You could be forgiven for thinking that once young Norma Jeane had battled her way through child abuse, neglect and family illness through to major stardom in Hollywood, the hardest fight was over. Not so. All through her career Marilyn battled against the image of the 'dumb blonde'. Marilyn was actually a quick-witted and talented comedienne:
'What do you wear in bed?' - 'Channel No5!'
At any rate, to be taken seriously as a real actor was the most important thing in her career for Marilyn but it seemed that some people were determined to mock her efforts no matter how hard she tried.
'Can you spell Grushenka then?'
'It begins with a 'G''. She replied dryly. Other times she found it harder to laugh off. The claims in the press were rife that Marilyn was nothing more than a sex-symbol. She replied that:
She was also hurt by harsh comments that it was her looks and not her talent that made her a star, the stereotyping that the press claimed she was 'pretty but trashy' and 'stupid' was a hard burden for her to bear.:
"I want to be an artist... not an erotic freak. I don't want to be sold to the public as a celluloid aphrodisiac." She responded sadly. "An actor is supposed to be a sensitive intrument. Isaac Stern takes good care of his violin. What if everyone jumped on his violin?" And in response to the claims that she was stupid:
"If I play a stupid girl, and ask a stupid question, I've got to follow it through. What am I supposed to do, look intelligent?"
Click on the thumbnail to enlarge:
Pictures after 1951Gallery
Many of the characters she played were less than intellectual or academic. It's a bit like old ladies hitting you with their handbag in the street if you're a wife-beater in EastEnders - perhaps some people really can't tell the difference between fact and fiction.
When she replied (at a press conference) that she was interested in playing the part of Grushenka in The Brothers Ramanov, the reporter giggled and elbowed his colleague, asking Marilyn on front of everybody: 
"A sex-symbol becomes a thing, I just hate being a thing but if I'm going to be a symbol of something I'd rather have it sex than some other things we've got symbols of." 