Netflix's 'Blonde': Why Marilyn Monroe's death remains a mystery even after 60 years?
The golden era of Hollywood saw a lot of extraordinary actors dazzling the screen with their impeccable acting and unique style. However, there’s one name that reigned in the entertainment industry and took everyone by storm with her unmatched beauty and quirky nature. Yes, we are talking about Marilyn Monroe. It didn’t take her much time to become one of the most talked-about celebrities across the globe and garnered a lot of success. Even though her life was filled with glitz and glamour, there was a lot of uneasiness that she could never talk about with anyone. Maybe, that’s why no one could believe when the news broke that Monroe was found dead in her bedroom on August 5, 1962.
The news of Monroe’s death sent shockwaves in the industry and her fans couldn’t believe that the actress died after giving one of her most compelling performances in the 1961 movie ‘The Misfits’. At the time of her death, the toxicology report revealed that the cause of death was acute barbiturate poisoning.
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It’s been more than 60 years since Monroe was pronounced dead and her sudden demise continues to generate conspiracy theories as to whether her overdose was an accident, overdose, or something even more diabolical. But why are these theories still doing rounds and why does Monroe’s death still remains a mystery for some people? First, we need to realize that these theories are not new. As soon as Monroe died, a lot of people believed that she was murdered. Her fans and loyalists continued to float rumors over the years and the situation got so bad that the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office reopened an investigation into the actor’s death in 1982, almost 20 years after she was found unresponsive in her bedroom.
However, in December 1982, District Attorney John Van de Kamp revealed that “no further criminal investigation into Miss Monroe’s death was planned". He also said, “Our inquiries and document examination uncovered no credible evidence supporting a murder theory.”
The investigation was complete and the case of Monroe’s death was closed. But the probe didn’t satisfy those who believed that the actor’s death was not accidental and something really bad happened to her. The most common notion among the conspiracy theorists was that Monroe was killed due to her connections to President John F Kennedy and US Attorney General Robert F Kennedy.
In 1991, Vogue reported that a private investigator Fred Otash and Peter Lawford, brother-in-law of John F Kennedy, met in the early morning hours of August 5 and as soon as Otash opened the door for him, Lawford gave him the news of Marilyn’s death. The report also suggested that Lawford was a "nervous wreck" because if an investigation of Monroe’s death was conducted, it would reveal her affairs with the Kennedy brothers. However, the most interesting part of the report comes when Lawford apparently told Otash that he went to Monroe’s house to “clean up” and had removed all the compelling evidence that he could find.
To this date, no one knows what this evidence was and it continues to haunt people. That’s why, even after more than six decades after her death, we still see a lot of theories surfacing online about her sudden demise and that’s not shocking. If you follow Monroe’s life and see how she lived her life after becoming a part of Hollywood, you’ll realize that she endured a lot of setbacks from the people she knew. She also got addicted to drugs in the later part of her life which played an integral role in making her life miserable.
On the other hand, the reports of her having affair with then-President John F Kennedy made her life even more controversial and it doesn’t come as a shock that she was on the radar of a lot of people. That’s why when Monroe died, a large section of the society believed that the authorities were not telling people the truth to protest some renowned people.
Even 60 years after her death, Monroe continues to be a topic of discussion, and sadly, people keep talking about the darkest periods of her life, and not the extraordinary work she did when she conquered the industry with her charm and impeccable acting.
'Blonde', which is a fictionalized take on Marilyn Monroe's life, will be premiering exclusively on Netflix on Wednesday, September 28, 2022.
