Changing Tastes

I’ve been a fan of Marilyn Monroe’s for a long time. But last night while watching Gentlemen Prefer Blondes with a girlfriend I started to second guess what it was I liked about her. I found her role in the movie to be completely absurd. She played a ditzy woman obsessed with money. Every time she spoke her face contorted into bizarre expressions that I think she had intended to be seen as sexy. I thought she just looked stupid. On top of it her lines were all moronic. I thought she basically came off as a bimbo with clothes that were all too small for her.

Jane Russell was excellent in the film. She played the voice of reason to Monroe’s goose berry. Unfortunately it was Monroe who had the most scenes. I felt like her performance degraded her, and all women. Maybe I was just in a bad mood, and didn’t realize it. I was embarrassed for her. I felt like she had allowed herself to be objectified to make it as an actress. It turned me off completely.

We had originally planned to watch The Misfits. But that film had turned out to be equally brutal. Monroe played a divorced sexpot who gets romanced by an old man (Clarke Gable). Basically the plot was Gable wows Monroe with a speech about living free in the country, and soon after she wakes up naked with him pawing at her. I was so grossed out I turned it off. The movie had no point to it. It was horrible.

After Blondes began to sour my mood I came up with the idea of going out for the evening. After all my friend and I are both single. And it was Halloween. I needed a break from Marilyn Monroe, and sitting in the house. We hadn’t been to a bar since April. So I invited her to my place, did her hair and make up, got dressed up, and we went out. We stopped at a pub on Elgin st. Lots of people were dressed in costumes. It was great. No one said anything negative to us. My girlfriend is still apprehensive about straight clubs. I keep telling her it’s where we belong. When she let her guard down, she had a good time. We met a lot of interesting people.

Then we walked along the street for a while to take in all the costumes. People really put a lot of effort into their appearance. Everyone seemed to be having fun. It was nice to see. We went into one bar that seemed to be full of teenagers. We were there for about five minutes before leaving. We finished off the evening at a gay club in the market. I saw some familiar faces I hadn’t seen in quite some time. I don’t go to gay bars anymore.

We ended the night with some pizza, and girl talk before passing out. I asked my friend to stay over. I don’t like people driving after they’ve had alcohol. When I woke up today I couldn’t erase my newly discovered feelings of disinterest in Marilyn Monroe. My tastes are changing a lot.

cheers,

Adrienne M. Leigh

****(Ain’t There Anyone Here for Love? – Jane Russell)