8 Comments
User's avatar
søren k. harbel's avatar

I am always intrigued by those who have a particularly strong relationship with the camera, and I can honestly say that I have never seen a bad photograph of MM. The camera loved her. On some level this is good, because it allows us to remember. I believe she deserves this. Thank you for your post.

Expand full comment
Lo Carmen's avatar

That's a lovely way of looking at it Soren, and its true, there is so much weight of humanity to be felt in looking at such an incredible mass of photos of the same woman.

Expand full comment
Margaret River's avatar

Great post. Beautifully written.

Expand full comment
Lo Carmen's avatar

Thanks Margaret! Appreciate it!

Expand full comment
Chris Papps's avatar

Thank you Lo, another thoughtful piece. I think of how I adored her as a kid and growing up and yet knowing even then she was dead. It gave her a sense of loss that I think people who saw her as a contemporary artist did not have. That whole candle in the wind song and the Kinks singing that she should have been made of iron and steel...

I fell in love with the image and the romantic icon.

She emerged for me as I read the stories of her wit and craft.

Thank you again.

Expand full comment
Lo Carmen's avatar

That's a beautiful lyric and a good point made in 'Celluloid Heroes'! Thanks Chris, I'm glad to think she showed herself a little here.

Expand full comment
Candice Wuehle's avatar

"The studio wanted an open casket." Unreal. I adore Marilyn and am also obsessed, but as I get older what floors me the most about her story is how ghoulish the studio system was to her. Like Elvis later, and in our lifetimes Britney, it’s wild to realize how these industries act like they own their stars—not just their work, but their actual bodies. Even after death, they’re still trying to squeeze something out of them. It’s so darksided.

Expand full comment
Lo Carmen's avatar

Ghoulish is indeed the word for it. There’s a photo on the internet that appears to be Marilyn lying in state, but it’s actually a sculpture by an Italian artist - it’s still pretty disturbing.

Expand full comment