Marilyn Monroe’s estate is teaming with a production company to create a Marilyn Monroe–themed reality show called Finding Marilyn. According to Deadline, the show would feature twelve wannabe Marilyns as they “travel to Los Angeles to compete for a chance to become the next Hollywood ‘it’ girl.” No network is attached yet, nor has any actual prize been announced, but here’s a thought: What exactly does being the “next” Marilyn Monroe entail? Chronic abandonment? Getting married at 18? Being willing and eager to drastically and permanently change your appearance? Posing nude under assumed names? Mental illness? A constant fear that people were making a joke of you? A sad and tumultuous romantic life? Probable suicide? A feeling of “[beloning] to the public and the world”? Yeah, let’s definitely make a reality show about that! The winner gets the complete commodification of her identity in perpetuity.
