In retrospect, Kim Kardashian going to the White House Correspondents’ Dinner just before the Met Gala, where she would don the “Marilyn dress” (of which many dresses can be referred to thanks to Monroe’s iconic career), now makes much more sense. Even if attending said dinner feels like another desperate bid for her to come across as “political.” Of course, her form of politicking is perhaps the most important kind of all in a country that prides itself not on what you know, but who.
Marilyn Monroe knew something about the art of politicking as well. And it was an open secret in Hollywood that she was one of the girls in the studios’ casting “black book” that was “always down” to provide some sexual favors. In other words, she was an escort for prominent figures in the behind-the-scenes aspect of moviemaking. That’s how she met people like Joseph Schenck and Johnny Hyde, who became riveted enough by her to take a vested interest in opening the doors that would further her career. Marilyn knew that she was giving something to get something, perhaps much like Kim did with that sex tape… or so willingly being Paris Hilton’s peon for as long as it took to get her own entrée into the biz. The comparisons stop there. And yet, for whatever reason, because Kim decided to home in on Marilyn’s Jean Louis-made dress worn in honor of JFK’s forty-fifth birthday, she is now forever “linked” with the actual star. The birthday celebration in question was also a Democratic fundraiser, held in Madison Square Garden. The event took place on May 19, 1962—ten days before JFK’s birthday… and a little under three months before Marilyn herself would end up dead.
As a recent documentary called The Mystery of Marilyn noted, the Kennedys were, in one way or another, responsible for Marilyn’s death. Even if “only” on an emotional spiral level. Because both brothers (yes, Mar found the time to get railed by RFK, too) decided to be “done” with her at the same time, cutting ties when they realized that Marilyn had become privy to way too many government secrets as a result of her ability to generate male orgasms. While Marilyn doled out advice in and out of the bedroom about not using nuclear arms, Kim cozied up to some old white (and orange) men using her best skill: photo opp’ing. Willing to be seen with whoever it takes in order to get her name in the headlines (and we should never forget how eager she was to be pictured with Trump), Kim’s use of Marilyn’s dress at the Met Gala is yet another instance of this. Right down to the cheeseball nature of borrowing the dress from Ripley’s Believe It Or Not! (the Orlando location, no less).
What’s more, not only is it a very uninspired choice (of all the Marilyn garments to represent American fashion, honestly, this is lowest on the list), but it’s also one that further decimates Marilyn’s memory and dredges up an event that was ultimately very painful to her. Indeed, the entire year of 1962 as it related to her dynamic with the Kennedys seemed utterly macabre for the star, who was also rumored to have spent part of her last weekend at the Cal-Neva Lodge in Tahoe, where the likes of Frank Sinatra and Sam Giancana were posted up. Rumors also swirled that Giancana urged her, while she was there, not to go public with any information about her ties to the Kennedys. But mafia “urgings” never comes without violence, and another rumor speculates that Marilyn was drugged and raped while at Cal-Neva in order to be silenced with photo evidence of the violation. Some would ask, where are the photos then? Well, considering RFK and JFK’s ability to erase all traces of any photographs of them together with Marilyn, save for the one backstage at MSG, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that those photos could have been destroyed, too.
Meanwhile, Kim’s existence, though occasionally terrifying because of her irrevocable “bond” to Kanye, has been pretty cush, especially when you hold it up against Marilyn’s life of tragedy after tragedy, starting from her childhood. Complete with, oh, not being born into wealth. And yeah, since everyone wants to compare Marilyn and Kim these days, let’s get it straight: there is no fucking comparison, especially on the trauma front. Ironically, Kim is more closely aligned with Jackie Bouvier in terms of a wealthy background and “good” family name. At least where Robert Kardashian is concerned (Kris “Houghton” was patently more of a social climber, which is clearly where Kim gets the skill). Perhaps that’s the one seed of connection she could coast on for deciding to pose as Jackie Kennedy for the September 2017 issue of Interview. Or, more bleakly still, Kim—and so many others in America—sees herself as the nation’s “honorary” First Lady. The Kardashian-Jenners apparently being the closest this country has to a “Royal Family.” But ask the Brits and they’ll tell you that all royals are nothing but dead weight (save for Diana, who they evidently had to kill for being too useful).
Strangely enough, people were less shocked by Kim denigrating Jackie’s image with a cover title that read, “America’s New First Lady,” and more disgusted by her usual blackfishing gambit, with her skin looking noticeably as dark as her actually Black daughter’s, North. One “internet troll” commented at the time, “Instead of using this as an avenue to show that we are racially diverse, but still one, they darkened Kim’s complexion to match her daughter’s. Another “troll” noted, “When we start comparing Kim Kardashian to Jackie Kennedy, we’ve failed as a country.” But that failure was also majorly signaled in 2016, when the floodgates opened for any “famous person” (a.k.a. cornball reality star) to be allowed to do pretty much whatever they wanted, including become the president. Or simply decorate themselves as the “First Lady,” whether they actually were or not.
It seems that, now, Kim has shifted gears and changed lanes to crash into another icon associated with JFK’s memory, this time doing something to the effect of “whiteface” for it. Because, clearly, a “Black” Marilyn would have been just too much to bear. And yet, for all that money, Kim still couldn’t seem to get the hair right, a botched blonde dye job being slicked back into a bun hardly seeming like a worthy tribute to Norma Jeane. And while, sure, Marilyn loved her fair share of “lesser” men, bringing Pete Davidson along for the red carpet ride looking as though he was going for a more Secret Service than presidential look also didn’t do Marilyn’s memory any favors. But, on the “plus side,” one supposes, Kim has suddenly placed Jackie and Marilyn on an equal playing field in terms of so spectacularly botching their images.
Incidentally, in that 2017 interview with Janet Mock, Kim cringingly remarked, “I usually go to Kanye for advice about my brand, my life, my image.” Now, as “Marilyn,” it seems she’s run completely out of ideas. Worse still, could actually use Kanye’s consulting assistance.
