"I really don't see what the fuss about Marilyn Monroe was about either - she's a pudgy lady and the face isn't that great. But obviously ideals of womanly beauty have changed in the last 50 yrs - we tend to favor thinner, more fit women even as we as a nation get fatter."
MM had a 22" waist. Not too many woman today are that thin. Her looks are deceiving because she was curvatious with what at the time was considered the idea female figure. She was not straight-waisted with small boyish hips as is currently popular.
She had a potato nose in her early photos. Still, she lit people up. There were lots of other chesty blonds around. She developed her attractive side in many ways and added her open mouth, half-closed eyes pose. She could "become Marilyn" instantly and attract crowds.
Too bad Marilyn got mixed up with the Kennedy brothers. They were more toxic than the Mob and far more powerful.
Has anyone noticed that the life expectancy of the very rich is shockingly brief? Get a load of money and poof, dead. Thrown out of a plane. Burnt to a crisp in a high security apartment. Drug overdose. Arkancide. I'm glad no one wants my money because I don't have any.
You can't judge Marilyn just from still photos. There was some sort of vivaciousness... some je ne sais quoi about her that I didn't get until I saw one or two of her movies. She wasn't the best looking broad in the world, but she was seductive.