Marilyn Monroe:The Immortal Goddess/Austin Film Society

Last night's Essential Cinema's pick began the series of Marilyn Monroe films.  This 1994 documentary was extremely informative and respectful.  A highlight was Gloria Steinem's intelligent reflections on Marilyn.  To have an educated activist feminist counter balance the perpetuation of Marilyn as an untalented sex object is what made this documentary so substantial.  Meeting Martin Mortensen, her first husband, a thoughtful and respectful man who married her when she was 16 and he was 21 was comforting in that he described her respectfully as a fine wife who enjoyed being married.  She had great domestic skills and he demonstrated little anger about her choice to be an actor rather than his wife.  We saw numerous scenes from many of her films and not only was she gorgeous she demonstrated a great talent for comedy and emotional depth in her characters.  Susan Strasberg described Marilyn's dependency on her mother (Paula) for constant coaching on set and what we see emerging is Marilyn's self doubt, her demons winning a battle and an extremely sad decline.  This is a powerful and truthful account of Marilyn Monroe's real life.