Marilyn Monroe - The Latina You Never Knew?

For someone who is one of the most recognizable people of the 20th century, there is very little we truly know about Marilyn Monroe.

Sure, we all know about the movies, the substance abuse, the love affairs with Joe DiMaggio, Arthur Miller, Bobby Kennedy, and JFK—especially her rendition of Happy Birthday—but what did we really know about her?

As it turns out, there’s a whole side of Marilyn that we never knew: Marilyn Monroe, the Latina!

While casting Cuban-born actress Ana de Armas as Marilyn Monroe in the new movie Blonde (now available on Netflix) could have been seen as either casting a rising Hollywood starlet for a marquee role or an attempt at color-blind casting, there was actually something more to it. The producers wanted the world to know about the Latina side of Marilyn Monroe.

When we think of Marilyn Monroe, we think of the quintessential California girl who grew up as Norma Jeane Mortenson (she was given the Mortenson surname to cover up what was then the stigma of being born out of wedlock) but later became "Hollywoodized" (if that’s even a real word) as Marilyn Monroe.

Marilyn’s ancestry actually traces back to the American Midwest. Her maternal grandparents left for Mexico in the 1890s due to drought and economic hardships. They assimilated into Mexican culture, adopting its customs and traditions. They had a daughter, Gladys Pearl, in 1902, in Mexico.

By birthright, Marilyn was Mexican American through her mother. While some might say this was in name only—and one could make a case for that—Marilyn took the time to learn Spanish (becoming conversational), and as she gained more power in the industry, she began embracing her Mexican roots. She started spending more time in Mexico, consciously being photographed wearing Mexican clothing, eating Mexican food, and immersing herself in the local culture.

While this may not seem particularly progressive today, the 1950s and 1960s were a much different time. Hollywood was notorious for rebranding its ethnic stars—just ask Margarita Carmen Cansino or Raquel Tejada. If those names don’t sound familiar, it’s because you know them as Rita Hayworth and Raquel Welch.

Their Latina heritage remained largely unknown until decades later.

Had Marilyn lived longer, she might have paved the way for Latinas to embrace their heritage rather than hide from it.

Without giving too much away about her life or the movie, Blonde features a tour-de-force performance by Ana de Armas, who received an 11-minute standing ovation at the Venice Film Festival.