There’s a big brouhaha in my old hometown. The statue called “Forever Marilyn” will be unveiled Sunday evening in downtown Palm Springs, Calif. The 26-foot Marilyn stood near the same site from 2012 to 2014 — and nobody objected. In fact, it was quite the tourist attraction.
Now there’s a protest being organized by Palm Springs’ very own Trina Turk, the famous designer. There are women’s groups from as far away as Los Angeles planning to protest the statue. Good luck to them — the temperature in Palm Springs was 123 degrees yesterday!
What changed from 2012 to 2021 that made Marilyn Monroe controversial?
According to an article in The Desert Sun, the local Gannett paper, “A protest in opposition to the installation is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Museum Way between Museum Drive and Belardo Road, according to a Facebook event created by the Women’s March LA Foundation.” Here are some excerpts from the article:
The foundation’s chapters from the Inland Empire and Riverside along with local organizations are coordinating on the protest, which is meant to “voice our dissent to the statue being installed on Museum Way,” according to Trina Turk, co-head of a participating group called the Committee to Relocate Marilyn.
The installation has been the subject of controversy for months. Some have voiced opposition to the statue’s planned location on Museum Way, while others have decried its general presence in the city as misogynistic and antithetical to Palm Springs’ values.
Meanwhile, supporters say the statue will drive tourism to the city following months of closures for businesses due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Aftab Dada, chairman of PS Resorts — the hotels association organization that bought the statue and is organizing Sunday’s event — said the its prior installation in the city from 2012 to 2014 brought “millions and millions of dollars in publicity” and “immensely helped all the businesses in downtown Palm Springs.”
A group under the name “Me Too Marilyn” held a protest against the statue in May. That group’s leader, former Palm Springs Art Museum director Elizabeth Armstrong, has called the statue “hyper-sexualized” and said the Palm Springs City Council did not solicit enough public input before deciding on the Museum Way location.
From ‘Forever Marilyn’ to be unveiled Sunday; protest planned by Women’s March, other groups
James B. CutchinBrian Blueskye Palm Springs Desert Sun
I don’t believe Turk is the one calling for Marilyn to be cancelled. From what I’ve read, her objection is the location. But others think the statue is sexist and misogynist. They don’t want the statue to be up period. For example, the former director for the Palm Springs Art Museum Armstrong is upset because she thinks it encourages “upskirting.” She said the statue will literally be mooning museum visitors.
What are your thoughts about “Forever Marilyn?” Do you think it’s sexist and misogynist? Or do you think it’s a blast from the past of pop culture? Should Marilyn Monroe be cancelled? What are your thoughts about cancel culture?
