Crass Kim no Marilyn
I HAVE always been fascinated by Marilyn Monroe and have read and watched many accounts of her life story.
But this week I felt really queasy as I listened to the “Unheard Tapes” which promised to unravel the mystery of her death.
Author Anthony Summers recorded hours of interviews with Marilyn’s friends and associates while writing his bestselling 1985 biography Goddess.
And now they have been cut and mashed together for yet another true crime-style documentary on Netflix.
It revisits all the old theories about Bobby, JFK and drugs and even gives us the gruesome money shot of 38 year old Marilyn’s naked corpse in bed.
But, of course, it doesn’t “solve” the mystery because the conspiracy theories are still too numerous and lucrative.
And, as the 60th anniversary of her death approaches this August, Marilyn’s unique and dazzling talent is still being overshadowed by her demons and her death. Watching the
Netflix documentary I kept thinking of that line from Elton John’s Candle In the Wind: “Hollywood created a superstar - and pain was the price you paid.”
Because the film reveals the aching loneliness little Norma Jean Baker suffered as an orphan – “a waif” as she always called herself.
It charts the abuse and exploitation she endured at the hands of men as she metamorphosed into the Blonde Bombshell.
And it exposes the mental torment she suffered when she famously sang Happy Birthday, Mr President in that iconic “naked” dress.
So I felt utterly sick when I saw Kim Kardashian wearing that very same gown at the Met Gala in New York.
The £4million frock, embellished with 6,000 crystals, is usually kept on display in a glass case at the Ripley’s Believe it Or Not Museum in Florida.
But in a revoltingly tasteless PR stunt they lent it to Kim so she could steal the show at this annual parade of millionaire show-offs.
She even shed a stone to squeeze into it… because by getting under Marilyn’s second skin meant the Monroe magic might rub off.
Not a chance.
Marilyn was a shining star while Kim can’t hold a candle to her.
And 60 years after the light went out she should be allowed to rest in peace.