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Question about Arthur Miller Blaming Marilyn for the Miscarriage

posted 9 years ago by eva-jackeline88
14 replies | jump to latest

I read that quite a few incidents in this film were rather exaggerated or fictionalised altogether and this raised a question.

Was Arthur Miller's outburst in which he shouts at Marilyn that she was responsible for the miscarriage and that she killed their child due to her excessive drinking and pill use ("gorged yourself on pills and booze" was the statement) realistic for the time? From what I've read about healthcare and prenatal care during the early 1960s, the dangers of smoking and alcohol consumption during pregnancy were not widely recognised and it was not uncommon for pregnant women to smoke and/or drink. From what I gather, the general public was not aware that these had a negative effect during pregnancy or that they could result in miscarriage.

With that in mind, was it realistic for Arthur Miller to make the connection and blame Marilyn's excessive drinking and constant use of sleeping pills for the miscarriage? It seemed like an odd statement for him to make, particularly given the manner in which he said it. The accusatory tone in which he said it implied that she should have known better, which is highly unlikely as the negative effects of smoking and drinking during pregnancy would not have been common knowledge at that time.

Any thoughts?

[–] milliedil 9 years ago

The law states that you can't libel a dead person, but this screenplay comes awfully close, especially with Miller.

Thank you, thank you--you're most kind. In fact you're every kind.

[–] shirleyp92 9 years ago

I took it, when Arthur Miller went into his outburst, that the smoking/drinking/pill-pooping was done in excess. In fact, MM experienced two miscarriages with AM.

I'm sure that, even in the time, people could wrap their brains around what it meant to do things in moderation. For example, I remember in 1940-ish 'Kitty Foyle', the character Ginger Rogers plays turns down booze or wine after the waiter/owner is insisting her to try it because she wants some "Grade-A-Milk"; clearly a sign to viewers that she cared enough for the child she was carrying (she was supposed to be unmarried as well, BTW).

Perhaps there was some truth in that MM was neglecting her health and, in a weird way, like Heath Ledger, was "gourging" on pills in order to meet the daily grind; even though the pill pooping may have provided a false sense of control or something. Maybe she was spiraling into a deep depressed state after 3 failed marriages, a tag-team with the Kennedy bros, getting used by married dudes left & right (e.g., Gable had sex with her & so did the very married Yves Montand) & a feeling of a career slump in the horizon? IDK.

[–] ravan729 9 years ago

Actually the "Grade A Milk" comment probably was intended as a Plug for Ginger Rogers Dairy farm which she owned and operated I think in Oregon.

[–] Lillifilly 9 years ago

Pill Pooping.......I love it!

[–] saucermcfly 9 years ago

Marilyn's 1957 pregnancy was ectopic, which has nothing at all to do with pills or alcohol. I have never once read that Arthur blamed her for the miscarriages (one in 1958 and possibly also one in 1956), so this really seems to be a dramatic fabrication - along with most of this film. This is not a bio-pic. It should say "loosely based on the life of Marilyn Monroe" because the wild inaccuracies thoughout really make your head spin.

Monroe and Gable never had an affair. And an affair with either Kennedy is extremely doubtful, despite the popularity of the myth. The affair with Montand, on the other hand, is a true part of Marilyn's history and, no doubt, was a contributing factor to the end of the Miller-Monroe marriage less than a year later.

[–] truetexian 9 years ago

This is exactly why I am not a fan of such cinematic endeavors. Aside from it taking far too much license with a (once) real living person's personality and character, it's supposition can still actually do harm.
Documentaries, even though some of them are done incorrectly and biased, are most often the only worthwhile projects when it comes to films of real people and their lives.
As everyone else does, I still find MM very intriguing and captivating also. But, I'd only like to know things about her that we know for sure are things she said, lived through and experienced. I don't have the need to dissect and analyze her through fictionalization.

[–] LateNightCable 9 years ago

In the pre-D.A.R.E. days, the public was generally not as educated on the dangers of drugs. But it is fair to say that drug use also wasn't the problem that it would become in later decades. Even still, people knew that alcohol and drugs do not mix. And that both are harmful in excess. As shown by the existence of alcoholism, and drug addiction - which existed then as it does today.

Prenatal care was also advanced enough to know that expectant mothers should not smoke, or drink alcohol. In fact it was not uncommon for doctors back then to advise patients to refrain from smoking, or consumption of alcohol for a while… The film's portrayal of Marilyn chain smoking, drinking, and popping pills while pregnant is a very pointed accusation. And by all accounts, Marilyn was only ever an occasional/social smoker.

"Cristal, Beluga, Wolfgang Puck… It's a f#@k house."

[–] misskayy 9 years ago

That scene was probably an exaggeration, but I know many people who knew him and he was not a nice person. He had a son with his next wife who had down syndrome and had the child put away and only started visiting him a few years before his death. He thought his disabled son was Gods punishing him for his treatment towards Marilyn. Selfish man.

[–] shirleyp92 9 years ago

Wow!!! What a horrible human being. Thanks for sharing that :(

[–] Cristianos 9 years ago

He thought his disabled son was Gods punishing him for his treatment towards Marilyn. Selfish man.

What's your source on this because Arthur Miller was an atheist.

What we do in life, echoes in eternity.

[–] andromache3 9 years ago

What's your source on this because Arthur Miller was an atheist.

If that were the case, why did he get Marilyn to convert to Judaism in order to marry her? Or is that not true?

Don't let anyone ever make you feel like you don't deserve what you want.

[–] TrentinaNE 9 years ago

From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Atheism_Tapes. In the 2004 television series:

American playwright Arthur Miller talks about his atheism from a Jewish perspective. He discusses his view that some cases of antisemitism come from Christians who believe Jewish people are disbelievers because they do not believe Christ was the son of God. They also discuss the overlay of religion and patriotism, particularly with American politics, but also on how many of the wars today come from the mixture of nationalism and religious beliefs. Lastly, he explains how he does not believe that there is an afterlife except in the sense that people are remembered by the material possessions that they leave behind or the deeds that they did during their life that still have an impact on the world.

It's not clear that Miller "got" Marilyn to convert; it appears to have been Marilyn's initiative to do so. Neither of Miller's other two non-Jewish wives converted before or after marrying him.

[–] marvelass 9 years ago

He had a son with his next wife who had down syndrome and had the child put away and only started visiting him a few years before his death.

That's right. A year after his divorce from Marilyn, Miller married Austrian-born photographer Inge Morath. They had two children, Rebecca and Daniel. Daniel was born with Down Syndrome and was institutionalized shortly after his birth at Miller's request. For several decades Miller refused to see him, and his wife had to sneak out to visit her own son.

Daughter Rebecca later became a film director and screenwriter and married actor Daniel Day-Lewis after he starred in the 1996 film adaptation of Miller's The Crucible for which Miller also wrote the screenplay and was nominated for an Oscar. It was DDL who eventually convinced Miller to visit Daniel shortly before Miller's death in 2005.

Incidentally, in 2012, DDL starred as Lincoln (Marilyn's favorite president) for which he won the Oscar. During that time, he visited the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library in Springfield, Illinois, where he was more interested in seeing Marilyn's dress. The library houses the long-sleeved, off-the-shoulder, black wool dress Marilyn wore to meet esteemed Lincoln biographer and thrice Pulitzer Prize-winner Carl Sandburg.

So there's a lot of interconnection going on here.

.

[–] slesleylawson 8 years ago

It's said Marilyn was Rhesus negative blood type, and if she had a previous miscarriage without the antibodies they now give, it could have been a reason for miscarriage if her future partner was rhesus positive.