Friday Fame

Casee is away from home right now, so she sent me her picture and description for this week's Friday Fame!

I have always been known to be a fan of classic Hollywood, yet I was never particularly interested in Marilyn Monroe. That is, until I saw this photograph. It seems to me that most people who think of the iconic Marilyn instantly recall the infamous moment from Billy Wilder’s The Seven Year Itch in which her dress is blown nearly to her waist while she stands atop a subway grate. That image creates the idea of an earthy, fast-paced sex symbol; I think a lot of women were inspired by that side of Marilyn, but I always looked for slightly more introverted inspiration.

This picture of Marilyn made me see her in a slightly different light and reminded me that there are multiple sides to every great woman. While she’s widely remembered as a vixen (and I think it’s important to also acknowledge how she managed that image with great class and sophistication as well) there’s also an innocent, gentle-spirited grace about her. She was naturally beautiful, needing no help from make-up or glamorous, expensive clothes. Incidentally, I also love how this dress shows her curves; she had such a lovely shape, which is another thing I admire about her. Now, though, I find that I don’t block out the vivacious, extroverted Marilyn and focus solely on the natural, demure Marilyn; rather, I’m inspired by her ability to become either persona without contradiction, melding them into one tremendous, iconic woman. She may have lived a troubled life and I cannot profess to know the intimate details of her true personality, but I think it took a good deal of underlying self-confidence in order to create and maintain each side of her lasting image and I find that quite inspiring.