Reading Response 1: The New Marilyn Monroe

In his chapter on Marilyn Monroe, Richard Dyer examines the components that raised Monroe from just another Hollywood star to a Hollywood icon. I still do not entirely understand why her iconic image has endured because based on Dyer’s argument, her appeal was primarily focused on the male audience and does not take into account the desires of the female audience. Regardless, I think that the relationship between Monroe and the audience is the most essential factor behind her status as an icon. For example, he writes that “[The Prince and the Showgirl] constantly plays with our supposed desire to see Monroe as sexual spectacle” (20). For me, this statement embodies his argument because it brings up both the idea of Monroe as a consciously constructed “sexual spectacle” and the notion of audience desire. As Laura Mulvey argues in “Visual Pleasure of Narrative Cinema,” the classical Hollywood cinema works based on the notion of woman as object to be looked at or as a spectacle. However, does that construction reflect our “innate” desires or is it a device used to create that desire and make it feel “natural,” or “innate?”

I think that this relationship between what we, the audience, wants and what we think we want emerges in contemporary pop culture because there is a bevy of stars who attempt to channel Marilyn Monroe and in doing so, play into this notion of supposed audience desire. Dyer discusses the power of Monroe lying in the fact that her image could mean anything: sweet, naïve girl next door, sex kitten, dumb blonde, etc. Certainly there are many in pop culture who overtly evoke Monroe, whether successfully or not: Madonna, Christina Aguilera and maybe even Gwen Stefani. But while reading this, the one name that kept coming to mind was Paris Hilton. I know, blasphemy! Paris doesn’t do anything and she shouldn’t even be famous. But she is famous and many of the qualities that Dyer outlines about Monroe resonate with characteristics and actions of Paris Hilton.

First of all, whether she does nothing or not, Paris Hilton is undeniably an image and although she may not do it as well as Monroe, Paris can mean anything: socialite, dumb blonde, sex kitten, or victim. Dyer also discusses Monroe’s position as the ideal woman: white, platinum blonde, available, and vulnerable. Monroe was the ideal not only because she embodied these characteristics but also because of what she was not i.e. the Other. When initially reading this, my first thought was if this notion of the ideal woman had evolved since Monroe’s time and thinking about Paris Hilton, I realized that it hasn’t changed at all. Certainly a lot of people might not call Paris Hilton the “ideal” woman but her image does work to construct itself as such. Take, for example, the fact that this blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl is actually a blonde-haired, brown-eyed girl because Hilton wears blue contacts. It’s a small detail but an interesting one that works to better align her with these Monroe-esque characteristics of the ideal woman and remove her from the “otherness” of dark hair, skin, and eyes that Dyer identifies.

Perhaps most importantly, as noted earlier, Monroe’s power lies primarily in her position as a spectacle and I think that Paris Hilton has certainly adopted this position as well. Famous for nothing other than her very existence, I think that Paris Hilton embodies spectacle like no other because there is no outside career, talent or force to take away from her being looked at just for herself. And for me, I think this is the primary connection between her and Monroe and perhaps why her name came to me most powerfully out of all the contemporary Marilyn Monroes out there. I can’t say it’s a good thing but I think it certainly helps to understand why Paris’ 15 minutes aren’t up and why they probably won’t be for a while.

Sidenote: On a related note, Lindsay Lohan recently recreated Monroe’s final photo shoot, "The Last Sitting," for New York Magazine. I think that like Paris Hilton, there are several connections between Lohan and Monroe in terms of their images but unlike Hilton, I don’t think hers is constructed as well or even as consciously. A link to the photos, although they’re NSFW (Not Safe For Work, for the people that don't spend way too much time on the internet).