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Marilyn Monroe's Star Canon: Postwar American Culture and the Semiotics University of Kentucky UKnowledge Theses and Dissertations--English English 2016 MARILYN MONROE’S STAR CANON: POSTWAR AMERICAN CULTURE AND THE SEMIOTICS OF STARDOM Amanda Konkle University of Kentucky, [email protected] Digital Object Identifier: http://dx.doi.org/10.13023/ETD.2016.038 Right click to open a feedback form in a new tab to let us know how this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Konkle, Amanda, "MARILYN MONROE’S STAR CANON: POSTWAR AMERICAN CULTURE AND THE SEMIOTICS OF STARDOM" (2016). Theses and Dissertations--English. 28. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/english_etds/28 This Doctoral Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the English at UKnowledge. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations--English by an authorized administrator of UKnowledge. For more information, please contact [email protected]. STUDENT AGREEMENT: I represent that my thesis or dissertation and abstract are my original work. Proper attribution has been given to all outside sources. I understand that I am solely responsible for obtaining any needed copyright permissions. I have obtained needed written permission statement(s) from the owner(s) of each third-party copyrighted matter to be included in my work, allowing electronic distribution (if such use is not permitted by the fair use doctrine) which will be submitted to UKnowledge as Additional File. I hereby grant to The University of Kentucky and its agents the irrevocable, non-exclusive, and royalty-free license to archive and make accessible my work in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I agree that the document mentioned above may be made available immediately for worldwide access unless an embargo applies. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of my work. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of my work. I understand that I am free to register the copyright to my work. REVIEW, APPROVAL AND ACCEPTANCE The document mentioned above has been reviewed and accepted by the student’s advisor, on behalf of the advisory committee, and by the Director of Graduate Studies (DGS), on behalf of the program; we verify that this is the final, approved version of the student’s thesis including all changes required by the advisory committee. The undersigned agree to abide by the statements above. Amanda Konkle, Student Dr. Alan Nadel, Major Professor Dr. Andy Doolen, Director of Graduate Studies MARILYN MONROE’S STAR CANON: POSTWAR AMERICAN CULTURE AND THE SEMIOTICS OF STARDOM ________________________________________________________________________ DISSERTATION ________________________________________________________________________ A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Kentucky By Amanda Sue Konkle Lexington, Kentucky Director: Dr. Alan Nadel, William T. Bryan Chair of American Studies Lexington, Kentucky 2016 Copyright © Amanda Sue Konkle 2016 ABSTRACT OF DISSERTATION MARILYN MONROE’S STAR CANON: POSTWAR AMERICAN CULTURE AND THE SEMIOTICS OF STARDOM Although Marilyn Monroe was one of the most famous American film stars, and a monumental cultural figure, her film work has been studied far less than her biography. Applying C.S. Peirce’s semiotic categories of icon, index, and symbol, this research explains how Monroe acquired meaning as an actress: Monroe was a powerful, but simplified, public image (an icon); an indicator of a particular historical and social context (an index); and an embodiment of significant cultural debates (a symbol). Analyzing Monroe as an icon reveals how her personal life, which contradicted her official publicity story, generated public sympathy and led to a perceived intimacy between the star and her fans. Monroe’s persona developed through her roles in films about marriage. We’re Not Married (1952) and Niagara (1953) expose the pitfalls of marriage. In response to fan criticism of Monroe’s aggressive persona in these films, however, Darryl F. Zanuck, in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and How to Marry a Millionaire (1953), consciously distanced Monroe both from her aggressive persona and her implicit criticism of marriage. Monroe’s films, in particular, The Seven Year Itch (1955), Bus Stop (1956), and Some Like it Hot (1959), also revealed the tensions inherent in postwar understandings of female sexuality. Monroe’s role in her final completed film, The Misfits (1960), both acknowledges and resists her status as a symbol. This film unites Monroe’s screen persona and off-screen life in resistance to conventional values: her character embraces divorce, lives with a man who is not her husband, and openly criticizes men who betray trust. This film most extensively interweaves Monroe as an icon, an index, and a symbol. In so doing, it reveals how Monroe embodied the contradictions inherent in both postwar culture and Hollywood stardom. KEYWORDS: Marilyn Monroe, Postwar America, Hollywood, Stardom, Film Amanda Konkle Student’s Signature February 17, 2016 Date MARILYN MONROE’S STAR CANON: POSTWAR AMERICAN CULTURE AND THE SEMIOTICS OF STARDOM By Amanda Sue Konkle Alan Nadel Director of Dissertation Andy Doolen Director of Graduate Studies March 15, 2016 To Wes and Avalee ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Many sources of funding, libraries, and most importantly people made this dissertation possible. My deepest appreciation goes out to those who encouraged my growth as a scholar. My director, Alan Nadel, saw what this research could become when I could not, and never stopped pushing me to become a better scholar and writer. Virginia Blum always expressed interest in my research, and pushed me to think about the relationships between stars and their fans. Randall Roorda’s abiding interest in Some Like It Hot reminded me that research on Monroe’s films was a worthwhile undertaking. The University of Kentucky supported this work with the Presidential Fellowship and the Dissertation Year Fellowship, as well as a Dissertation Enhancement Award. The Ben Wathen Black Memorial Graduate Scholarship from the University of Kentucky’s English Department and the Bonnie Cox Graduate Research Award from the University of Kentucky’s Department of Gender and Women’s Studies funded my travel to the archives in Los Angeles. I am grateful to the staff of the Margaret Herrick Library of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the staff of the Warner Bros. Archive at the University of Southern California, and the staff at the University of Southern California’s Cinematic Arts Library. These people located an endless amount of production materials, personal letters, and fan magazine materials without which this research would not have been possible. iii Last but not least, to my husband Wes, who has been by my side for this whole journey, sometimes reading quietly, sometimes cooking or cleaning, and, for two weeks, walking three miles a day through Beverly Hills, I owe a lifetime of gratitude. And to my daughter, Avalee, whose life so far has always been colored by the turmoil of her mother’s finishing a PhD program, I’m glad to have you love me anyway. iv Table of Contents Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................ iii List of Figures .................................................................................................................... vi Introduction. ...................................................................................................................... vii Chapter 1. ............................................................................................................................ 1 The Actress Without Films: Accounting for Marilyn Monroe’s Star Canon ..................... 1 Theorizing Stardom ........................................................................................................ 8 The Star Canon ............................................................................................................. 21 Peirce and the Study of Hollywood Stardom ................................................................ 26 Chapter 2. .......................................................................................................................... 41 An Intimate Image: Monroe as Icon ................................................................................. 41 Monroe as a Visual Icon ............................................................................................... 44 Monroe’s Iconic Mythology ......................................................................................... 53 Chapter 3. .......................................................................................................................... 72 “Mrs. America”: Marilyn Monroe and Concerns about Marriage .................................... 72 Good Reasons that We’re Not Married ........................................................................ 78 Niagara’s Marital Nightmares ...................................................................................... 83 If Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Blondes Should Learn How to Marry a Millionaire ... 102 From the Roles to the Persona .................................................................................... 125 Chapter 4. ........................................................................................................................ 128 “It’s Kinda Personal
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