What mix of Hogwarts Houses was Marilyn Monroe?

[sistermagpie]

You're a Gryffinclaw!: You are a determined and
intelligent person who is used to getting your
own way all the time. You are very passionate
about your beliefs and will defend them until
your last breath. Often Griffenclaws work as
lawyers or activists because they have feel so
strongly about a certain subject. You feel that
knowledge is to be used in a practical way and
you often have a very low tolerance for people
you consider of low intelligence. Although you
aren't a social butterfly, you don't have
trouble making fiends, people are usually drawn
to you. Your weakness is that sometimes you can
be insensitive, you're too busy being witty
that you don't realize that you're hurting
peoples' feelings, often your friends. With the
wit of a Ravenclaw and the passion of a
Gryffindor you can face all your battles in
life head on!


Which Mix of the Hogwarts Houses are You?
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This shouldn't really surprise me, since whenever I take these quizzes I get Ravenclaw, and if they rank all the houses Gryffindor's always second. I don't know that I'm very brave, but I'm probably even less loyal and ambitious (I get, like, zero points for Slytherin). And I must say I'm not used to getting my own way at all. Unless by "getting my own way" they mean "just doing what you want to do because nobody controls me."

My flist seems to have more Slytherclaws than anything else...and I may so far be the only partially Gryff person on it. Clearly the lesson to be learned from me having this combination is that intelligent Gryffindors recognize and defend the worth of Slytherin and would rather have them as allies than enemies.;-)



I was just in the deli and the radio was playing "Candle in the Wind" (the original Norma Jean version). For some reason today the words really bugged me: "You had the strength to hold yourself while those around you crawled. They crawled out of the woodwork and they whispered into your brain. They put you on the tread mill and they made you change your name."

Leaving aside what anybody thinks of the lyrics as poetry, I found myself thinking, "No, I don't think so." I mean, I've got nothing against Marilyn Monroe but she really did not seem to have all that much dignity (upon signing an important contract I believe she was heard to remark, "That's the last cock I suck in Hollywood" or something like that) compared to many other stars. She was incredibly needy, emotionally damaged, made a lot of bad sexual choices. I don't think anybody had to "make her" change her name, i.e., change herself to be a movie star because she wanted to be a movie star and get onto that tread mill.

Also, by all accounts she was a huge pain in the arse to work with (I've never been all that impressed with her in things I've seen her in, but I didn't hate her either...she tends to remind me of Ginger from "Gilligan's Island" as a performer), and for some reason today it just struck me how it must be to be somebody who worked with her listen to this song romanticizing what probably drove them crazy. Like I said, it's not that I have anything against Marilyn Monroe and I think she had a lot of problems she couldn't help, but there's something creepy about the romanticizing of her as a victim.

Comments

[ishtar79.livejournal.com]

That's a lot of info about Marylin Monroe I didn't know about.

The romanticising of the dead can be very annoying even when done in a normal scale, the 'don't speak ill of the dead' way people do. But with an icon like Marylin Monroe, it's taken to such extremes it's quite laughable. The song has the exact opposite of the intended effect for me.

I wasn't crazy about the Diana version either

But I must ask, has there ever been a fitting musical tibute to someone's life in recent years? Because I keep trying to think of examples, and all I can come up with is that Godawful Puff Daddy song.

[arclevel.livejournal.com]

I really like the song as a song, but I've never really thought about it as a tribute. I really couldn't stand the Diana version, though; it just seemed incredibly cheesy.

By the Godawful Puff Daddy song, do you mean the creepy and cringeworthy take-off of "Every Step You Take," or was that somebody else?

The only good musical tributes that come to mind are those that seem to be about the artist's family -- ie, "Leader of the Band" (um, Dan Fogerty?).

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

Yes, the Diana version added a whole new level of cheese.

I think what doesn't bother me about the original is it's not so much a tribute song as a song about something that interested Elton John. For instance, I like Vivien Leigh. If I were to write a song about her it wouldn't really be a tribute but just me thinking about what some figure meant to me.

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

It does have the opposite effect--though I will say I prefer the Marilyn to the Diana one. Not just because MM does somehow seem more interesting, but also how sad is it to have your tribute song be a hastily re-worded version of somebody elses's!!