MARILYN MON-WHOA!
Statue in Stamford has church pastor in a tizzy
Some like it a little less hot.
A 26-foot statue of Marilyn Monroe was erected in a Connecticut park and its formidable derriere is facing a church across the street.
According to the Associated Press, some members of the First Congregational Church of Stamford will get their first look at the new monument when they attend Mass on Sunday.
“Why that statue?” the church’s pastor the Rev. Todd Grant Yonkman wondered in an email to the AP. “Why appropriate her image in this way. Is this the best we can do?”
The statue memorializes the famous scene from the 1955 film “The Seven Year Itch” in which Monroe stands over a subway grate, trying to keep her dress from blowing above her waist as a train passes below her.
“Maybe the city would let us give her some pants?” Yonkman joked.
The statue, called “Forever Marilyn,” is one of 36 pieces on loan to Stamford throughout the summer from artist Seward Johnson.
Stamford Downtown Special Services District president Sandy Goldstein told the AP that her town has responded positively to Johnson’s works.
“It is art and we don’t believe it is offensive,” Goldstein said. “We absolutely mean no disrespect to the church.”
She also notes that in Europe, it’s not uncommon to see nude statues in public places – often near churches – and it’s generally not an issue.
Monroe, who was born Norma Jeane Mortenson in Los Angeles, also died in L.A. in 1962 from a drug overdose at the age of 36. She and her third husband, writer Arthur Miller, lived in an 18th-century farmhouse in the sleepy town of Roxbury, Conn., from 1956 to 1961.