She was undeniably stunning.  But a great actress?  I don’t really think so.  Because she died prematurely and under somewhat mysterious circumstances, I believe she has been largely mythologized.  I wonder, had she lived, would she still be considered such a phenomenon today?

I wish more Hollywood would be accepting of Monroe’s body types now a days for our youth. Its not good to be as thin as those actress’s are today. MM was so beautiful…

Considering she was an illegimitate child, her mother was mentally ill, and  she spent her childhood in several foster homes, it’s amazing what she accomplished. She became one of the most famous movie stars of all time in life and beyond death.

She also married one of the most famous baseball players and one of the most famous playwrights. Her best films were when the director believed in her like "Bus Stop (Josh Logan)" and "Misfits/Asphalt Jungle (John Huston)." She was hilarious in "Some Like it Hot," "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes," "Seven Year Itch," and "How to Marry a Millionaire" where she makes fun of her sexuality.

I’ve always believed she must have had some of her mother’s mental illness. But while she was here, she made the most of what she had.

I never liked her movies and I never liked Elvis, they were from my mothers era. I grew up to Beach Party Bingo, Doris Day movies, Glass Bottom Boat. I was even a little kid when the Beatles were popular and I like the Beach Boys more. But then came the Monkey’s and Davey Jones. May be if she had lived longer and there wasn’t so much mystery surrounding her death, her link to the Kennedy’s made her a big deal. To this day the Happy Birthday to the President kennedy is shown at least once a yr on a talk show or news program. I just don’t get why everyone is go GaGa about her. She died her hair, she wasn’t a real blonde, she always acted dizty on screen and off. She had a Poor Me way about her, like the world owed her. Not everyone who has a bad childhood expect the world to pay them back. Sorry folks can’t say anymore on the topic, just don’t see the fuss.

Deena, My point was that I like Doris Day movies, and they were the kind we were allow to watch. Marilyn’s movies were to adult for my Grandmothers taste. She wouldln’t let us watch them. I didn’t see any of Ms. Days Hitchock movies until I was in my teens. I like Paul McCarthy and Wings, and I love Ringo, I like a lot of their songs and I loved their movies, but I was what was refered to as “A Bubble Gum Girl”, give me the Osmonds, Jacksons, David Cassidy, Barry Williams, Billy Joel, B.J. Thomas, I could go on and on. When I was in my late teems I like Fleetwood Mac, Elton, I’ve been to over 100 concerts in my life. PaPa Jimmy worked as security at the statium and he’d get me into any and everything I wanted to see. Remember the “Ice Capades”, they were great. And I really miss Drive in Movies, when My kids were little I’d take them to NY for a visit and we’d go to the Drive In. My daughter still remembers her first drive in “Never Ending Story”. Now there are good memories. Oh and I can’t forget John Trovolta’s movies, Greese, Saturday Nite Fever, I must have seen them 20 times when they first came out. I still enjoy all of this today.

I was adopted some 50-years ago, the ‘illegitimate child’ of a 16-year old and her 17-year old boyfriend.  My adoptive mother suffered from alternating bouts of rage and depression, no doubt the product of an unattended rape, 12-years of age, 1930, when the unthinkable never was… leaving me, as an adult, with more than a few tearful counseling sessions.  However, I’ve never spent time in foster homes … so … maybe I can squeak under the wire of credibility and submit a posting … (living in the 21st century … now there’s a concept) …

Anyhow.  Moving right along.  Marilyn Monroe always struck me as a woman who didn’t know how to take care of herself … and paid a hefty price for that lack of know-how.  That said, I do think she had what is called the ‘it’ factor, recalling a few of her films and how her presence, in a scene, was a ‘scene stealer.’  Could she act?  Perhaps, rather than acting, she covered her corner … the sexy siren, sex kitten thing … just like so many of today’s twenty-somethings, reflecting today’s idea of beauty … size two, capped teeth and implants … do their thing … not much different than Marilyn, really … unseen primarily male hands pulling the strings.

But, as one woman reflecting on another, I simply feel that no one taught Marilyn Monroe how to take care of herself.  Because, in the end, no one cared enough about Marilyn … including Marilyn herself.

I argree with a lot you said Harriet and Deena, When you don’t have a role model to go by it’s like taking a walk in the dark with no light anywhere. Fortunately for me I had a Grandmother who was good to me and took me under her wing. Out of ten grandchildren I was the only one she never hit, or burned, or stabbed. When she got drunk I got out of her way, but my siblings and cousins never learned and they paid the price. You have to know how to handle the drunk, and make yourself scarce. We learn by example and we learn out of fear as a child, sorry to say, if it be a parent, sibling, or bully at school. Those lessons stay with us for life and they can be put to good use. because of these life lessons we can improve our lives, we know what’s good and bad and what we can handle. When my Grandmother died, we creamated her, but they put her ashes in the attic and went on with their lives. I couldn’t abide by this, I took out a second morgtage and bought a plot for her, had the stone made and arranged a date for her to be buried. I didn’t tell my family, I just went back to Buffalo, into my mothers attic and took the ashes, all the arrangements were made and my children and best friend were there to give her a proper burial. At the same time I bought my mother a plot to ensure the same thing didn’t happen to her. She left a life insurance policy with instructions to all of us how it was to be used. Pay off her bills, buy a stone and give her a proper burial. Only problem was she left it in my older sisters name, that was four yrs ago this past Feb. and she is still not buried. She has a place for her ashes but my sister spent the money saying “Mom left the money to me and I’ll do with it what I want.” I haven’t spoken to her since. My other sister in Buffalo took my mothers ring (four diamonds, and an emerald, each girl was to get a diamond and my brother the emerald. My mother hadn’t been gone more then 30 minutes and this sister had taken all her jewlery off and we never saw it again. All of this has caused a lot of problems between some siblings, I don’t care one way or the other about the stupid jewlery, as for her being buried, it can’t happen without my signature because I am the owner of the plot. So you see my Dear Ladies, we learn from those who our biggest influences as children, but it’s all up to us how we use those lessons. I for one am glad I had all the experience I had as a child because I learned from them and I’ve been able to help others when I’m needed. Even the rape, I can talk to girls who have been raped by a family member with knowledge and experience. It’s all up to us to learn from every single experience we have, for that matter from others as well. God speed Ladies have a Happy Sunday. :)