Wednesday, December 7, 2016

Marilyn's Death Conspiracy Theories by Veronica Angeles




Marilyn’s Death Conspiracy Theories
Picture “an actress with a cap of platinum-blonde curls, her deep-set eyes accentuated with bat-wing eyeliner and high-arched brows, her pink lips parted in a smile that revealed a row of perfect white teeth. It was the look of Marilyn Monroe, who at the time was riding the wave of her comic, bombshell popularity” (Mead). Monroe had such a bright future ahead of her. Marilyn’s unexpected death created many conspiracy theories that still question her death. One of them is if the government was trying to silence her, second is did she commit suicide, third is over dose. Let’s explore the theories wondered by many people and the possible solutions of Marilyn’s death.
            When we hear Marilyn Monroe, or should we say Norma Jeane Monroe’s real name before starting off her career, a beautiful icon of history pops in our head! But, who was Marilyn Monroe? Besides her outstanding beauty she carried a badge of emotional disorder that affected her until her last day. 

Marilyn was the perfect example of beauty, natural brunette yet her golden curls gave inspiration to a hairstyle trend in the 80’s. Followed by her not perfect but shameless figure, Monroe weighed 118 pounds’ average; she also hardly reached 5’ ½ inches (“How Much Did Marilyn Monroe Weigh?”). Her face held beautiful hazel eyes and a mark of beauty, her northern mole around her remarkable red lips later labeled and worn by many fans. Monroe struggled to become a famous actress, which she achieved and became a top paid actress in Hollywood.  Monroe’s childhood was like a Dickenson story involving a dozen or so foster homes, the drudgery of washing and cleaning dishes in an orphanage, and sexual molestation (Rollyson). Despite her awful childhood experience, Marilyn was a tough, independent woman. Along with the fame came good friends, good company, good times and influences, but not everything was sweet dreams. The nightmare held chaos, drama and envy.
Many biographies, documentaries, articles and newspapers have been published about her, but who can tell the story better than people who had the privilege to meet her. Actress and dancer Mitzi Gaynor performed with Monroe in the 1954 movie musical. “There's No Business Like Show Business”: "I never saw anybody work so hard," noted Gaynor (King). But, it was not an easy ride. "She did such a good job and personally, I think she stole the whole damn show. I just think she was thrown into a nest of vipers.” (1). People who got to know her on the job described her as a devoted, if troubled, actress internally. "She was also someone who could be exasperating to work with — unprofessional with deep insecurities” (1). Who could of imagined Marilyn insecure? No way!
Monroe never failed to surprise her public. "She was trying to prove she was a serious actress and not just a movie star playing bimbo parts,"(King). "She was trying to prove she was an actress of substance, and in my opinion she certainly did." (1).  Marilyn was with no doubt an outstanding woman. Monroe’s combination of ambition, beauty, skill and fear turns up in other accounts, as well (1).

Bad habits plague everyone, and Marilyn was no exception, and she had various internal conflicts. Murray recalled, "The joke was she could not make two sentences meet” (King).  This was created when Marilyn had a hard time remembering lines, which was something she struggled with throughout her career. Timing was not her best quality, and constantly running late for work, Murray said, “That was very strange, that lack of discipline," . . . “She was a very experienced film actress, but she could forget so many of the mechanical techniques. She would constantly miss her marks so she would be out of focus or out of the light or in a shadow. I think it was a lack of confidence. For somebody who the camera loved, she was still terrified of going before the camera and broke out in a rash all over her body." (1).  Monroe suffered from mental illness, and her past and emotional damage from her childhood made her a difficult woman (“They Knew the Real Marilyn Monroe”).
Accomplished skills, beauty, fortune, sassiness, fame and love surrounded Marilyn Monroe, but what external conflict surrounded this beautiful icon? She knew the light spot was on her at all times, media followed every step she took and questioned her every move. Judgement from the public and media pressured Marilyn and damaged her more than we could have imagined. Family breakage drowned her in depression, after her multiple marriage failures.
Torment, insecurity, depression, and emptiness filled Monroe’s body. Did all of this guide her to her death? Since her childhood, she felt unwanted. Monroe’s mother gave her up and she never had a stable home or father figure (Rollyson). Marilyn was abused and found herself unhappily married at the age of sixteen (1). Confusion within herself such as not having a family to relied on started as early as she could remember. One situation affected another one (1). She always wished to have a family of her own. The concept and the warmness of not having family affection was something that affected her life the most (1).
When Monroe started her career, she was always doubting herself and to add on she had many failures on her way to the top. Despite of this, she had something that brought her back up and tried and tried until she got things done. Marilyn became dependent on sleeping pills because she felt like she was not going to be able give her all to her audience due to lack of rest (“They Knew the Real Marilyn Monroe”). Allan “Whitney” Snyder expressed that Marilyn Monroe forced herself to work too much and the directors pushed her to believe she could improve herself to an extreme point, and he feels that this affected her career and added to her anxiety problems: “If she would had been her cute little self she could of being so much better” (1). Allan, her personal make-up artists, thought that if Monroe could have been able to have children, her mental health would have been more stable (1). Marilyn’s housekeeper said she could not describe her as depressed, but she did admit Monroe had many worries that would cause her mood swings such as breaking down as soon as she made it home (1).
One of the most recognized Hollywood actresses, Marilyn Monroe found open doors throughout her career due to her beauty. Marilyn was damaged since her early childhood and her instability caused her to close those doors. Outwardly Monroe projected a beautiful image but stumbled and collapsed when her mental health got on the way.

Many conspiracy theories were built after Marilyn Monroe’s unexpected death. There are three conspiracy theories to point out about Monroe’s tragic dead. The first one is did the government try to silence her, second one is did she commit suicide, and third one is unintentional overdose.

The first conspiracy theory suggests government took actions in order to silence Marilyn, which caused her death. Monroe’s secret relationships with the Kennedy men gave rise to the most talked about conspiracy theory. "The Secret Service had specific instructions not to photograph President Kennedy and Marilyn together because it would have been a national scandal," according to Morgan, a photographer at a private party for Kennedy’s birthday (Berman). This statement adds to the mystery of the government trying to hide Marilyn’s presence. Not enough evidence was collected in order to blame the government for Marilyn’s death, however many steps were taken the day of her death and are questionable. Police arrived to the scene an hour and a half later after Marilyn was found dead. Marilyn’s bedroom was never declared a crime scene nor searched for evidence (“The Death of Marilyn Monroe”).  A survey collected that fifty percent of the people who participated in it believed Marilyn was murdered by the government.

The second theory is that depressed, Monroe commits suicide, and this news officially sold to the public. “It was learned that medical authorities believed Miss Monroe had been in a depressed mood recently” (Hertel and Neff). Monroe had been seen Dr.Greenson who treated her depression. Monroe suffered the number one reason known to cause suicide, depression. Another sign pointed that Marilyn wanted to end her life was her locked door, when according to her housekeeper she would not usually do that (“The Death of Marilyn Monroe”). This Hollywood icon had already attempted suicide three times, yet sought for help to save her life (1). Monroe filled a prescription of Nembutal, a sleeping pill, just one day before her death. An empty Nembutal bottle was found on the side of her counter next to her body. The actress’s biopsy found high levels of it in her liver and blood test (Hertel and Neff). A recent survey between twenty people proves that only three participants believed she committed suicide. Marilyn’s public found this conspiracy hard to believe when they saw her as a glamorous diva on screen. Someone who seemed confident, full of luxury and beauty, could a single bottle of pills erase her from the screen? The argument on this conspiracy is the fact that no residues from the pills were found in her stomach when she possibly swallowed more than twenty pills (“The Death of Marilyn Monroe”).
The third theory is unintentional overdose. Forty percent of the public that participated in a survey believed that Monroe’s dead was unintentional suicide. Marilyn had just bought a house, and her house keeper believed Marilyn was not depressed. She had plans ahead of her, and a recent purchase of her house inspired her to work harder ("They Knew the Real Marilyn Monroe”). Monroe’s best friend, Miss Newcomb, had just seen her days before her death. She declares “Marilyn was in perfect condition and was feeling great”, and she thinks her death must have been an accident (Hertel and Neff). People who were really close to her affirm Marilyn Monroe appeared stable and gave no sense to an intentional overdose (“They Knew the Real Marilyn Monroe”). If Marilyn had forgotten she had already taken her dose of sleeping pills, it would of not took more than a second dose to have knocked her out and yet still not enough to kill her (“The Death of Marilyn Monroe”). Marilyn’s counter looked much like that of a drug abuser, with over a dozen pill bottles on the counter (Hertel and Neff).

The most reasonable conspiracy theory is an official report published since her death. Marilyn Monroe committed suicide. Filling a prescription of the drug that killed her just a day before her death was enough evidence to believe it was intentional. Marilyn already owned multiple prescribed pills to help her fall asleep (Hertel and Neff). She had signs of drug abuse and physiological issues. Lack of evidence, strange protocols followed after her death add numerous conspiracies, but the clearest one to believe is that Monroe killed herself. Most victims of depression battle their pains and agonies alone. The people surrounding them do not notice this because they are good at hiding appearances. Marilyn fought her inner self at all times, always pretended to be someone she was not, and that killed her inside. The drugs just did the final touch (“They Knew the Real Marilyn Monroe”).

Fifty-four years later, Monroe still captures us as she did in life. Her death will remain a mystery she took to the grave. She was more than a star, a seductive cocktail of glamour, and she was damaged. Monroe’s legacy will remain with us, and the conspiracies surrounding her death will live generation through generation.
            On August 5, 1962, the streets of L.A. filled with sorrow. The unexpected death of the Hollywood actress Marilyn Monroe, left to ponder three conspiracy theories:
1.         Did the government murder Marilyn Monroe?
2.         Monroe committed suicide?
3.         Marilyn had an unintentional over dose?
Although the official news sold to the public was that Marilyn committed suicide, strange protocols taken after her death, will always leave her public to question their tragic lost.












Work Cited
Hertel, Howard, and Don Neff. ""From the Archives: Marilyn Monroe Dies; Pills Blamed"" Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, n.d. Web. 17 Nov. 2016.
"How Much Did Marilyn Monroe Weigh? | Danamo's Marilyn ..." Danamo's Mariyn Monroe Pages. Word Press, n.d. Web. 24 Oct. 2016.
King, Susan. "Marilyn Monroe: People Who Knew Her Recall the Real Person ..." Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 04 Aug. 2012. Web. 24 Oct. 2016. ...
Mead, Rebecca. "Forever Marilyn." ProQuest. The Conde Nast Publications, Aug. 2012. Web. Aug. 2012. 
Rollyson, Carl. "Carl Rollyson." Marilyn Monroe: A Life of the Actress -. N.p., 2014. Web. 09 Nov. 2016.
"The Death Of Marilyn Monroe - Conspiracy Theories. August 4th 1962." YouTube. YouTube, 12 Oct. 2013. Web. 17 Nov. 2016.

"They Knew the Real Marilyn Monroe." Youtube. Youtube, 21 Oct. 2014. Web. 24 Oct. 2016.

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