I buy suicide.  Many people, who know way more than I do, are pretty certain that her involvement with President Kennedy, and his brother, Bobby, took her down a bad path.  She was very interested in politics, and people constantly underestimated her intelligence.  It is fairly well known (now) that she did have an affair with both men.  Was there pillow talk that happened that shouldn't?  Possibly.  How do you take that back when you realize you have said more than you should to someone who understands more than you thought?  When you are the President it's pretty easy to make it look like suicide.  Not saying that is what happened, just that it certainly could have happened.  We know that corruption was alive and well.  If you are in doubt, look ahead in time to the Kennedy assassination (or back in time to my "J" post).

In any event, I think Elton John got it right.  She lived her life like a candle in the wind.  She never did know who to cling to when the rain set in.  I really would have liked to know her (but I wasn't a twinkle in anyone's eye).  Marilyn is that reminder that Fame won't keep you warm at night.  All of the Fan Love isn't going to make you love yourself.  You have to get right with yourself, conquer your own demons, love yourself, before you go out there and take on the World.  Otherwise, you will always be a Candle In The Wind.  Goodbye Norma Jeane...

Rating:   I Phase In And Out Any Time I Get New Information:)  She doesn't stay on my Hot Burner, but I can't say I am ever Disinterested!


Did you learn anything new about Marilyn Monroe?  Does her story make you sad?  Did you read a book or learn about someone who had died and want to know more when you were younger?   

THE KNOCK OUT

Well, I woke up feeling lousy and decided not to blog today. Then I got in the Think Tank and was bombarded with ideas. For my more recent followers, the Think Tank is the shower. Sometimes it yields nothing, but today it blasted me with material. Go figure. Actually, it was all inter-connected in a bizarre twisty-turny sort of way, but I am not going to lead you through the maze that is my brain, because we might all get lost, and then it would feel more like an episode of LOST or THE TWILIGHT ZONE, and that isn't what I had in mind at all.


When I was in junior high school, I think, I read a book about Marilyn Monroe. It might have been high school, but I am pretty sure it was junior high school. It kicked off a fascination that I can't say has actually ended. Marilyn Monroe was a mystery to me. If she had just been a pretty starlet who had died young, I would have been sad, but not intrigued. Instead, she was a complex person who had a rough childhood, a crazy mother, feared going crazy to the point that it was its own neuroses, had this sexy voice that made people assume she was stupid (she wasn't), and she married smart men. She also dallied with smart men with whom she shouldn't have. I didn't know about the dalliances until later in life. The books that I was reading at the time didn't contain that information. This is where I found this photo and you can also find more Marilyn pictures here.


No one said unkind things about Marilyn Monroe. Of course, she was dead, and it looks bad to speak ill of the dead. Joe DiMaggio appeared to have never recovered from their divorce. He also kept his mouth zipped about what went wrong in their marriage. Marilyn didn't talk about it, either. When she died she was married to the playwright, Arthur Miller. Baseball player to playwright. Really good looking man to not good looking man. Obviously there was more to Marilyn Monroe than met the eye. She must have cared about what someone had to say. She didn't marry Arthur Miller because he was eye candy. Arthur Miller is the guy with her here.


It wasn't long after that I became very interested in John F. Kennedy's assassination. Interestingly enough, I was completely unaware of the affair he had going with my first tragic passion, Marilyn. I was so interested that I did my 11th grade research paper on JFK's assassination. I was immersed in that material. I read so many books on the events of that day in Dallas, that I could have written the Warren Report. Without going into too many details, and creating political frenzy, I think the Warren Report is garbage, Lee Harvey Oswald didn't do it, and it was all a big cover-up. I have a very long research paper with my detailed analysis of the events. But, I am not going to get into that here because it isn't the point.

After spending all of that time delving into JFK's assassination, I felt connected to the man, and I think I took his death a little too personally. It hurt me on a level that was a little deeper than I liked, particularly since I wasn't even alive when the events took place. Therefore, when I found out what a scoundrel and a cheater he was, that was a personal blow to me. It shouldn't have been; I wasn't the one doing the cheating. When I found out he was cheating with Marilyn Monroe, it was a knock-out punch.

What I have come to understand... let me qualify that... what I have come to believe is that JFK was a cheater. He would screw anything in a skirt that would let him. He was good-looking and powerful and a lot of women let him. I really feel for Jackie, or felt for Jackie, since this is old news. I don't know if she knew what she was getting when she said, "I do." I suspect she didn't, and then it was too late to say, "You bastard, I don't." All of America was watching and wishing that they could be Jackie. They wore their hair like her and adopted her sense of style. Everyone wanted to be Jackie.


As for Marilyn, she was cheating, too, because she was married, so that technically makes her cheater. Would she cheat with just anyone? No. She cheated with smart men. Marilyn was political. She understood politics and was interested. She slept with both Robert and John. That is icky. To me, that is icky. They didn't seem to have a problem with it. I believe that they underestimated her. They saw the dumb blonde and talked politics with her, thinking that she didn't get it. When they realized that she did, they understood that THEY had breached national security. I don't know which one of them had her killed, but it was probably the president, since he was getting most of the action there at the end. Of course, that is not what what was reported in the news article and you can click here to visit the site where I picked it up. I have no doubt that she died of a drug overdose. I just don't believe that it was self-inflicted. Enough said.


Can I prove anything I have written here? Of course not. If I could, I would have a book deal and be famous and this news would be coming to you from the Oprah Winfrey Show. All I know is how I feel... and that is a little bit sick. One of my followers, and I like to think, friend, recently commented that you shouldn't idolize people, for they will invariably let you down. It is better to idolize bees, if you feel the need to put something on a pedestal. She makes a good point. I never idolized Marilyn, so much as found her complex, and wanted to understand her. However, I thought JFK was a good man. I thought he was a better man than he was. And same goes for his brother. To find out that they are the ones that were most likely responsible for Marilyn's life being cut short, well it was the kick in the gut when I was already down.

I don't regret doing that 11th grade report on JFK's assassination. I believe that Lee Harvey Oswald was an innocent man. It's a relief to know that someone was innocent.