The Mystery of Marilyn Monroe: The Unheard Tapes

"The true things rarely get into circulation. It's usually the false things." - Marilyn Monroe

After reading the title of the documentary one might think that there is more to what meets the eye, but is it really? Emma Cooper makes an attempt at unearthing the truth behind the tragic death of the star via tape-recorded interviews.

Quick Synopsis: The documentary unravels the mystery behind the death of icon Marilyn Monroe through a series of never before heard interviews involving the people close to her.

Marilyn's life was no less than a fairytale. Being admired and desired by everyone, attending soirées with the crème de la crème, being on the billboards. But what lay underneath was a tragic story of a star and what went on behind the scenes. Monroe's death came as a shock to the world, but the aftermath of her death was by far one of the most scandalous celeb gossip ever.

The scene opens with Irish Investigative journalist, Anthony Summers engulfed with boxes with the label 'Monroe' on them. The Pulitzer award finalist then reveals while collecting information for his book Goddess, he had interviewed 1000 people out of which he got 650 on tape. These people on tape were a part of Marilyn's inner circle, from agents, and executive producers to the family of her psychiatrist. He then begins questioning whether Monroe's death was accidental or intentional. Even though Cooper's story was solely based on Anthony's tapes, what came out was a documentary that tip-toed around conspiracy theories and scandals that tangled the story.

The viewers are told beforehand that actors have been hired to lip-sync with Anthony's tape recordings, to dramatize the scenarios that'll further be explained in the documentary. Summers start with the beginning when at the age of 20, Marilyn entered Hollywood (in 1946). Monroe had always been a movie buff, according to the archival audio, she was a fan of Clark Gable and Jean Harlow. Asphalt Jungle (1950) being her movie with a major role, she slowly began rising in the industry and came to be known as the iconic sex symbol.

Further, we get to know more about the tragedy that went on in her life, from troublesome childhood to devastating marriages. We quickly get to know that Monroe had always had a longing for a parental figure in her life, with her mother being in a mental asylum and no traces of a father. Before Marilyn Monroe, there was Norma Jean Mortenson (later she took her mother's maiden name Baker), a girl who yearned for a loving family and normal childhood was given the complete opposite, instead, she was juggled around from one foster home to another. Monroe in an interview mentioned how she was sexually abused by one of the lodgers in her childhood. In her adult years, she actively tried to find her biological father. The role of men in her life was not as admirable as one would expect, aside from a fatherless childhood, Monroe's marriages were certainly not heaven, she was abused by her husband Joe DiMaggio.

The latter half of the documentary is where the story of Marilyn takes a get-go. We're introduced to one of the many scandals that took place in her life. The media is always hungry for entertainment without regarding the sentiments of the celebrity, that is exactly how Cooper begins this version of the documentary, a tabloid frenzy and a bunch of conspiracy theories. Her alleged relationship with the Kennedy brothers is what sparks the whole documentary.

According to the archival interviews, many of her friends admitted to the fact that Monroe was involved with the Kennedy brothers. The Kennedy brother's involvement becomes a distraction to the story, the infamous 'Happy Birthday, Mr. President' that she sang months before her passing and not including the president's response. It almost felt one-sided. Summers in the film mentions Monroe's political stance. As a celebrity, her interference in political issues would've been deemed catastrophic and that's where the whole 'government orchestrated' murder conspiracy theory comes into light.

Whether it was orchestrated by the Kennedy brothers or it was an accidental overdose, Marilyn's death was an exposé for the people to feed on. The whole documentary doesn't actively confirm whether it was a murder but one thing it reassures the viewers about is that Monroe was ahead of her time, she was subjected to people's desires and fantasies which lead to her ultimate downfall. She is frozen in time but her legacy lives on.

The documentary is available on Netflix.

Let me know your thoughts! Have you watched the documentary yet? Thank you for stopping by and have a great week ahead!