Lunch with a legend. Today at lunchtime, I took in Marilyn Monroe: Life as a Legend at the Chicago Cultural Center. First of all, the Cultural Center is a beautiful old building, once Chicago's Public Library, and it's a treat just to walk around in it. Second, the exhibit was FREE. And, of course, it was Marilyn.Marilyn fascinates me both as a movie star and as an icon. On screen, she was a delight. Funny and luminous. Her material often seems dated today, but she never does. Whatever was going on in her tumultuous personal life, her movie persona is always upbeat, sweet and vulnerable.
As an icon, she is captivating. Brave and sad sometimes, silly at others, often teetering between "vulnerable" and "victim." Especially in the photo shoots toward the end of her life, she seems to be trying to tell us something. Her loneliness is so powerful it reaches out to us across the decades. The actual photos -- many in glorious black and white -- are far more compelling than the artists' interpretations of her life and myth.
On a lighter note, I'm proud to report I resisted EVERYTHING in the museum gift shop!
This has nothing to do with Marilyn.But.....how 'bout those Cubs last night? I got tired of watching my poor old Tigers being whipped by the Indians, so I switched over to the Cubs game. Wow, top of the 8th. and they were down by one run.....the rest is history.Go Cubs!! Snowbird
ReplyDelete