Oregon Undergraduate Research Journal 21.2 (2023) ISSN: 2160-617X (online) ourj.uoregon.edu Marilyn in the Media: The Male Gaze of Conspiracy Lena Wehn* Abstract 2022 marked the 60th anniversary of Marilyn Monroe’s death. Her name is once again making headlines. The notable uptick in recent media coverage surrounding Monroe underscores that her cultural significance extends far beyond being an iconic actress. Monroe’s life and legacy have become inseparable from her death, which is famously wrought with conspiracy. Conspiracy theories, typically associated with the socio-political sector, have pushed beyond the political sphere and permeated pop culture. Conspiracy theories stem from a fixation with and desire to rationalize the unknown. For celebrities that reach superstardom, coupling their fame with any mysteriousness creates the perfect breeding ground for conspiracy theories to brew. By examining several theories about how and why Monroe died (in lieu of suicide), this paper dissects how her life and death have been permanently punctuated by conspiracies pushed by men. Monroe was not only at the mercy of conspiracy, but she was infamously, inescapably defined by men. Her story has been told through men’s eyes, both in life and after death. In addition to conspiracy theories, I use news reports (entirely written by men) from the day she was found dead to investigate the extent to which Monroe’s life and legacy was impacted by being hypersexualized. I propose that conspiracy theories, like pop culture and the media, are subject to the male perspective creating, dominating, and directing the narrative. I use Monroe and the conspiracy theories which surround her as a case study to exemplify how destructive and reductive the male gaze becomes when it is left unchecked. 1. Introduction film industry and in American pop culture, has played an equally heavy hand in conspiratorial A timeless blonde bombshell, the standard of thinking. There have been countless publications sexual aesthetic. Her name, her voice, and her put forth by men contending the true series of body created the epitome of a Hollywood sex events that led to Monroe’s death. The conspiracy symbol. Marilyn Monroe’s iconic image theories that surround Monroe’s death have cast established the blueprint for women’s sexuality. her in the same hyper-sexualized role she held in The movie star persona, however, reduced life, underscoring the consequences of Monroe to a doll manipulated by a male- conspiracy theories permeated by the male gaze. dominated Hollywood and by the desires and demands of the patriarchal American public. The 2. Background symbol she came to embody was seldom looked beyond. As a result, Marilyn Monroe was reduced Behind the blonde tresses and impeccable glamor to a one-dimensional figure designed to perfectly was a woman who came from a humble yet serve the fantasies and fetishes of men. The male tumultuous background. Monroe was born in gaze Monroe was subjected to, ever present in the *Lena Wehn (lenaw@uoregon.edu) is an undergraduate at University of Oregon, Clark Honors College in her senior year of study. She is pursuing a Multidisciplinary Science degree—with a concentrations in Chemistry and Psychology—and a minor in Chemistry. Wehn is passionate about food science, a passion she discovered while working as an undergraduate research assistant in Professor Chris Hendon’s Coffee Lab, where she uses electrochemistry to investigate the soluble compounds in espresso. She is also passionate about women’s rights and understanding the role women occupy in society, with the belief that education and exposure can help reduce inequity and misogyny. Oregon Undergraduate Research Journal Wehn 1926 as Norma Jeane Mortenson.2 Her biological under a year, from January 1954 to October 1954.5 mother suffered from schizophrenia and spent Her final divorce came after four years with time in and out of mental asylums.3 As a result, Arthur Miller, ending in 1961.6 She tried her children passed through numerous desperately to conceive with Miller but was temporary foster homes and orphanages.4 unable to fulfill her dream of having children.7 Stability was ephemeral at best and non-existent Monroe failed to achieve the 1950s “staples” of at worst for young Monroe. The psychological womanhood: she couldn’t keep a man (although it impact of an unstable childhood undeniably is important to note that she filed for divorce all affected Monroe for the rest of her life. When she three times), and she didn’t succeed at having a struck stardom in the early 1950s, her image, the child. “She suffered at least two miscarriages and symbol “M.M.,” became synonymous with her was never able to have a child,” The New York personhood. Norma Jeane was reinvented as Times wrote. “Her emotional insecurity Marilyn Monroe: sultry seductress and deepened,”8 as would anyone’s when handling comedienne. Despite fame and fortune, Monroe such intense losses, especially without a strong still lacked the stability she craved. As the woman support system. atop the American pop culture pedestal, Marilyn In addition to these stressors in her personal stood alone. She was condemned to personify an life, about a year prior to Monroe’s death her unobtainable prototype. Monroe was no longer acting career took a downward turn because of human in the eyes of America, but a symbol and disillusionment with the industry. Her poor object. The standard she was expected to attendance had her fired from a role, and recent unfailingly achieve—that of the ultimate sexual films were box-office flops. This culminated in aesthetic—was, and still is, an impossible Monroe’s increased drug abuse.9 She was known standard to uphold. I suspect that these to drink heavily, champagne being a favorite, continued and unrelenting pressures weighed often mixing alcohol with prescription pills. heavily on Monroe, further isolating her from a Ultimately, drugs would be the death of Marilyn sense of normalcy. She must have been Monroe on August 4th, 1962. She was found face impossibly, constantly drained knowing her down in her bed in her Brentwood, Los Angeles worth was wrapped up in her sex appeal. The home. She was found by her housekeeper, Eunice weight of iconic stardom could have only Murray. Murray initially called Monroe’s worsened Monroe’s inability to find contentment psychoanalyst Dr. Ralph Greenson; later, the and balance in life. police were called. It was assumed, following the During her thirty-six years, Monroe nature of the life events leading up to her death weathered three divorces. The first was from an and the condition she was found in, that she aircraft factory worker who she married and committed suicide.10 The official police report separated from pre-fame. The second was from Joe DiMaggio, with whom she was married for 5 “Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio: The End of a Marriage, 1954,” LIFE (blog), January 14, 2014, https://www.life.com/people/tearful-photos-from-the-day- marilyn-divorced-dimaggio-in-1954/. 6 “Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio.” 2 The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Marilyn Monroe 7 The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Marilyn Monroe American Actress,” accessed December 9, 2022, American Actress.” https://www.britannica.com/biography/Marilyn-Monroe. 8 Special to The New York Times, “First Scene Put Her in 3 Special to The New York Times, “First Scene Put Her in Limelight.” Limelight,” August 6, 1962, 9 Robert W. Welkos, “Marilyn’s Secret Tapes,” Los Angeles https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/98/11/ Times, September 15, 2014, https://www.latimes.com/news/la- 22/specials/monroe-obit3.html. et-marilyn5aug05-story.html.s 4 The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Marilyn Monroe 10 History com Editors, “Marilyn Monroe Is Found Dead,” American Actress.” HISTORY, accessed December 9, 2022, Marilyn in the Media 23 Oregon Undergraduate Research Journal Wehn rules a “probable suicide.”11 It is highly possible nothing more than their perceived allure based that the overdose was accidental. It is also shallowly on physical appearance and possible and has been postulated by numerous mannerisms. Again, it is predominantly levied male conspiracists over the years, that she was against women to reduce them to an item to be intentionally drugged with the intent to kill. marveled at or procured, rather than a human being. The second implication of hyper-sexuality 3. Definitions is far more nuanced. It deals with the tendency to use the reduced version of the hyper-sexualized To ensure clarity of analysis, the term “male person as an item, pawn, or object. It serves to gaze” will be defined specifically within the lessen the depth and space someone is allowed to context of this essay. The “male gaze” is a term take up because of stripped agency from their coined by Laura Mulvey in her paper “Visual personhood. This form of reductionist hyper- Pleasure and Narrative Cinema,” published in sexualization is common throughout the 1975. According to Mulvey, “[t]he male gaze discussion of Monroe’s death conspiracy. She has refers to the way women are objectified by the been repeatedly understood and contextualized camera lens in Hollywood movies because men through her value to men, such as the Kennedys, are in control of the production process and or as a pawn in a political game. make decisions that appeal to their own values and interests.”12 The male gaze is pervasive 4. Hyper-Sexuality and the Male beyond the cinematic realm; the concept can easily be lifted from film and transplanted into a Gaze conspiratorial context. The term is also Monroe’s narrative has been controlled by men particularly apt in the scope of this research, since well before she died. As a young actress, considering Monroe was famously subjected to Monroe was molded into the woman she became the male gaze throughout her career. In this on screen. Like countless other golden-age paper, I draw on the concept of the male gaze to Hollywood actresses, Monroe was rebranded— examine how men control the conspiratorial stripped of her given name and appearance in narratives around Monroe’s death to drive favor of a title and look suitable for the silver interpretations that appeal to “their own values screen. Norma Jeane Mortenson, a modest and interests.” woman, was reborn as Marilyn Monroe: a symbol As an actress, Monroe was hyper-sexualized. fit to be flashed around the world. Bosley My definition of hyper-sexuality for this Crowther, journalist for The New York Times discussion’s purpose will be two-fold. First, the wrote: “at one time, even the magical initials, M. term refers to the minimization and M., and the image of the shapely, soft, blonde objectification of people, especially women, for charmer would seductively swim into mind.”13 their aesthetically sexual and seductive qualities, This was published on August 6th, 1962, the day including their face, body, voice, mannerisms, after Monroe was discovered dead. It is clear and personality. The use of “hyper” implies that from Crowther’s choice of descriptive language— the objectification goes beyond what is “shapely,” “soft,” “seductive,” “magical,” considered normal and reduces the person to “charmer”—that Monroe’s public image was jejune, even infantile. Crowther’s diction https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/marilyn-monroe- is-found-dead. 11 Jay Margolis and Buskin, Richard, The Murder of Marilyn Monroe: Case Closed (Skyhorse, 2016). 13 Bosley Crowther, “Actress as a Symbol,” August 6, 1962, 12 “Laura Mulvey’s ‘Male Gaze,’” Media Studies, August 2, 2021, https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/98/11/ https://media-studies.com/male-gaze/. 22/specials/monroe-obit4.html. Marilyn in the Media 24 Oregon Undergraduate Research Journal Wehn demonstrates a trend in the articles that directly was unkempt and in need of a manicure and followed news of Monroe’s death. Though she pedicure, indicating listlessness and a lack of ought to have been mourned and remembered, a interest in maintaining her usually glamorous modern lens reveals that these publications give appearance.”15 The implication that the simple jarring, often vile and wildly inappropriate lack of polished nails indicated “listlessness,” descriptions that exemplify how the star was with a more severe undertone of depression, appraised in life. Crowther continues: “It was the considering Monroe failed to maintain a image of feminine allurement, compounded of “glamorous appearance,” sets an egregious the silver-blonde tresses, the wide-eyed stare, the aesthetic standard for women. The presence or pouting lips, the baby-talk burble in a husky sing- lack of nail polish is not an indication of mental song voice and the remarkable body that were the health. It is humiliating and demeaning to physical attributes of Miss Monroe.”14 Despite comment on such trivial aspects of Monroe’s being an article about her life in honor of her appearance when she was found deceased. It passing, there is a distinct focus on the perpetuates the extreme standard of beauty and “remarkable body” and “physical attributes” that sexuality Monroe had to maintain to appease the characterized Monroe, in lieu of attention to her druthers of men, even in death. career, cultural importance, and achievements. In her short career, Monroe quickly became a The pointed commentary on her “wide-eyed national and even global figure. The media was stare,” “pouting lips,” and most concerning, acutely aware of her status as a symbol, and how “baby-talk burble,” are deeply disturbing limiting it was. In fact, the point is belabored in observations, underlining the extent to which the articles written posthumously. The Marilyn Monroe was systematically fetishized and Monroe we know and love “was fashioned into infantilized in the media. The broader the female image that was … flashed as a symbol implications of how fixated the article is on her around the world,” explained Crowther.16 By child-like features suggests a troubling, definition, a symbol is an “object having cultural dangerous understanding of what the epitome of significance and the capacity to excite or objectify female sexuality looks like. Monroe’s persona a response.”17 Monroe certainly had the “capacity connected problematic physical and aesthetic to excite,” and she was more than just objectified. standards of beauty with limiting social Crowther continues: “The persistence of this requirements for women. Touting one of the image of the exceptionally lovely movie star most admired women in the world as nothing could be explained by the fact that in the more than an adult baby essentially sets the common view, she was more a symbol than an sexual standard at child. Even with a generous artist.”18 Crowther did not hesitate to take this interpretation of these descriptions, the opportunity to insult Monroe by questioning her expectation set for women was coy, “wide-eyed” validity as “an artist.” He simultaneously and helplessness. Women portrayed as childlike inadvertently acknowledged that Monroe’s status crafted a cultural understanding of an ideal as a symbol detracted from the respect she woman: someone who remained dependent upon garnered as an artist. She was so “exceptionally men for support and direction. A large part of the hyper-sexualization that 15 Howard Hertel and Don Neff, “From the Archives: Marilyn Monroe endured was the constant pressure to be Monroe Dies; Pills Blamed,” Los Angeles Times, August 6, prototype perfect. When she was found dead, 1962, https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/archives/la-me-marilyn-monroe-19620806-story.html. men at The Los Angeles Times reported that “She 16 Crowther, “Actress as a Symbol.” 17 “Definition of SYMBOL,” accessed December 9, 2022, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/symbol. 14 Crowther. 18 Crowther, “Actress as a Symbol.” Marilyn in the Media 25 Oregon Undergraduate Research Journal Wehn lovely” that “the common view” never bothered to Robert Kennedy.20 Today it is widely accepted consider her more deeply, beyond the allure and that Monroe did have an affair with JFK and likely glamor. For a woman so popularly regarded, it is Robert Kennedy as well. Most importantly, devastating, but not astonishing, that the esteem however, Monroe’s involvement with the she earned as an actress was denied as a Kennedy family reflects the tendency to symptom of hyper-sexualization in the public conceptualize women in terms of their eye. As a repercussion of the constant, unyielding relationships to men, especially powerful men. sexualization, it became nearly impossible for The association between women and powerful Monroe to be valued for anything other than her men reflects historical patriarchal ideals in which physical features. women were the property of men. Viewing women primarily in relation to men is one of the 5. The Conspiracies more sinister reductionist tools employed by the patriarchy to ensure women remain subjugated, Myriad conspiracy theories have been advanced because it dissolves women’s autonomy and since Monroe’s death sixty years ago. While most diminishes the respect they are perceived to often centered around the Kennedy family, a deserve. It is a recurring theme, especially in the prominent political family of socialites, many conspiracies surrounding her death, to see theories involve the CIA, FBI, the Chicago mob, Monroe presented via her usefulness or lack and Monroe’s own therapist as well. Male thereof to a man. conspiracists and reporters make up an It is no surprise, then, that “Monroe’s overwhelming majority of contributors to the purported relationship with the Kennedy family conspiratorial canon that encircles Monroe’s factors into almost all conspiracy theories about death. Unsurprisingly, each of these theories her death.”21 The first conspiracy theory position Monroe as a gambit in schemes far published, aside from friends who “were nearly larger than herself. unanimous in believing her death was accidental” Monroe’s legacy, especially her death, is as opposed to by her own hands, was in 1964, two inherently contextualized by her relationship years after her death. 22 Frank A. Capell wrote the with the Kennedys. This is a result of the book The Strange Death of Marilyn Monroe. A piece significance of the family in American culture of propaganda, Capell used his book to advance overall. The Kennedys are famous in part for the theory that Monroe and everyone close to her being entrenched in conspiracies of their own. was a communist spy. Reviewer David Marshall Relating the Kennedys closely to Monroe’s death wrote that the book was full of “staunch anti- enhances the mystery of how she died by weaving Kennedy, anti-Communist, high moral her into the extensive Kennedy conspiracy net. It preachings of the far right.23 Immediately, the is also a result of direct and suspected links to the political motives are abundantly clear. Marshall Kennedys when she died. Monroe’s infamous performance of “Happy Birthday, Mr. President” 20 in honor of John F. Kennedy has been touted as Tierney McAfee, “All About Marilyn Monroe’s Alleged Affair with John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy,” Peoplemag, sultry at best, and downright seductive at worst. It October 16, 2022, https://people.com/politics/marilyn- spurred rumors that Monroe was having an affair monroe-affair-john-f-kennedy-robert-f-kennedy/. 21 19 Carli Velocci, “7 Conspiracy Theories About Marilyn with the President. That is followed by a rumor Monroe’s Death From Murderous Kennedys to UFOs,” June 1, that when John F. Kennedy was over her, he 2017, https://www.thewrap.com/7-theories-marilyn-monroe- handed her off to his brother, Attorney General death/. 22 Hertel and Neff, “From the Archives.” 23 David Marshall, “The Strange Death of Marilyn Monroe by Frank Capell,” Collection Master, marilynmonroe.ca, 2006, 19 Welkos, “Marilyn’s Secret Tapes.” http://www.marilynmonroe.ca/camera/books/89.html. Marilyn in the Media 26 Oregon Undergraduate Research Journal Wehn continues that it was “[Capell’s] vicious attacks on death to Robert Kennedy, who, according to Monroe that truly surprise[d]. The feeling one Scaduto, killed Monroe to keep her silent about a gets from Capell is that sure Marilyn was a tramp “diary filled with incriminating information she who played with fire and got what she deserved, overheard from the Kennedys.”28 This theory but tramp or not, the Commies were behind the advanced the notion of Monroe’s expendability to whole thing and that’s what we need to focus on the Kennedys. As soon as she became a liability, … And EVERYONE is a Communist in Marilyn’s Monroe was no longer of use. The theory suggests world.”24 It is no surprise that Capell’s discussion that because she was already essentially an object of Monroe paints her as a “tramp who played with to Robert Kennedy, he chose to have her dealt fire,” both degrading her for her sexual nature with permanently to protect himself. Monroe as a and blaming her for her own demise, claiming disposable asset is a recurring theme in the that, essentially, “she asked for it.” Capell’s angle proposed narratives detailing the events that led was to smear Robert Kennedy’s name by relating up to her death. Scaduto provided another male- him closely to the evil communists, who are also, created conspiracy about Monroe, advancing the in Capell’s world, known to include deviant canon that she was basically a throw-away factor sexual women deserving of their fates, like in grander cover-ups. As a hyper-sexualized Monroe. The more scandalous, raunchy, and woman in American pop culture, it is no shock perverted, the more incendiary and effective the that she was, and continues to be, viewed as piece of propaganda. It is important to remember disposable. that at the heart of Capell’s attacks was the Another conspiracy was proposed by election of 1964, in which Robert Kennedy “was Anthony Summers in his 1985 book Goddess: The running for the Senate.”25 Capell was vehemently Secret Lives of Marilyn Monroe.29 Once again, the right-wing, while Robert Kennedy represented Kennedys are heavily implicated in the theory. more liberal ideologies. Capell’s demeaning Summers, while an acclaimed author, only theory about Monroe’s death was the first to further convolutes the pool of Monroe’s severely reduce Monroe to a mere political pawn, conspiracy theories. He claimed that when a hapless victim. It served primarily to advance “Robert Kennedy broke off their affair, Monroe Capell’s anti-Kennedy, anti-communist threatened to go public,” so Kennedy and his propaganda, and further his right-wing political brother-in-law Peter Lawford (also a friend of agenda. Although one of the first, Capell was Monroe’s) pushed her drug addiction to the point certainly not the last man to objectify and shame of accidental overdose.30 The death was then Monroe following her death. covered up by Kennedy and Lawford, and In 1975, journalist Anthony Scaduto followed somehow incriminated FBI Director J. Edgar Capell’s Monroe-was-a-Communist Conspiracy Hoover in the whole affair.3132 Summers’ theory with his article Who Killed Marilyn Monroe in Oui once again contextualized Monroe in relation to Magazine.26 Scaduto claimed Monroe “was the men she associated with. murdered and that police and the coroner’s office Donald Spoto, an American biographer, participated in a cover up.”27 He connected her 28 Velocci, “7 Conspiracy Theories About Marilyn Monroe’s 24 Marshall. Death From Murderous Kennedys to UFOs.” 25 Marshall. 29 Velocci. 26 Velocci, “7 Conspiracy Theories About Marilyn Monroe’s 30 Velocci. Death From Murderous Kennedys to UFOs.” 31 Velocci. 27 Jeff Wilson, “Marilyn Monroe Death Documents Reveal 32 Kaytie Norman, “Anthony Summers Discusses ‘Goddess: Peter Lawford’s Anguish,” AP NEWS, September 24, 1985, The Secret Lives of Marilyn Monroe,’” earlybirdbooks.com, https://apnews.com/article/709c9cb3a0afa87c7277c64ebffaada April 1, 2022, https://earlybirdbooks.com/anthony-summers- 1. interview-goddess-marilyn-monroe. Marilyn in the Media 27 Oregon Undergraduate Research Journal Wehn claims that Monroe’s death was unrelated to the of her life,” which staunchly opposes the Kennedy family entirely.33 Remarkably, it is the anecdote that she was depressed and suicidal only serious conspiracy theory put forth that is leading up to her death.38 He does, however, not somehow related to the Kennedys. In fact, further the notion that Monroe was reduced to a Spoto says that “[t]he Kennedys had almost token in the CIA’s game. Similarly, in 2010 nothing to do with her.”34 She was killed instead members of the Chicago Mob published Double by her psychiatrist Dr. Greenson, who had the Cross, which takes responsibility for Monroe’s housekeeper—the same one that found Monroe death as payback to Robert Kennedy for his the following morning—administer a lethal sustained attack on the mob. The Mob’s goal was dosage of drugs via enema. It was proposed that to frame Robert Kennedy for Monroe’s death, “[t]o stay on the payroll, Spoto suggests they with “evidence of Bobby’s presence there only ‘conspired to keep her drugged and dependent.’ hours old.”39 To the “Chicago Godfather’s The shrink was retreating into a ‘psychoneurotic disappointment, FBI agents quickly removed all fear of abandonment and rejection’” because traces of Bobby’s presence at the apartment,” Monroe was not interested in working with him implying a substantial cover up.40 Monroe was anymore.35 In this case, Dr. Greensons’s personal dead, and the alleged desired outcome—pinning obsession and fixation with Monroe was the force the murder on Robert—was not achieved. In the that killed her. An obsession of that magnitude conspiracy proposed in Double Cross, it seemed as speaks to how severely she was reduced from an if it were almost automatic protocol to wipe all autonomous human being to a person who was traces of Kennedy’s supposed presence. In both controlled by others. It has also been alleged that conspiracies, Monroe is treated as nothing more Monroe was having an affair with Greenson, than collateral. She was a pawn in men’s sick which would further an unhealthy, potentially games of revenge and the pursuit of political lethal obsession.36 Spoto’s claim positions power. Monroe as a victim of male temper and possessiveness; the fear of losing her was so 6. Discussion overwhelming that Dr. Greenson chose murder over treating her as a woman with personal As discussed throughout the conspiracies put autonomy. forth about Monroe’s death, she is continually The 2004 conspiracy put forth by Matthew perceived to be dependent upon or at the mercy Smith in the book Victim: The Secret Tapes of of the men around her. Predictably, it is solely Marilyn Monroe implicates the CIA in Monroe’s male reporters and conspiracy theorists who have murder, claiming she was killed as revenge for advanced these narratives. In fact, these men are the Kennedys’ Bay of Pigs invasion.37 Smith expanding upon a persistent fixation. That is argues that Monroe was “a woman in full charge abundantly clear from the decades of iterations of conspiracies about Monroe’s death that have 33 Neil Genzlinger, “Donald Spoto, Biographer of Hitchcock and Many More, Dies at 81,” The New York Times, February 17, 2023, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/17/books/donald- 38 Matthew Smith, Victim: The Secret Tapes of Marilyn Monroe spoto-dead.html. (London: Arrow, 2004), 34 Paul Rosenfield, “Leave the Kennedys Out of It : MARILYN https://archive.org/details/victimsecrettape0000smit_f0i8. MONROE: The Biography, By Donald Spoto,” Los Angeles 39 “U.S.-Star – Marilyn Monroe Was Killed on Orders of Mafia Times, May 2, 1993, https://www.latimes.com/archives/la- Godfather in ‘Perfect’ Hit | Double Cross,” Double Corss, xpm-1993-05-02-bk-29911-story.html. accessed December 7, 2022, 35 Rosenfield. http://doublecrossthebook.com/in-the-news/u-s-star-marilyn- 36 Margolis and Buskin, Richard, The Murder of Marilyn monroe-was-killed-on-orders-of-mafia-godfather-in-perfect- Monroe: Case Closed. hit/. 37 Velocci, “7 Conspiracy Theories About Marilyn Monroe’s 40 “U.S.-Star – Marilyn Monroe Was Killed on Orders of Mafia Death From Murderous Kennedys to UFOs.” Godfather in ‘Perfect’ Hit | Double Cross.” Marilyn in the Media 28 Oregon Undergraduate Research Journal Wehn been devised and published by men. Monroe was fetishization because as a man, he was not self-made, self-educated, and a career woman, subjected to the male gaze as Monroe was. despite mental health struggles, an unstable early Instead of being killed as collateral by life, and the constant pressure of perfection—that government agents, it is theorized that Elvis was a is, she was anything but infantile and helpless. government agent.42 Instead of dying a drug As a result of the hyper-sexualized stardom, abuser’s death, it is hypothesized that drugs were Monroe was and continues to be placed into a a cover for Elvis to slip away into obscurity. As limiting societal box where she is exclusively much as people obsess over Elvis, instead of seen as tragic, fragile, vulnerable, and frivolous. becoming a political pawn having all personal Fueled by the fascination and fixation of men, agency stripped as Monroe has been in her this is maintained in the discussion around her conspiracies, he is rumored to be living a death. The potency and longevity of the peaceful life with a new identity—a far cry from conspiracies that swirl around Monroe’s death the stories that were born out of Monroe’s are the culmination of the hyper-sexualization death. The contrast is clear: conspiracy theories she was subjected to in life. about Elvis preserve autonomy over his body and Men have been bickering over who gets the life, whereas Monroe’s conspiracies deprive her final word on Monroe’s death for decades. In the of such privileges. neurotic efforts to pin her passing on something larger than herself, men have entirely co-opted 7. Conclusion the narrative. The male gaze has permeated every aspect of the conspiracy theories surrounding Monroe’s legacy, death, and most significantly Monroe’s death, resulting in the perpetuation of a the conspiracy theories that surround her death warped, limited understanding of who Monroe reveal the potent effect the male gaze has on was in life. media and pop culture. Monroe is the ideal case Setting the hyper-sexualization and study of a woman inescapably contextualized by fetishization aside, it could be argued that men. She epitomizes hyper-sexualization, so stardom at the level Monroe achieved it, in much so that the objectification she fell victim to tandem with her untimely death, is enough to in life is deeply ingrained in the narrative around launch conspiracy theories. There are notable her death. Regardless of how she died, or what similarities in the case of Elvis, a superstar and led up to her untimely death, Monroe’s capacity prescription pill addict who met a premature end. to maintain the American public’s obsession and The distinction, however, is that Elvis is rumored the American man’s infatuation speaks to how to still be alive. The big “theory is that Elvis didn't powerful, dangerous, and damning superstar, die, that he faked his death to protect himself and sex-symbol status can be. The precarious pedestal his family from death threats stemming from his women like Monroe are put on provides a work as a government agent, that rumors about platform for toxic and destructive treatment. That his drug use were spread to support the cover-up, treatment has since been over-analyzed and and that he has been living under an assumed extrapolated by male conspiracy theorists, identity in a government protection program ever further stripping Monroe of her agency and since.”41 Even though Elvis easily rivals Monroe autonomy in death. Monroe’s is a cautionary tale as a hyper-sexualized pop-culture symbol, his for women. She was, and still is, a victim of the death will never hold the same intense perils of demeaning hyper-sexualization and the derogatory male gaze. Marilyn Monroe deserves 41 Mark Morrison, “THE ELVIS CONSPIRACY,” September 15, 1994, https://scholar.lib.vt.edu/VA-news/ROA- Times/issues/1994/rt0994/940915/09160009.htm. 42 Morrison. Marilyn in the Media 29 Oregon Undergraduate Research Journal Wehn to be remembered as more than a sex symbol, history/marilyn-monroe-is-found-dead. more than an item to be hoarded, and more than Genzlinger, Neil. “Donald Spoto, Biographer of a disposable pawn in grand political schemes; she Hitchcock and Many More, Dies at 81.” The deserves to be remembered as a human. New York Times, February 17, 2023. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/17/books/d Acknowledgements onald-spoto-dead.html. Hertel, Howard, and Don Neff. “From the I want to thank Professor James Breen for his Archives: Marilyn Monroe Dies; Pills prolonged support and adept editing skills. He is Blamed.” Los Angeles Times, August 6, 1962. persistently passionate about historic American https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/arc conspiracy. Without his dedication to thorough hives/la-me-marilyn-monroe-19620806- and attentive feedback, I would not be nearly as story.html. proud of the work I produced. His patience and LIFE. “Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio: The trust in my ability to push my literary boundaries End of a Marriage, 1954,” January 14, 2014. was inspiring. My utmost gratitude for my friends https://www.life.com/people/tearful-photos- and peers who took the time to help edit and from-the-day-marilyn-divorced-dimaggio-in- refine my work. A second, third, even fourth pair 1954/. of eyes is always crucial. Finally, I would be Margolis, Jay and Buskin, Richard. The Murder of remiss not to acknowledge Hollywood and the Marilyn Monroe: Case Closed. Skyhorse, 2016. media for keeping Monroe’s name in headlines Marshall, David. “The Strange Death of Marilyn and image in everyone’s minds, even sixty years Monroe by Frank Capell.” Collection Master. after her death. My hope is that someday she is marilynmonroe.ca, 2006. allowed to rest peacefully, and that her legacy http://www.marilynmonroe.ca/camera/books from life surpasses the fixation with her death. /89.html. Media Studies. “Laura Mulvey’s ‘Male Gaze,’” Bibliography August 2, 2021. https://media- studies.com/male-gaze/. Crowther, Bosley. “Actress as a Symbol,” August Morrison, Mark. “THE ELVIS CONSPIRACY,” 6, 1962. September 15, 1994. https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.c https://scholar.lib.vt.edu/VA-news/ROA- om/books/98/11/22/specials/monroe- Times/issues/1994/rt0994/940915/09160009.ht obit4.html. m. “Definition of SYMBOL.” Accessed December 9, Norman, Kaytie. “Anthony Summers Discusses 2022. https://www.merriam- ‘Goddess: The Secret Lives of Marilyn webster.com/dictionary/symbol. Monroe.’” earlybirdbooks.com, April 1, 2022. Double Corss. “U.S.-Star – Marilyn Monroe Was https://earlybirdbooks.com/anthony- Killed on Orders of Mafia Godfather in summers-interview-goddess-marilyn- ‘Perfect’ Hit | Double Cross.” Accessed monroe. December 7, 2022. Rosenfield, Paul. “Leave the Kennedys Out of It : http://doublecrossthebook.com/in-the- MARILYN MONROE: The Biography, By news/u-s-star-marilyn-monroe-was-killed-on- Donald Spoto.” Los Angeles Times, May 2, orders-of-mafia-godfather-in-perfect-hit/. 1993. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la- Editors, History com. “Marilyn Monroe Is Found xpm-1993-05-02-bk-29911-story.html. Dead.” HISTORY. Accessed December 9, Smith, Matthew. Victim: The Secret Tapes of 2022. https://www.history.com/this-day-in- Marilyn Monroe. London: Arrow, 2004. Marilyn in the Media 30 Oregon Undergraduate Research Journal Wehn https://archive.org/details/victimsecrettape00 monroe-affair-john-f-kennedy-robert-f- 00smit_f0i8. kennedy/. Special to The New York Times. “First Scene Put Velocci, Carli. “7 Conspiracy Theories About Her in Limelight,” August 6, 1962. Marilyn Monroe’s Death From Murderous https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.c Kennedys to UFOs,” June 1, 2017. om/books/98/11/22/specials/monroe- https://www.thewrap.com/7-theories- obit3.html. marilyn-monroe-death/. The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. Welkos, Robert W. “Marilyn’s Secret Tapes.” Los “Marilyn Monroe American Actress.” Angeles Times, September 15, 2014. Accessed December 9, 2022. https://www.latimes.com/news/la-et- https://www.britannica.com/biography/Maril marilyn5aug05-story.html. yn-Monroe. Wilson, Jeff. “Marilyn Monroe Death Documents Tierney McAfee. “All About Marilyn Monroe’s Reveal Peter Lawford’s Anguish.” AP NEWS, Alleged Affair with John F. Kennedy and September 24, 1985. Robert F. Kennedy.” Peoplemag, October 16, https://apnews.com/article/709c9cb3a0afa87c 2022. https://people.com/politics/marilyn- 7277c64ebffaada1. Marilyn in the Media 31