We live in a culture where great beauty is often wrongly associated with limited intelligence. It is probably the envy of those less gifted with the privilege that accompanies matching the current ideal type of physical appearance that started the unwarranted perception. “You may be handsome, but I’m smart.” It only seems fair. Why should one person have it all? Like all misconceptions based on stereotypes, they are soon proven inaccurate.
Norma Jeane Mortenson appeared on the planet in 1926, long before many women would consider a life beyond the confining protection of some male human, in a place where good looks were recruited globally to enhance the fantasy factories of her native Los Angeles. From an orphanage to 12 individual foster homes, the young Norma Jeane found respite via marriage upon her 16th birthday. She came to understand that it was her appearance — and not her head for business — that would clear the path for another kind of life, thereby Marilyn Monroe was manifested.
It is generations now since the iconic beauty left us. Photographs, paintings and sculptures still bring scores to museums. Her hair, style of dress and demeaner remain a standard of femininity for many. Still, too, she was among the highest-grossing and most successful actresses in the history of the film industry, totaling more than $2 billion in today’s money. With great intention, she curated and propagated the billion-dollar persona. Later in her career, Monroe mused, “I restore myself when I’m alone. A career is born in public – talent in privacy.” She managed the distinction between the personal and the projected. Some might rightly argue that she ultimately succumbed to an inability to fully reconcile the two. Beautiful? Certainly. Intelligent? Absolutely. Where are the gaps in our lives? If we have it all, can we still be missing something?
