Marilyn Monroe - The Latina You Never Knew?

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

Sure we all know about 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 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 casting a rising Hollywood starlet for a marquee role, or the producer’s attempt at color blind casting, there was actually something more to it. The producers wanted to world to know the Latina side of Marilyn Monroe.

When we think of Marilyn Monroe, we think of the California Girl who grew up as Norma Jean Mortenson (she was given her Mortenson surname to cover up what was then the scorn of being born via an extra-marital affair), but later become Hollywoodized (if that’s even a real word) as Marilyn Monroe.

Marilyn’s ancestry actually goes back to the American Midwest, her maternal grandparents left for Mexico in the 1890s due to the drought and economic hardships. They assimilated into Mexico and adopted 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 that this was in name only, and one could make a successful case for that, Marilyn took the time to learn Spanish (becoming conversational) and as she gained more power in the industry, she started to embrace her Mexican roots. She began spending more time in Mexico, consciously being photographed wearing Mexican clothing, eating Mexican food, and being somewhat of a local.

While this may not strike anyone as horribly progressive. The 50’s and 60’s were a much different time than today. Hollywood was notorious for rebranding its ethnic stars. Just ask Margarita Carmen Cansino, or Raquel Tejada. If those don’t sound at all familiar to you, it’s because you know them as Rita Hayworth and Raquel Welch.

You wouldn’t know about their Latina heritage until several decades later for both of them.

If Marilyn had lived even longer, she might have paved the way so that Latinas could embrace their heritage rather than hide from it.

Not to give too much away about her life and the movie, but it’s a tour-de-force performance by Ana De Armas, who received an 11-minute standing ovation at the Venice Film Festival.