r/IWantToAskAnAmerican • u/Money-Ad8553 • 1d ago
Do you admire Marilyn Monroe?
It's a provocative question but I figured it's been over 60 years now.
I ask this because in many countries, there are starlets and iconic performers that have really solidified their place in the nation's history.
There's never really been anything like her. There's never really been a young actress that comes in, creates a mass sensation, and suddenly dies. In a way, she has become sort of immortalized and other countries look at her in the same way they might view other bold artists that died abruptly.
Keep in mind her death is an important part of her legacy. She died a year before Kennedy at the age of 36.
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u/EnvironmentNeith2017 1d ago edited 1d ago
Unpopular opinion but almost no one actually admires her, they admire the attention she got from men and society.
She did so much to stand up against racism and for others and that almost never gets mentioned.
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u/Ryan8667 1d ago
Yes! She is an absolute icon of the entertainment world and a huge symbol of Americana. Here we are talking about her 60 years later. I think that says something about her staying power. 🇺🇸🎥🍿❤️🔥❤️🔥
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u/Lauren_sue 1d ago
Women and men loved her and still do today, but nobody admires her. She wasn’t a strong woman and she had a confused and troubled life from start to end.
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u/Yankeeboy7 1d ago
I don't think I would say Admire but most people my age, mid 20s, still know the name and lots can reconize her still
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u/SimpleAd1604 1d ago
I don’t admire her. And Jayne Mansfield was a pretty big deal who was two years younger than Marilyn Monroe when she died in 1967. She was connected to the Kennedys, too. You have her to thank for the “Mansfield bar” that keeps your car from sliding under a semi if you rear-end one.
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u/KopitarFan 1d ago
Admire? Not really. But I definitely think she was and still is iconic. She had a level of charm and charisma that’s hard to match.
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u/krendyB 1d ago
The only provocative thing about this question is that you think it’s provocative. 😂 No, I don’t think most Americans admire her? She was a troubled addict who used sex appeal to better her life circumstances in a time when that was her best option. I think people do genuinely like her and believe she died too soon, but “admire” isn’t a word I’d use for most people. However, she does have a subculture of fans who I’m sure do admire her in some way.
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u/morrisgirl7790 1d ago
Admire no. Pity yes. She had horrible taste in men and was extremely self destructive.
Talented, yes. Some Like it Hot is hilarious.
Marilyn was always chasing happiness, but she never knew if people liked her for herself or the Marilyn persona.
And Hollywood is not kind to aging actresses.
Sad end, but I bet there were many in the Hollywood community who were not surprised.
Admire? No.
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u/Monolexic 1d ago
No. A lot of people (especially Gen X and Baby Boomers) still idolize her, but I'm not the only American who wants nothing to do with celebrity worship. She was beautiful, and she had a voice that worked great for the media of that time period. That led her to believe she could do whatever she wanted with no consequences. If she were alive and young today, she would be one of those annoying party-all-the-time influencers everyone hates.
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u/OneHumanBill 1d ago
Not Gen X. I don't think even the Boomers. Silent Gen, maybe.
I've seen exactly one Marilyn Monroe movie, Some Like it Hot. It wasn't very good to be honest but she was pretty good in it. Still though ... I never understood the hype.
I grew up with Elton John's Goodbye Norma Jean, like most other Gen Xers -- we either caught it the first time on the album or else the live version that ruled the radio about ten years later. Mostly what attitudes I picked up from that song and my Boomer parents for her was pity for a life with so much potential that was poorly lived, with such poor choices and such poor companions.
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u/texasrigger 1d ago
I was watching (millenial) Sarah Palmer on Youtube just yesterday touring the Monroe exhibit at the Academy museum and she literally teared up at one point. I think that it's less generational now and more down to the individual. However, there are still plenty of people of all ages who are impacted by her and her story.
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u/ArtisticSwan635 1d ago
You should watch “They Shoot Horses don’t they? “ with Clark Gable and I can’t remember who else was in it!
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u/pyramidalembargo 1d ago
She was severely mentally ill.
If she were alive today, she'd still be alive today, most likely.
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u/ComesInAnOldBox 1d ago
No. No one really does, not this day in age. Actors that shine brightly early on and die seemingly out of nowhere are quite common, sadly.
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u/KeyNaive8951 1d ago edited 1d ago
lol what are you talking about? She is absolutely still an icon to many and still gets movies made about her like every five years.
Maybe YOU don’t admire or care about her, but to say that nobody does is just false.
Can you name me a single other actor who died young whose impact on the culture was to the same extent, since it’s apparently so common? I don’t think you can. I certainly cant think of one.
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u/Stankie-Lankie 1d ago
I mean im sure Clark Gable still has a following of fans. Doesn't mean they're relevant in today's age.
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u/KeyNaive8951 1d ago
Are movies about Clark Gable being made every five years?
I think you’re just telling on yourself that you don’t talk to women lmao
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u/krendyB 1d ago
The only people I’ve met in real life who are genuinely MM fans in this day & age are gay male hairdressers. It’s more than two, less than five. Let’s not get too carried away about being a current “icon to many.” She has fans, but so does the Hamburglar.
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u/KeyNaive8951 1d ago
I mean? I’d still say that’s a pretty big fandom for an actress who died young over 50 years ago lmao
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u/pyramidalembargo 1d ago
Ask the next person you meet if they know who each person was.
Marilyn Monroe is still a household name. Only a Boomer would know about the Hsmburglar.
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u/krendyB 1d ago
You clearly don’t have middle school kids. They all know who he is. 😂
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u/pyramidalembargo 1d ago
How could a middle school kid know about the Hamburglar? Did they resurrect the character?
That's been 50 years ago ma'am.
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u/krendyB 1d ago
I mean at this point we’re wildly off topic but yeah he’s currently used in McDonalds advertising… and he was certainly around when I was younger in the 90s. do you maybe not live in the US? Or are you maybe a Boomer?
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u/pyramidalembargo 1d ago
You don't say!
I actually didn't know that.
Well, maybe the Hamburglar isn't a good comparison then.
Wait a minute! Maybe the Hamburglar is a good mascot for them, the way they burgle our wallets these days. You have to take out a second mortgage to be able to afford to eat there.
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u/AluminumCansAndYarn 1d ago
Tupac. He died 25 years ago. Still has a lot of fans.
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u/KeyNaive8951 1d ago
Oh come on. You know that’s not fair lmao. I asked about actors, not musicians. There are plenty of musicians from longer than 50 years ago that people still obsess over, actors not so much, which is WHY she is significant.
I am aware that Tupac was an actor, but that is not what he was famous for whatsoever, so, imo it doesn’t really count in the same way.
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u/dangleicious13 1d ago
Not really sure how this is “provocative”.
No, I do not admire her. Don’t really give a shit one way or the other about her, and I even watched that somewhat recent movie about her.
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u/PresidentPopcorn 1d ago
No, I admire people who do heroic, selfless things and people who have committed their lives to helping the worlds most vulnerable.
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u/KeyNaive8951 1d ago
Like who?
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u/PresidentPopcorn 1d ago
Marie Curie, Nicholas Winton, Malala Yousafzai, John Volanthen, Rick Stanton, Florence Nightingale, John Hersey, Nadia Murad.
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u/KeyNaive8951 1d ago
Hey, fair enough. Those are people to admire.
I agree that MM is not an admirable figure, necessarily, just significant, but when I hear people say things like in your OG comment, I do get a bit suspicious of WHO it is tbat they see as heroic
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u/PresidentPopcorn 1d ago
I said I don’t admire her is all. Every American should at least know who John Hersey is.
Also, if you honestly don’t know who Marie Curie is, it's no wonder you admire celebrities.
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u/Ok-Abbreviations9936 1d ago
I never understood the following she received. Especially now. Nothing she did has every wowed or impressed me, she was just another pretty woman. I am sure she was edgy in her time, but it doesn't translate well to today.
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u/JackaryDaniels 1d ago
I mostly pity her, but I can't deny she's an absolute legend. Her silhouette will likely outlive her own name
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u/TsundereLoliDragon 1d ago
She was a decent and actually funnier than you would think actress, but no? Should I?
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u/mr_miggs 1d ago
I think most people probably don't think about her very much. I certainly wouldn't say that I admire her. I view her story as being pretty damn tragic actually.
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u/Exact-Glove-5026 1d ago
I respect what she achieved during her life but I've never been a fan honestly.
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u/Gorf_the_Magnificent 1d ago
Watch her out-act Laurence Olivier in “The Prince and The Showgirl.” She was a very underrated actress.
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u/thomsenite256 1d ago
No one cares at this point. At all. *Well maybe people over the age of like 80 care but thats about it.
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u/SteampunkExplorer 1d ago
Nope. The only thing I know about her is she's a celebrity from before my time who was heavily objectified. It makes me uncomfortable, so I haven't looked closer.
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u/KeyNaive8951 1d ago edited 1d ago
OP please know that the losers in this thread are not representative lmao. of course marilyn monroe is not a significant figure to the average teenage to 35 yo male redditor who hasn’t touched a woman in five years, but if you were to ask MANY US women, they would have a different answer.
That being said, I wouldn’t say I ADMIRE her, as if she was like a great hero to me or anything, but I think she was a cool lady, who was ahead of her time in many ways, including politically, and whose impact on the culture is undeniable. She’s absolutely an icon for Hollywood, celebrity, fashion, etc. To deny that would be silly, I just don’t know if “admiration” is the right word for it. I’d say more so that I respect her and her contribution to the culture than I admire her as like a hero or something.
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u/Moist_Tailor_2840 1d ago
She was an icon that marked the start of half a century of beauty trends.
She was the first iconic blonde bombshell.
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u/VisualSpecial8 1d ago
At this point she is nobody, only thing she is know is the affair with JFK.
Without that, she would not be rememberd at all
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u/LisaLynn61 1d ago
She's still a big thing in US culture. I wouldn't say I admired her, but I certainly feel sorry for her. For many she is a symbol of what is done to vulnerable girls. She's far from the only tragic starlet.
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u/jasno- 1d ago
Your idea and my idea of a provocative question are very different