HOW THE “BLONDE BOMBSHELL” BURIED MARILYN MONROE’S LITERARY PROWESS

Rusafa Rahat

Mention Marilyn Monroe and most envision a sex symbol, an icon forever etched into the annals of pop culture. The 2022 film Blonde—ostensibly a biopic—offers a blurred rendition at best, portraying Monroe as a tormented, exploited victim straitjacketed into the confines of the male gaze. This portrayal perpetuates once again the limiting dichotomy of the Madonna-Whore complex that constricted Monroe’s life. The “blonde bombshell” trope, in reality and in fiction, slots the women into the latter category—a distant, seductive fantasy, devoid of depth, personhood, or significance.

When one looks closer, one finds that Monroe’s position as the inheritor of the “blonde bombshell” nickname frequently obscures her more artistic inclinations and talents, in favor of the usual appreciation for her beauty and charm. Even today, there is still much to be learned about her intelligence and under-heralded creativity as an actress, as well as poet.

As I delved deeper into the subject matter, motivated to find “the real” Marilyn Monroe, I discovered an unexpected gem: concealed inside The Marginialian’s pages was coverage for the late actress’ unpublished poetry. I was surprised by the Monroe I found—not only for her depth of introspection but her lyrical aptitude.

Only parts of us will ever
touch only parts of others —
own truth.
We can only share the part that is understood by within another’s
knowing acceptable to
the other — therefore so one
is for most part alone.
As it is meant to be in
evidently in nature — at best though perhaps it could make
our understanding seek
another’s loneliness out.

To have your heart is
the only completely happy proud possession thing (that ever
belonged
to me) I’ve ever possessed so


As I digested her works, I couldn’t shake a sense of mourning. Here was a famous woman with a deep inner life, but history has reduced her to a two-dimensional figurehead. It was a sad reminder of the pervasive propensity to miss the diverse character of extraordinary women, preferring simplistic tales over actual complexity.

Monroe’s words reflect an acute sense of possession, born from the relentless scrutiny and objectification she endured throughout life. In a world where she was perpetually degraded and dehumanized, possessing one’s beating heart may have stood as her solitary prized possession, amidst the feeling of perennially being possessed by others.

Is it too idealistic to yearn for a world where the depths of remarkable women’s psyches captivate people? Media’s tendency to romanticize the melancholic facets of women, especially if they conform to conventional attractiveness, persists even now, when Hollywood purportedly celebrates female creatives and champions “female stories,” if only for box office points.

I remember turning on Netflix in my apartment in Budapest last year, excited by the buzz Blonde had garnered, only to be met with disappointment. The biopic was less a portrait and more an onslaught of the alleged and illicit affairs of Marilyn’s life, replete with gratuitous nudity. As a woman, watching the film left me deeply disheartened and frustrated by the missed opportunities to portray Monroe in her authentic complexity. The Marilyn Monroe of real life took literature and history night classes at UCLA, going to great lengths to be photographed holding books, out of a sheer adoration and obsession for those subjects. Blonde meanwhile neglects to portray this multifaceted personality, failing to capture any moments of intellectual curiosity. The Marilyn Monroe of real life was an ardent reader, with a personal collection of over 400 titles containing the likes of Fyodor Dostoevsky, John Steinbeck, Dorothy Parker, and Carson McCullers (some of whom were friends of Monroe.) There was only one such scene vaguely alluding to any of this in the film.

I wonder if Monroe’s posthumous Fragments: Poems, Intimate Notes, Letters (2010) were used as the source material for Blonde, could it have avoided the haunting feeling of exploitation and sensationalism that permeates the film? Could it have instead given us a richer insight into one of history’s most famous women? Her poetry, which were generally fragmented and very personal, were not intended for publication, but rather to act as internal dialogue. In her works, we find a woman dealing with existential crises, seeking clarity in the middle of a turbulent existence. The discovery of such private pieces calls into question the simple myths surrounding Marilyn Monroe, encouraging us to look further into her character beyond the fabled Hollywood persona.

Oh damn I wish that I were
dead — absolutely nonexistent —
gone away from here — from
everywhere but how would I do it
There is always bridges — the Brooklyn
bridge — no not the Brooklyn Bridge
because But I love that bridge (everything is beautiful from there
and the air is so clean) walking it seems
peaceful there even with all those
cars going crazy underneath. So
it would have to be some other bridge
an ugly one and with no view — except
I particularly like in particular all bridges — there’s some-
thing about them and besides these I’ve
never seen an ugly bridge

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