Iconic Platinum Blond

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There isn't anyone who has not had a go at Marilyn Monroe. Ravenous hunger of mob presented by the general public all over the globe just can't get enough of her. There have been hundreds of biographies, countless documentaries, tattoos, Warhol silk screens and porcelain collector's dolls. Marilyn has gone from actress to icon to licensed brand name, a true household name; like Elvis or Coca Cola.How did a woman become such an epic commodity?

Much has been made of Marilyn's despondent personal history, from abusive foster homes to the predatory Hollywood scum that accompanied her wriggle to stardom. Her heavily flashbulbed marriages included bouts with baseball's great Joe DiMaggio and literary champ Arthur Miller, and her off-duty trysts involved Sinatra and the rumor of Kennedys. Her death has been variously attributed to an accidental overdose, political necessity and a Mob hit. Marilyn's media-drenched image as a tragic dumb blond has become an American archetype. Yet biographical trauma, even when packed with celebrities, cannot account for Marilyn's enduring status as a goddess and postage stamp.There have been other mega-blonds of varying skills, a pinup parade of Jean Harlow, Carole Lombard and Madonna, but why does Marilyn still seem to have patented the peroxide that they've passed along?

Marilyn may represent some unique blend of sensuality, talent and Technicolor. The film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and her role in it clearly depict a picture of the generalization that she has become to represent. Whenever Monroe appears onscreen, undulating in second-skin, cleavage-proud knitwear or the sheerest orange chiffon, all heads turn, salivate and explode. Who but Marilyn could so effortlessly justify such luscious insanity? She is the absolute triumph of political incorrectness. When she swivels aboard a cruise ship in clinging jersey and a floor-length leopard-skin scarf and matching muff, she handily offends feminists, animal-rights activists and good Christians everywhere, and she wins as no one condemns her for it. Watching Marilyn operate her lips and eyebrows while breathlessly seducing an elderly millionaire is like experiencing the invention of ice cream.

At her best, playing warmhearted floozies in Some Like It Hot and Bus Stop, she's like moonbeam, something fragile and funny and imperiled. The audience mostly simply marvel at her existence, at the delicious unlikeliness of such platinum innocence. She's the bad girl and good girl combined: she's sharp and sexy yet incapable of meanness, a dewy Venus rising from the motel sheets. Monroe longed to be taken seriously as an artist. It is only now that she is getting more and more of the appreciation and acknowledgment for her work.

I've never fooled anyone. I've let people fool themselves. They didn't bother to find out who and what I was. Instead they would invent a character for me. I wouldn't argue with them. They were obviously loving somebody I wasn't. Read more Marilyn Monroe quotes

Movies have lent the most perishable qualities, such as youth, beauty and comedy, a millennial shelf life. Until the cameras rolled, people of the past could only be remembered, not experienced. Had she been born earlier, Marilyn might have existed as only a legendary rumor, like Helen of Troy. But today every generation has instant access to the evanescent perfection of Marilyn bumping and cooing her way through that anthem, Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend, in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. Madonna remade the song in the video of her hit Material Girl, mimicking Marilyn's hot-pink gown and hot-number choreography. Madonna's detailed appreciation of fleeting style and the history of sensuality is part of her own arsenal, making her a star and a fan in one. Madonna wisely and affectionately honors the brazen spark in Marilyn, the giddy candy-box allure.

Marilyn's appeal is infinite and stays so. An icon and a brand name explored and exploited now as she was while she was alive. The intriguing and controversial life she has lived still pulls masses to her, making her image even bigger than while she was with us, then again same goes for most artists.