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Jilly_in_VA

(9,983 posts)
Sat Jan 15, 2022, 07:33 PM Jan 2022

Reframed' revisits Marilyn Monroe's life and legacy, from an all-women point of view

The year 2022 marks the 60th anniversary of the death of Marilyn Monroe, one of cinema's most iconic, examined and enduring sex symbols. To commemorate the occasion, CNN is rolling out the new four-part documentary series, Reframed: Marilyn Monroe, which takes a very different, and original, approach to its subject.

During her career, and for decades after her death, Marilyn was objectified, scrutinized and judged — mostly by male writers, biographers and historians. The 1973 book, Marilyn: A Biography, paired a skeevy, sexist essay by Norman Mailer with pictures of the actress taken by photographer Lawrence Schiller.

Schiller does appear in Reframed, but here he's talking about Monroe's acute awareness of the camera — how she posed, what images she selected and how she used them to enhance and leverage her own celebrity status.

But most of the time, the voices we hear in this new documentary are female. Actor Jessica Chastain narrates, and an all-women editorial team headed by Sam Starbuck reexamines Marilyn's movies, marriages and career moves from her point of view. And we hear from women film critics and historians, including the always informative Alicia Malone from Turner Classic Movies.

https://www.npr.org/2022/01/14/1072768298/reframed-marilyn-monroes-documentary-review
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Cannot wait for this. The older I get, the more I appreciate her. She was smarter than people gave her credit for, and way savvy. And I don't think most men got her at all.

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Reframed' revisits Marilyn Monroe's life and legacy, from an all-women point of view (Original Post) Jilly_in_VA Jan 2022 OP
On CNN tomorrow. The first two parts of the series air Jan. 16 hedda_foil Jan 2022 #1
I think she was an underrated actress Skittles Jan 2022 #2
Absolutely! Jilly_in_VA Jan 2022 #4
👍 Joinfortmill Jan 2022 #3
Thanks for the thread. Scottie Mom Jan 2022 #5
How to watch this CNN documentary on MM livestream? appalachiablue Jan 2022 #6

Jilly_in_VA

(9,983 posts)
4. Absolutely!
Sat Jan 15, 2022, 08:24 PM
Jan 2022

She had great comic timing, but she longed to play dramatic parts and nobody would cast her in any. After she read The Brothers Karamazov, her ultimate goal was to play Grushenka, and no one would give her the time of day. Even when she was married to Arthur Miller, he wouldn't do it. But she was a voracious reader, even though she hadn't finished high school, and to give Miller credit, he encouraged that.

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