Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and Imitation of Life

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Recommended: Marilyn Monroe and the Impact of the 1950s 1960s

Films like Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and Imitation of Life all possess strong performative elements that allow their viewers to evaluate the characters in the these films in somewhat unique ways. With these films, the term “performance” seems to be a relative. The primary female characters in both films perform both on and off the stage. The way these women perform off of the stage provides the viewer with an additional layer with which to understand them. This layer opens windows through which we can understand certain aspects of desire and femininity and a host of other qualities that we can evaluate.
Let me begin by discussing Marilyn Monroe's role in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. It saddens me to admit that this particular film was the first Monroe film I had seen. Before watching it, I had dozens of preconceived notions of who Monroe was and the kinds of roles she would have in her films. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes proved me wrong.
In order to examine the performative aspects of this film, I would like to draw my attention to Laura Mulvey's Visual Pleasure in Narrative Cinema. Laura Mulvey details why women are seen as the objectified image and men are consistently viewing these skewed representations. From the very first scene in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Lorelei (Marilyn Monroe) and Dorothy (Jane Russell) are seen center-stage. They are both seen performing in identical red-sequined gowns with slits high to the hip and a V-neck not leaving much to the imagination. The gaze is drawn to these women before the
Peterson 2 opening credits even arrive on screen. The spectacle and spectator dichotomy can be seen again when Lorelei and Dorothy make their way into the dining room once the cruise begins. Yet again, they are ...

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...York: Routledge, 2003.

Hooks, Bell. Black American Cinema. Ed. Manthia Diawara, New York: Routledge, 1993.

Mulvey, Laura. Feminism and Film Theory. Ed. Constance Penley. New York: Routledge, 1988.
Mulvey, Laura. "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema." The Feminist and Visual Culture Reader,Edited by Amelia Jones 40-44. New York: Routledge, 2003.
Mailer, Norman, Marilyn. USA: Alskog inc., 1972.

Omi, Michael. Winant, Howard. Race, Identity and Representation in Education. Ed. McCarthy, Cameron and Warren Chichlow. New York: Routledge, 1993.
Parish, James, and Michael Pitts. The Great Hollywood Musical Pictures. London: The Scarecrow Press, 1992.
Rollyson, Carl E. Marilyn Monroe: A Life of the Actress. Michigan: UMI Research Press, 1986.

Willemen, Paul. Douglas Sirk. Ed. Laura Mulvey & Jan Halliday. Edomburgh Film Festival, 1976.

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