Marilyn Monroe as an author

Marilyn Monroe was not only an actress, but can also be considered an author, because she either invented or became the reference point for a series of acting and cinematic traits that became characteristic of her. Now I will explain this in detail.

The auteur theory emerged in French film criticism in the 1950s, especially around the magazine Cahiers du Cinéma. Its core idea is that, although a film is the result of many people’s work, the director can be considered its true “author” when they manage to imprint a recognizable personal vision across their body of work. In other words, what matters is not only the story or the script, but the way that story is staged, filmed, and constructed: the style, recurring themes, framing choices, narrative approach, and overall worldview. For the French critics, an auteur is not simply someone who directs films, but someone whose work maintains internal coherence, as if each film were a chapter of the same creative voice. That is why they valued directors who, even while working within the studio system, managed to preserve a visible personal identity on screen.

A common criticism of this theory is that it focuses too heavily on visual style and formal aesthetics, as if authorship only existed when there is an obvious visual signature. However, authorship can also be understood in narrative or thematic terms. For example, John Huston can be seen as an auteur in this sense, since many of his films revolve around flawed characters who obsessively pursue something and ultimately fail. Moreover, even visually, he also fits into the idea of an auteur, as his work in the development of film noir helped establish a very specific style, with recognizable visual codes that became characteristic of the genre.

This idea of actors as auteurs is not entirely original, as many critics and theorists have discussed it, although unlike the auteur theory in directing it remains a much less established concept within film criticism. Even so, it is a useful way of understanding certain performers. The idea is that some actors, usually those who become major stars, develop in some of their roles —not necessarily all of them— a set of recurring traits that become part of their interpretive identity. This does not mean they are “always playing themselves,” as is sometimes simplistically claimed, but rather that they have a recognizable essence in their acting style, even when the characters are completely different. It is not about being worse actors, but about having a personal signature.

For example, if we think of Al Pacino in the 1970s, we can compare Michael Corleone with Frank Serpico. They are completely different characters in story, context, and personality, but in both we can see a restrained vulnerability that at certain moments explodes into intense, even hysterical expression. That tension between control and explosion is very characteristic of Pacino and becomes part of his acting authorship. It is not that he always plays the same type of character, but that there is a recognizable signature. I also understand acting authorship as certain innovations in the way of acting in specific aspects. These innovations may be invented by the actor or not, but the important point is that the actor becomes the absolute reference for that style of performance, becoming inseparably associated with it.

If we set aside the prejudices that many critics have —and which I will probably address in a future article— we could see that Marilyn was a pioneering actress in many ways, which I am going to explain below.

 Let’s start with comedy. First of all, I want to clarify something: Marilyn is not a successor to Jean Harlow. Marilyn admired Jean Harlow, and many people at the time compared them, but in terms of performance there are not many similarities between them beyond being blonde. Jean Harlow is also an auteur, by the way, but Marilyn is not her continuation or successor: she creates something completely new.

In her comedies, regardless of the character —and some of them are very different from each other, like Lorelei Lee and Sugar Kane, who share nothing in terms of personality, interests, or life experience— Marilyn always injects a very specific combination of traits: vulnerability, energy, sweetness, and sexuality. That combination is a completely Marilyn signature in her comedies and did not exist in the same way before. It is something that can be noticed across different characters. Lorelei Lee, for example, is very intelligent and self-assured, but even in her you can clearly see a layer of vulnerability that is part of Marilyn’s signature.

In addition to this, Marilyn has a very specific form of authorship within comedy, and a clear example is Lorelei Lee in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. Through this character, Marilyn also changes the way “gold diggers” are constructed. By definition, these characters tend to be morally ambiguous and are not usually likeable, but with Lorelei Marilyn completely subverts that idea. Lorelei loves diamonds, yes, she is cunning and does take advantage of others in a way, but there is no malice in her. Her love for diamonds is more like a child’s love for a toy: innocent and non-cynical. Even her own logic is intelligent and coherent from her perspective; as she says, a girl looking for a rich man is similar to a boy looking for a beautiful girl. It is not the only thing that matters, but “it certainly helps”. That way of seeing the world makes her more complex than she first appears.

But Lorelei is not only that. She does love diamonds, but she loves her friend Dorothy even more. Their relationship is central: they have chemistry, they care for each other, and they protect one another. This is where Marilyn completely transforms the archetype of the gold digger: she humanizes it, adds sensitivity and vulnerability, and turns it into a genuinely likeable character. Also within comedy, Marilyn does not invent the “dumb blonde” stereotype, but it is fair to say that the girl in The Seven Year Itch is probably the best version of that character type ever made, and the definitive reference for the archetype.

Within drama, Marilyn maintains that vulnerability mixed with sexuality that is characteristic of her in any type of performance, but in this genre the vulnerability becomes even more acute. Here, her characters are not only sensitive, but emotionally exposed in a much more direct and fragile way, which intensifies that interpretive signature even further.

Perhaps within drama we could point to some degree of authorship in Marilyn’s performance in Don’t Bother to Knock with Nell Forbes, since that way of portraying a mentally unstable young woman —without malice, but with episodes of breakdown and instability—, extremely fragile and vulnerable yet still strangely magnetic or attractive, is something that is very closely associated with her. However, being realistic, it is not a major reference point in cinema nor as influential an archetype as some of her other work. Another important aspect is that Marilyn belongs to the first generation of Method actors in cinema. Obviously this is not an innovation of hers, but it does place her at the forefront of acting development in her time, contributing to a more emotionally intense and psychologically grounded approach to performance.

Finally, I want to address musicals, because here Marilyn shows a very significant form of authorship. Within Hollywood musicals, the traditional vocal style was heavily influenced by Broadway, with a more classical and theatrical projection. However, Marilyn moves away from that model and adopts her famous “breathy voice”, a softer, more intimate and whispered way of singing that is much closer to jazz than to conventional stage musicals. Marilyn is not the first to use this vocal approach, but she becomes the clear reference point for this style within the film musical. Her way of singing is not focused on power or classical technique, but on emotional closeness, sensuality, and a kind of sonic fragility that fits perfectly with her on-screen image. This choice ultimately becomes one of her most recognizable signatures within the genre.

As we have seen, Marilyn has several important signatures within cinema across different areas: comedy, drama, and musicals. This makes her one of the most prominent actor-auteurs in history. It is no coincidence that auteurs are often stars, since auteurs bring something fresh and interesting, rather than being simple workers doing a job. And in Marilyn’s case, having been so innovative in many different aspects, it is also no coincidence that she became the most famous actress in history.