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Marilyn had almost no relationship with her mother & didn't hear voices

posted 9 years ago by marvelass
6 replies | jump to latest

The film focuses on Monroe's relationship with her schizophrenic mother Gladys. Trouble is, Monroe had almost no relationship with her mother; they barely knew each other. Gladys Baker was in institutions for most of her life, and Monroe rarely visited. By the time she was a big-time Hollywood actress, she stopped visiting altogether and instead had her business manager, Inez Nelson, give her progress reports on her mother’s condition. I can understand why; Marilyn feared she would end up crazy like her mother (though Marilyn herself was not psychotic) and seeing her only reinforced that fear. Marilyn did pay for her care, though, and left her a trust in her will. Furthermore, the film made it seem like she was tormented by Mommy issues; actually, it was Daddy issues that plagued her. She was always looking for a father figure.

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[–] Loomis_Orange 9 years ago

How do you know Marilyn didn't hear voices? That kind of thing isn't exactly brought up in conversations... "Oh, would you like a tuna sandwich and a Coke? And by the way, I Hear Voices When There's Nobody There, How About you?

[–] ravan729 9 years ago

I don't hear voices but prefer Pepsi

[–] PThirty6 9 years ago

Agreed. I have read many books about Marilyn and the book that this movie was based on was one of the worst of the bunch.

[–] MikeHunt1075 9 years ago

But how do you know it wasn't the most accurate?

I'm an AC/DC fan and there is two books published on them by people who have never been close enough to any members of the band to smell one of their farts. Yet for some reason they get praised for their books because one made up some *beep* about a conspiracy to kill Bon Scott, and the other used re-issued material from magazines (nostalgia effect).

But when a woman wrote a book who was a journalist and friend of the band, who had known them since the late 70's, her stories where too factual for so many people to understand it's based in reality and not adding whatever crap they can come up with to get people to buy their books.

[–] slesleylawson 8 years ago

Rubbish, her mother tried hard to have a house with Marilyn. Marilyn came out of foster care until her mother had another mental breakdown. Then Marilyn paid for her to live in an expensive hospital.

[–] Charlize-Q 8 years ago

I've seen and read many many Marilyn books and movies, and this one is by far the most accurate in portraying her life. It wasn't perfect but I think it was closer to the truth than other movies. Marilyn had severe mommy issues.

The main problems I have with this movie are, one: in the therapy sessions, there are moments when Marilyn appears very bright and serious, but far too many others where she was just, acting silly. I guess we're supposed to attribute that to her drinking throughout the session, but to me it just farther led to the stereotypical assumptions of a dumb blonde.

and two: to your point, the voices. I don't think Marilyn was crazy--like Gladys. However, from all accounts she was a very paranoid woman. Extremely paranoid of becoming like Gladys, and I felt the film didn't emphasize on root of her erratic behavior and let people assume it was in the genes. For example the scene where she's with johnny talking to the mirror--to an average viewer you got the sense she was going insane, but to me she was freaking the *beep* out over of possibility.

Marilyn was paranoid, and thought she was being followed by the FBI and being wiretapped (could possibly be true, the FBI did keep a file on her) but the film failed to show how sleep deprived she had become, and how much she was self medicating, and all the stress in her life. Under those circumstances any healthy person could succumb to hallucinations.. Did she hear voices? who knows. Was she a bit out of her mind? Yes, but not because she was like her mother.

Other than that it was accurate, just exaggerated of course,