A gigantic statue of Marilyn Monroe in downtown Palm Springs is set to be moved following years of controversy and debate.
The Forever Marilyn statue stands 26 feet tall and depicts the famous billowing skirt scene from 1955’s The Seven Year Itch.
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Created by artist Seward Johnson and first erected in 2011, the statue has had a troubled history. It left Palm Springs in 2014 and was displayed in Chicago, New Jersey, Australia and Connecticut before returning to Palm Springs in 2021.
At the time, the statue’s return to the city caused uproar. Activist groups protested during the unveiling, and critics described it as “exploitative.”
The placement of the sculpture had been voted for unanimously by the city council, but the last four directors of the art museum publicly opposed and condemned its presence in the area, branding it “blatantly sexist.”
Former Palm Springs Art Museum director Louis Gracho told The Art Newspaper: “You come out of the museum and the first thing you’re going to see is a 26-foot-tall Marilyn Monroe with her entire backside and underwear exposed.
The sexual exploitation of Marilyn Monroe during her time in the industry gives this a troubling legacy.
This is not “puritanical ideals” if you know the sad history of what this poor woman was forced to go through during her lifetime.
That’s fair, though it seems the outrage in this instance was less about not wanting to celebrate the exploitation of a historical figure and more about not exposing the poor children to the horrific sexual image of a woman’s underwear.