Film : My week with Marylin

My week with Marilyn

How stardom is portrayed in the film 'My week with Marilyn'

Hello again,
This week in class we watched 'My week with Marilyn'.

The basic story line of the movie is that Sir Laurence Olivier is making a movie in London. Young Colin Clark, an eager film student, wants to be involved and he navigates himself a job on the set. When film star Marilyn Monroe arrives for the start of shooting, all of London is excited to see the blonde bombshell, while Olivier is struggling to meet her many demands and acting ineptness, and Colin is intrigued by her. Colin's intrigue is met when Marilyn invites him into her inner world where she struggles with her fame, her beauty and her desire to be a great actress.

After watching the movie we were asked to discuss one topic in relation to the film, I'm choosing to discuss the portrayal of stardom/celebrity in the film.

I really enjoyed watching this film, I found it interesting because the film peels back the glamour and stardom to show you the real Marilyn underneath. I didn't know much about her before watching this film so I really enjoyed learning about her life, as even now she is one of he worlds most iconic celebrities years after her death. I found it remarkable that even at the time where there were no internet existed, she was on the cover of every news paper, magazine, cinema screening or stage play. She was THE golden girl of the era. She cannot go anywhere without being bombarded with fans and doesn't seem to have a normal life, she seems to lead a glamorous life style, happily married and loved by many. Everyone knew about her. I thought the film portrayed this very well. But as the film continues we learn that Marilyn is actually just a vulnerable insecure woman battling with mental issues such as alcoholism and drug abuse.

The whole film constantly switches between her two different sides, the film shows her in her element as a star, a performer living her dream, wanting to be an amazing actress and offers a window into Marilyn Monroe's secret side. The opening few scenes featuring Marilyn shows us how her privacy is not respected, when she first arrives in the UK she is swarmed by paparazzi. They ask her questions such as...

Arthur P. Jacobs - "Marilyn! Is it true you wear nothing in bed except perfume?"
Marilyn Monroe - "Ooh, darling, as I'm in England, let's say I sleep in nothing but Yardley's Lavender."

Nowadays you wouldn't get asked those personal questions, they would be an infringement on your privacy.

She is also shown in the first few scenes to be this wonderful talented actress, people are falling for all over the globe, so as she starts to act and actually has to be on set on time. She crumbles under the pressure, she struggles to remember lines and gets very upset and unsettled within her character role. Even seems to be in awe of the actress who played Elsie in the play, aspiring to be like her. I wasn't sure of the idea of her forgetting lines and being stressed was an attention seeking act to start with but as the film goes on you can clearly see that it's not an act. Colin asks her 

Marilyn had her acting coach Strasberg to keep her motivated after several bad takes when she thought she couldn't go on. I think Marilyn saw her as a mother figure since it's clear Marilyn had family troubles growing up in care homes around the states. It is clear that she had mother issues when she says..

"Little girls should be told how pretty they are. They should grow up knowing how much their mother loves them"

Strasberg is the clear mother figure here telling Marilyn what a amazing, beautiful talented actress she is. However I do not think that Strasberg boosted her ego, because from what we can see, Marilyn didn't have an ego she had serious confidence issues. Strasberg kept her grounded.

Another moment when her underlying confidence issues are mentioned is when Sir Laurence Olivier is talking to Colin...

Sir Laurence Olivier: She's quite wonderful. No training, no craft, no guile, just pure instinct. Astonishing.

Colin Clark: You should tell her that.

Sir Laurence Olivier: Oh, I will. But she won't believe me. That's probably what makes her great, yet it's certainly what makes her so profoundly unhappy.

This shows how everyone else can see that she is talented but she cannot. 

Another feature of the film that struck me was the way she talks about Marilyn as a separate person suggests Marilyn is just a persona. Especially when she says things such as "All people ever see is Marilyn Monroe. As soon as they realise I'm not her, they run." and "Shall I be her?". When she gets crowded in a street she starts laughing, when she gets crowded in a school she starts flirting almost as a copng mechanism she reverts back to being Marilyn. But as soon as she is removed from the situation you can tell she is clearly shook up. This dual personality is shown the whole way through the film, the effects of the dual personality only have negative effects on herself.

After watching this film I can safely say that the attention of the media and fame is sometimes not as beneficial as you might first think. Marilyn lost control of her own life and herself. The love for Marilyn that is still so very clear today shows what an incredible actress she was.

Thank you :)