Fan Phenomena: Marilyn Monroe

Marcelline Block

• Publisher: Intellect Books
• Year: 2014
• Print ISBN: 9781783202010
• eBook ISBN: 9781783202645
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Popular Culture
• Index: Social Sciences

Born Norma Jeane Mortenson, Marilyn Monroe was an actress, singer and sex symbol whose influence far outlasted her short life. Contributors to Fan Phenomena: Marilyn Monroe situate the platinum blonde starlet's omnipresent cultural relevance within the zeitgeist of current popular culture and explore the influence she has had on numerous elements of it. Her aesthetics and images have been re-appropriated, recreated, imitated and emulated by such celebrities as Lindsay Lohan, Jayne Mansfield, Drew Barrymore, Anna Nicole Smith and Madonna.

The quintessential American sex symbol, Monroe was an influential style icon for a spectrum of designers, including Dolce and Gabbana, Betsey Johnson and Nike, all of whom have named lines of clothing, shoes or accessories after the star. The essays here explore representations of Monroe in visual culture by looking at the ways she is reimagined in visual art while also considering how her posthumous appearance and image are appropriated in current advertisements. With an inside look at the universe of Marilyn Monroe impersonators and look-alike contests for both males and females, the book also explores numerous homages to Monroe in music, from the 1979 opera Marilyn by Lorenzo Ferrero to Nicki Minaj's song 'Marilyn Monroe.' The definitive guide to one of the most famous women who ever lived, the book will be essential reading for any scholar of twentieth-century American popular culture.

Fan Appreciation no.1

Mary Sims, Owner of the Immortal Marilyn Fan Club Website

Fig. 1: Immortal Marilyn’s Mary Sims photographed with some of the items from her Marilyn Monroe collection. (© Mary Sims)

Interview by Marcelline Block

Why, when and how did you become involved with Marilyn Monroe fandom? I cannot remember a time not being fascinated by the subject of Marilyn Monroe. I became a serious fan/student of hers in 1988, reading Anthony Summer’s book Goddess: The Secret Lives of Marilyn Monroe [1985]. I was to learn as I continued to read more books that there were a lot of untruths in that book. I think that only fuelled my passion to learn the ‘truths’, so to speak, and thus becoming a serious student of Marilyn Monroe. Before I had a computer, there was no contact with any other Marilyn fans. In 2000, I joined Yahoo! Groups in search of Marilyn Monroe fan clubs so I could meet and share my interest in Marilyn with other like-minded fans.

What is the extent of your involvement with Marilyn Monroe fandom, and which fandom communities in particular?

I am the owner of Immortal Marilyn. In 2003, I became the President of the Immortal Marilyn Fan Club, located in Yahoo! Groups. In 2007, the fan club part of Immortal Marilyn located in Yahoo! Groups was closed to concentrate solely on www.immortalmarilyn.com. The staff I had at Immortal Marilyn for the most part followed me and each contributes monthly or as they can to Immortal Marilyn. It is constantly growing with new information every month. At the time of its closing, the Immortal Marilyn Fan Club had well over 2,300 members worldwide.

What are some of the highlights of your experiences with Marilyn Monroe fandom?

Meeting people who shared the same love and admiration for Marilyn Monroe was so great. I finally had people to chat with about her life, discussing every aspect of it, and became friends with them. Then becoming President of Immortal Marilyn was an incredible experience for me. Taking the fan club from a few hundred fans and nurturing it to become one of the largest and most recognized names in the Marilyn fandom community has been very satisfying, and has made me very proud. Immortal Marilyn planned and hosted several fan gatherings in Los Angeles to remember and celebrate the life of Marilyn Monroe. In 2005, we made the homage to New York City to explore all the places Marilyn lived and loved there as well.

Flowers for Marilyn became a very important part of the identity of Immortal Marilyn. With contributions of very generous fans, four times a year – Valentine’s Day, June 1st for her birthday, August 5th for the Memorial and at Christmas – we place flowers at Marilyn’s crypt. The Immortal Marilyn Fan Club has a Los Angeles-based Representative who will go to Marilyn’s crypt, clean it and take photos of our flowers to share with the fans online: http://www.immortalmarilyn.com/FlowersForMarilyn.html.

Fig. 2: Flower arrangements from Immortal Marilyn and a memorial card signed by its members for the 52nd anniversary of Marilyn Monroe’s passing, August 5, 2014, placed at Marilyn Monroe’s crypt, Pierce Bros Westwood Village Memorial Park, Los Angeles. Along with placing cards and flower arrangements on four significant dates each year—Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Marilyn’s birthday (June 1), and the day of her passing (August 5)—any money leftover from the purchase of the flowers is donated to the charity Animal Haven of New York City, in Marilyn’s name and in her honor. For more information, see http://immortalmarilyn.com/FlowersForMarilyn.html.(© Jackie Craig)

In the early years of Immortal Marilyn, over the holidays, the fans would sponsor children at Hollygrove. Long before Marilyn became ‘Marilyn’ she was a young girl named Norma Jeane. Norma Jeane at one point in her life was taken to live at the Los Angeles Orphanage, which was later renamed ‘Hollygrove’. Immortal Marilyn would request Christmas wish lists from the children at Holly-grove, and we would match up the children with their own sponsor (an Immortal Marilyn member) who would buy the child or children one gift (and sometimes more) from their wish list(s). This tradition continued until Hollygrove moved the children out and into foster homes.

Immortal Marilyn wanted to continue to give in Marilyn’s honour. Somewhere around 2006 we decided that Marilyn would surely approve of us setting an amount on what we would spend on flowers for her crypt, and any amount above that would be given to a worthy charity. A poll was taken with several worthy charity choices, and the fans overwhelmingly chose Animal Haven of New York City, a no-kill shelter. This choice was based on Marilyn’s love for animals and her adopted city of New York.

Providing a fun place for fans to share their love for and learn more about Marilyn is what Immortal Marilyn has always been about.

How would you characterize the Marilyn Monroe fandom communities (a) with which you are involved and (b) as a whole?

Today Immortal Marilyn’s fan base is in Facebook. The fans are a mix of the original Immortal Marilyn fans from Yahoo! Groups, and the ‘newbies’, and also a mix of the serious Marilyn fan to the brand new fan.

What are some of the changes/new developments that you have witnessed and/or experienced in Marilyn Monroe fandom communities over the course of your involvement in them?

There are a lot more Marilyn fans with access to each other, which is both necessary and great fun. Necessary in being able to learn truths since there is so much misinformation out there about Marilyn. And fun, because fans create great bonds and friendships with each other. That has always been so. Websites have become a lot more sophisticated. Graphic talent of all kinds using Marilyn’s image have become quite the thing. The Internet has brought fans together that never would have met otherwise. It has enabled them to meet people who knew Marilyn, photographed her, written books on her, experts from documentaries they’d seen, etc., etc. Been a wonderful thing!

Fig. 3: Immortal Marilyn’s Mary Sims holds a canvas of a young Marilyn, a recent addition to her collection of Marilyn items and memorabilia. (© Mary Sims)

What are some new directions you envision Marilyn Monroe fandom (both yours and the larger fandom community) taking in the future? How do you see yourself involved in them?

I will continue to work on Immortal Marilyn’s website with the help of IM’s contributors, to give the fans a freshly updated spot every month to come to for Marilyn news and information. I am sure as the Internet becomes more and more sophisticated and evolved, Marilyn’s fan base will continue to grow with it.

Are you involved with any other fandom communities? If so, please discuss how these other fandom communities differ from/compare to Marilyn Monroe fandom.

I belong to Marilyn Remembered, which is based in Los Angeles, and work with them in making plans for the Memorial. I belong to several other fan-based clubs online, and on Facebook. Each page or group has its own distinct feel. Some in Facebook are more general fan pages while others concentrate on particular aspects of Marilyn, some on collecting memorabilia, some on Marilyn graphics, some on her death for instance. Immortal Marilyn has numerous Facebook pages.

What does fandom mean to you/how has fandom impacted your life? What does it mean to you to be part of a fandom community?

Well, it has really changed my life.

I became involved with the Marilyn community at a time in my life that was hard. My parents had both recently died, and I found going to the fan clubs online gave me an escape from the sadness and grief for a bit. In time I grew more involved, and was able to put my organizational skills to work for Immortal Marilyn and help make it a great place for fans to gather and get their ‘Marilyn Fix’. The friends I have met and made via the fandoms online and what they have come to mean to me cannot be m...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction: Marcelline Block
• Timeless Stars and New Spotlights: Looking for Marilyn Monroe on YouTube
• Fan Appeciation no.1: Mary Sims, Owner of the Immortal Marilyn Fan Club Website
• Lipstick Thespians: Being Marilyn Monroe after 5 August 1962
• Marilyn is a Smash: Depicting the Icon in NBC’s Musical Drama
• Fan Appeciation no.2: Gianandrea Colombo Marilyn Monroe Italia
• Marilyn Monroe’s Dresses
• Fan Appeciation no.3: Scott Fortner, The Marilyn Monroe Collection
• Performing Marilyn: Michelle Williams in My Week with Marilyn
• Fan Appeciation no.4: Tara Hanks, author of The MMM Girl
• The 50th Anniversary of Marilyn Monroe’s Death
• Fan Appeciation no.5: Melinda Mason, the ‘Marilyn Geek’
• Fan Appeciation no.6: Marijane Gray
• Editor and Contributor Biographies
• Back Cover