Are Marilyn Monroe's Quotes Actually Clever or Just a Product of Her Image?

[Physics Nut]

I've been looking at some of Monroe's quotes, and they seem to me sort of, well, smart and witty. Perhaps even as wise as Einstein's quotes. But I imagine Marilyn herself would've been pretty dimwitted. So, what's the matter here? Am I seeing cleverness where there is none, or do even dumb people "accidentally" say smart things sometimes, or maybe the majority of those quotes aren't actually hers?

Link: http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Marilyn_Monroe"

 

[Danger]

As I understand it, she was actually quite an intelligent woman. The ditz was her public personna.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

It seems to me she lived her life like a candle in the wind.

 

[Cyrus]

I will respond with one of her own quotes:

"The truth is I've never fooled anyone. I've let people fool themselves. They didn't bother to find out who and what I was. Instead they would invent a character for me. I wouldn't argue with them. They were obviously loving somebody I wasn't. When they found this out, they would blame me for disillusioning them and fooling them

 

[dav2008]

I like this quote she had as Sugar in Some Like it Hot

Real diamonds! They must be worth their weight in gold!

 

[Math Is Hard]

From what I know about Marilyn, she did not have a strong foundation in early education, being bounced around from foster home to foster home, but she did have a thirst for knowledge. She took UCLA classes and read profusely in an attempt to improve herself and her acting work. She had a great love and respect for all things and persons considered intellectual. She adored Einstein and he adored her as well. She loved Arthur Miller and he loved her back (in fact, he married her).

It would not surprise me to learn that Marilyn was a very bright woman. I have been impressed by many of her quotes. You might find it interesting that another famous "dumb blonde" icon of that era, Jayne Mansfield, purportedly had an IQ of 163.

 

[Physics Nut]

It seems to me she lived her life like a candle in the wind.

Goodbye Norma Jean
From the young man in the twenty-second row
Who sees you as something more than sexual
More than just our Marilyn Monroe

She had a great love and respect for all things and persons considered intellectual.

So does that mean she would've loved me too?

She adored Einstein and he adored her as well.

Just wondering: what's your source for this?

You might find it interesting that another famous "dumb blonde" icon of that era, Jayne Mansfield, purportedly had an IQ of 163.

Hm, Richard Feynman's IQ was, purportedly, thirty or so points lower than that. But I highly doubt that he was dumber.

 

[Schrodinger's Dog]

IQ isn't a measure of intelligence in general terms anyway just a good assessment of whether you would do well in a western education system, people who think IQ accurately measures intelligence are sadly very much mistaken. Many psychologists believe that past age 12 IQ simply starts to reflect your level of education more than it does your mental accuity. It's a rough guide, and a very rough one at that, since it neglects to test many of the most important features involved with what we would define as intelligence such as creative reasoning and inspirational thinking and abstract or oh I forget the word it means thinking your way around a problem. How do we define genius? I rest my case

Didn't Marilyn Munro almost marry a famous physisist, I certainly remember something about here being very interested in relativity, if not an authority a layman with a keen interest, of course Marilyn was very bright, you don't get where she was by accident. A woman who knew how to appeal to the men of her times and wasn't adverse to using her wiles to become successful.

 

[Math Is Hard]

So does that mean she would've loved me too?

Sure!

She adored Einstein and he adored her as well.

Just wondering: what's your source for this?

here is one. I never meant to imply that they were romantically involved, only that they were fans of each other:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marilyn_Monroe

Monroe fans: Albert Einstein, Ayn Rand, Jean-Paul Sartre, Alfred Hitchcock, Edith Sitwell, Gwen Stefani, Madonna and Vladimir Nabokov.

Unfortunately, I no longer have the source that talks about her fascination with him. This was from a biography I gave away some years back. It seems that Uncle Albert did attain a sort of sex symbol status for a while though. The legendary French singer Edith Piaf used to always keep a copy of Relativity on her night stand!

 

[Bladibla]

IQ isn't a measure of intelligence in general terms anyway just a good assessment of whether you would do well in a western education system, people who think IQ accurately measures intelligence are sadly very much mistaken. Many psychologists believe that past age 12 IQ simply starts to reflect your level of education more than it does your mental accuity. It's a rough guide, and a very rough one at that, since it neglects to test many of the most important features involved with what we would define as intelligence such as creative reasoning and inspirational thinking and abstract or oh I forget the word it means thinking your way around a problem. How do we define genius? I rest my case

Didn't Marilyn Munro almost marry a famous physisist, I certainly remember something about here being very interested in relativity, if not an authority a layman with a keen interest, of course Marilyn was very bright, you don't get where she was by accident. A woman who knew how to appeal to the men of her times and wasn't adverse to using her wiles to become successful.

IQ DOES give a good measure of intelligence. Its as simple as that. High IQ does man that you are quite above intelligence, but it doesn't mean that person is a genius, Although It may be easier for one to become one with higher IQ.

Do we 'really' need to go into the realm of needing to define what a 'genius' is? We can't define it, But we know a genius from ones who are not just by intuition. Well, At least I do anyway. Its a very Vague point you are making.

 

[kokoro]

Reading Jung he talks about the collective unconscious (sorry for miss spelling) So maybe in a sense even though people can be amazingly stupid they have the ability for a momentary ... "bright idea" ANd since Marilyn wasnt the stupidest person she could have more of these enlightend moments. Even i remmeber at being only 2 years of age and having crisp awakening moments. I siad to my self at that age "I will always be alone, I will always be different, I will have to get used to it."

I don't know its just a random badly thought up idea... (blah I am stupid!)

 

[Physics Nut]

of course Marilyn was very bright, you don't get where she was by accident.

Yes, you do. Are you saying people like Britney Spears and Paris Hilton are bright?

It seems that Uncle Albert did attain a sort of sex symbol status for a while though. The legendary French singer Edith Piaf used to always keep a copy of Relativity on her night stand!

IQ DOES give a good measure of intelligence. Its as simple as that.

I think maybe IQ gives a good measure of intelligence up to a certain point. But it doesn't measure the intelligence of geniuses well.

It seems like people here are saying that all of these "dumb celebs" are actually intelligent. But come on, that can't be true. Surely someone like Drew Barrymore must be a true dimwit, no?

 

[Schrodinger's Dog]

IQ DOES give a good measure of intelligence. Its as simple as that. High IQ does man that you are quite above intelligence, but it doesn't mean that person is a genius, Although It may be easier for one to become one with higher IQ.

Do we 'really' need to go into the realm of needing to define what a 'genius' is? We can't define it, But we know a genius from ones who are not just by intuition. Well, At least I do anyway. Its a very Vague point you are making.

Not really since IQ doesn't measure any creative side to intelligence or any sort of lateral thinking or even real multi level reasoning power or abstraction either. that's 50% of what denotes intelligence gone right there. Also education plays a significant part in determining your IQ, if it were a true representation then assuming you were literate your education level wouldn't matter as significantly but it does. I'm not saying it's not a good test or it doesn't measure anything, but I certainly wouldn't judge someones absolute intelligence based on an arbitrary number any more than I would draw firm conclusions about their personality based on a personality test. To me it's an adequate general indicator and nothing more.

 

[zoobyshoe]

It seems like people here are saying that all of these "dumb celebs" are actually intelligent. But come on, that can't be true. Surely someone like Drew Barrymore must be a true dimwit, no?

Some people mistake academic achievement for intelligence. The kind of intelligence it takes for a person to bring themselves back from a severe drug habit and take charge of a film acting carrear and thrive in it in the face of unbelievable competition is not measured on I.Q. tests. Dimwits die young in the movie and music business. The people whose names you know are geniuses. If they weren't, you would never have heard of them.

 

[turbo]

If you have ever heard Raquel Welsh speak, you know that brains and beauty are not incompatible. In fact, Hedy Lamarr (another beautiful movie star) invented a method of frequency-hopping during WWII that would allow torpedoes to be guided by remote control without being jammed. The idea was deemed unworkable until about 2 decades later (after her patent ran out), when electronics were used to synchronize the frequency changes at the transmitter and receiver. She once said “Any girl can be glamorous. All you have to do is stand still and look stupid.”

 

[Physics Nut]

Some people mistake academic achievement for intelligence. The kind of intelligence it takes for a person to bring themselves back from a severe drug habit...

But don't you have to be pretty stupid to start using drugs in the first place?! I doubt Danica McKellar was ever a drug addict.

Dimwits die young in the movie and music business.

Oh, come on... I'm sure some do, but many of them do not.

The people whose names you know are geniuses. If they weren't, you would never have heard of them.

Yeah... I've always thought Paris Hilton was a genius... Seriously, people who are great at, for example, sports or singing are not geniuses. If you say that they are, you are completely redefining the meaning of genius, and you would have to include cheetahs (great runners!) and elephants (very strong!) in your list of geniuses.

 

[zoobyshoe]

But don't you have to be pretty stupid to start using drugs in the first place?!

She was fed drugs as a kid at hollywood parties. She got herself out of it and pulled herself together. Now she produces and stars in her own movies.

Oh, come on... I'm sure some do, but many of them do not.

The nice, cooperative ones get bit parts the rest of their lives or drop out and do something else. The people who get leading role after leading role are more intelligent than you'll ever understand.

Yeah... I've always thought Paris Hilton was a genius... Seriously, people who are great at, for example, sports or singing are not geniuses. If you say that they are, you are completely redefining the meaning of genius, and you would have to include cheetahs (great runners!) and elephants (very strong!) in your list of geniuses.

This is exactly what I'm saying. Being a great singer or actor is good but will get you nowhere in particular. The ones who make it are geniuses at managing their carrears in an unbelievably competitive field.