11/2/2017 Women and Gender In Musicals Week: The Surprising Feminism of ‘Gentlemen Prefer Blondes’ | Bitch Flicks About Us Film Directory TV Directory Contact Us Sta 20 Years of 'The Craft': Why We Needed More 'Rosemary’s Baby,' 'Prevenge,' and the Evils of All the Rage: Women-Led and Women-Centric of Rochelle the Trump Administration Horror Film Festivals Women and Gender In Musicals Week: The Surprising Search Bitch Flicks Feminism of ‘Gentlemen Prefer Blondes’ Posted By Myrna Waldron Published September 27, 2012 Like 16 Tweet Share 150 What We’re Watching Films By Women Gentlemen Prefer Blondes Movie Poster In Theaters Now It’s always dicult to review older movies from a feminist outlook, especially ones that predate not only second-wave feminism, but the civil rights movement as well. On the surface, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes is kinda anti-feminist – we have the stereotypical dumb blonde and the smart brunette, the dumb blonde is a On Television blatant golddigger, we don’t get a full Bechdel Test pass (almost all of the conversations are about men), and the lm is shot with the intention of emphasizing the lead actress’ sexiness as much as possible (with a few obligatory male gaze shots). Yet I was asking myself why I love this now almost 60 year old lm so much. I looked a little deeper, and realized that there is a lot in Awards this lm for feminists to celebrate – not only the stars, Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell, but also the characters’ friendship, their mutual sexual liberation, and how http://www.btchflcks.com/2012/09/women-and-gender-in-musicals-week-the-surprising-feminism-of-gentlemen-prefer-blondes.html#.WfqdBhNSxp9 1/6 11/2/2017 Women and Gender In Musicals Week: The Surprising Feminism of ‘Gentlemen Prefer Blondes’ | Bitch Flicks a little song named “Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend” is not as much about being materialistic as it seems. Marilyn Monroe has to be one of the most misunderstood household names. When people think of her, sure, they think of her beauty and sex appeal, but they Theme Months also think of her drug addiction, her early death, rumoured plastic surgery, rumoured promiscuity, her stage name, and her diculties as a performer. No one ever seems to know about her good points. They seem to think that her dumb blonde sexpot persona is her actual personality, when, in fact, she was acting. She was actually an intellectual who loved reading (and I’m talking dicult texts like Notable Women in Film & TV Proust and Nietzsche) – her favourite photographs of herself are of her reading. There’s a reason she married Arthur Miller! She was also an early civil rights advocate – Ella Fitzgerald would recollect that Monroe personally called the owner of popular club Mocambo, which at the time was segregated, and demanded that Fitzgerald be booked as a performer immediately, promising that Misogyny in Marketing she’d be at a front table every night, and bring the press with her, if the owner did so. Her actions made sure that Fitzgerald would never have to play a small club again. Marilyn Monroe could act (in both comedic and dramatic roles), dance, and sing, and yet all that she is remembered for is her looks and her personal demons. She deserves better, especially as someone I consider to be an early feminist icon. What We're Reading Miscellany Search By Genre Blockbuster Marilyn Monroe & Jane Russell in the lm’s opening sequence Independent Focus Jane Russell is another performer who deserved a lot more accolades than she Documentary & Biopic got. Her portrayal of Dorothy Shaw is overtly feminist – sexually and intellectually condent in an era that tried to force patriarchal notions of morality. My Baby Classic Boomer mother also fondly remembers her commercials for the Playtex Cross- Foreign Your-Heart 18-hour Comfort Bra (it remains one of Playtex’s most popular products). Here was a well-known star as a spokesmodel for lingerie. Even now, Science Fiction & Fantasy we don’t see famous women (besides the Victoria’s Secret supermodels) selling lingerie – at least not for the sake of promoting comfort over sex appeal. Never Romance mind selling lingerie made especially for larger-chested women. These days, we Horror buy non-sports bras for the look of them or the curves/cleavage they create, not because it kinda hurts to jiggle. Here was an actress who basically stated to the Action & Thriller world, “Yes, I have large breasts, yes, I need a decent bra, and so does every other woman out there.” Bromance & Masculinity The friendship between Lorelei Lee and Dorothy Shaw is one of the most positive Drama female friendships depicted on lm, and is one aspect of the adaptation distinctly Comedy improved from the original novella by Anita Loos. (Yes, I’ve read the source material this time.) In the original novella, Lorelei is a apper who keeps a diary of Animation her daily events and describes both her ambitions of wealth and her attempts to juggle three suitors at once. She is vain, poorly educated (the prose is littered with Adventure deliberate misspellings), and disdainful of other women. Dorothy is supposedly http://www.btchflcks.com/2012/09/women-and-gender-in-musicals-week-the-surprising-feminism-of-gentlemen-prefer-blondes.html#.WfqdBhNSxp9 2/6 11/2/2017 Women and Gender In Musicals Week: The Surprising Feminism of ‘Gentlemen Prefer Blondes’ | Bitch Flicks her friend, but she often makes sarcastic snipes at Lorelei’s expense (which Lorelei is too dimwitted to pick up on). They’re a lot closer to frenemies in the Crime & Mystery original, which is a surprisingly misogynistic depiction of women from a female TV Drama writer. The musical version instead makes Lorelei and Dorothy inseperable. They are absolutely devoted to each other and protective of one another. They disagree TV Sitcom on relationships – Lorelei believes in only dating rich men and falling in love with them later, whereas Dorothy is a romantic who keeps falling in love with poor men. Each thinks the other is foolish when it comes to relationships, but they accept Donate each other’s differences and are loyal to each other before any other man in their lives. Sisters before Misters. Meta Log in Entries RSS Comments RSS WordPress.org Marilyn Monroe & Jane Russell Another feminist aspect of the lm, one which I think is left over from the characters’ original incarnations as appers, is their complete sexual liberation. Despite what Baby Boomer conservatives would like you to think, there was no such bastion of morality in the 1950s. In Gentlemen Prefer Blondes they make it clear that the lead characters are “lower class.” (“We’re just two little girls from Little Rock, we came from the wrong side of the tracks.”) Both are completely condent about themselves and their life choices. It’s heavily implied that neither girl is a virgin, especially in the “Isn’t Anyone Here For Love” sequence, which is littered with innuendo. (The sequence has also infamously been read as subtly homoerotic – there’s a reason the Men’s Olympic team isn’t interested in Dorothy.) Lorelei is a master seductress, whose suitor Gus has to repeatedly turn himself away from because he has trouble resisting her charms. They drink, they smoke (though they are never seen actually smoking, just buying cigarettes), they dance, they party, they stay out late. And while wealthy men like Gus’ father look down on women like Lorelei, they are completely unapologetic about their choices. The lm also depicts the women as unmistakably intelligent, albeit in different ways. Dorothy is very obviously meant to be the “smart” one, who corrects Lorelei’s mistakes, catches on to other people’s insinuations, and is always ready with a witty retort. But while Lorelei might be “book dumb,” she’s not stupid. Together, Lorelei and Dorothy are master manipulators, and she’s far more devious than she lets on. Famously, at the end of the lm, she convinces Gus’ father to let them marry through some admittedly clever logic. (“Don’t you know that a man being rich is like a girl being pretty? You wouldn’t marry a girl just because she’s pretty, but my goodness, doesn’t it help?”) Dorothy isn’t entirely smart either, because she tends to think with her heart over her head. She knows that Ernie Malone is a private detective out to ruin her best friend’s life, but falls in love with him anyway. Notably, however, she makes it clear that she chooses loyalty to Lorelei rst. http://www.btchflcks.com/2012/09/women-and-gender-in-musicals-week-the-surprising-feminism-of-gentlemen-prefer-blondes.html#.WfqdBhNSxp9 3/6 11/2/2017 Women and Gender In Musicals Week: The Surprising Feminism of ‘Gentlemen Prefer Blondes’ | Bitch Flicks Marilyn Monroe in the “Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend” sequence The most famous number in the musical, by far, is “Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend,” which has endured for over 60 years and is considered Marilyn Monroe’s signature number. The sequence, depicting her in a hot pink gown against a bright red backdrop, is so iconic it has, amongst other homages, served as the visual inspiration for Madonna’s music video for “Material Girl.” On the surface the song is about being materialistic – that Lorelei’s love for jewels supercedes all other things, and at the surface, yes, it would be a theoretically anti-feminist song. But I think the song is actually about a longing for nancial independence.