Marilyn may never have won an Academy Award, but her memory lingers on in Hollywood – and last night’s Academy Awards was no exception, as Ryan Gosling brought the house down with a performance of ‘I’m Just Ken‘ – his hit song from the Barbie soundtrack – with staging and choreography closely modelled on one of Marilyn’s greatest movie scenes (as well as Busby Berkeley’s 1934 musical, Dames), Variety reports.
“‘Ryan Gosling is a true professional, that man — we met with him on Zooms months ago, talking about that performance,’ said Molly McNearney, who produced the show … ‘He was so committed to it. His choreographer, Mandy Moore, is exceptional — she was on all the calls.’
According to McNearney, it was Gosling’s idea to make the number a tribute to ‘Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend’ from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.
In an interview the morning after the Oscars with choreographer Moore, she elaborated: ‘That’s where the pink suit, and everybody else in black came from — and the stairs in the back. And we had an homage to the candelabra girls: We had Ken-delabra men.'”
It’s not the first time Marilyn’s signature musical moment has been referenced at the Oscars, as James Franco infamously sported a blonde wig and strapless pink gown in 2011, while co-host Anne Hathaway donned a tuxedo; and then in 2015, multiple pink Marilyns joined presenter Neil Patrick Harris (via hologram) for his opening number.
Not everyone was feeling the ‘kenergy’, however. On her Culled Culture blog, Genna Rivieccio called out the ‘irony’ of ‘grafting’ this particular Hollywood anthem.
“There is a long tradition of women emulating Marilyn Monroe’s famed performance of ‘Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend’ in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. In fact, it is very much a women’s song and visual (even if directed by Howard Hawks/Jack Cole) that speaks on things being more satisfying (and enduring) than men. A sardonic sendup of the material girl trope—which is how many men still view women, seventy-one-ish years later … For not only was Monroe something of the original Barbie (minus the rail-thin body type), but she was somebody that men were always trying to co-opt for themselves.
Thus, for Gosling to graft the Gentlemen Prefer Blondes number for himself doesn’t feel ‘feminist,’ so much as an unwanted and unnecessary impingement on Marilyn Land, ergo Women’s Land (known to some as Barbie Land). Marilyn, who died before she could suffer the inevitable Hollywood criticisms about looking old. Barbie, at least, has the benefit of being perennially plastic … But even those (read: women) with good looks and regular plastic surgery upkeep end up falling prey to what Marilyn forewarns of in her illustrious number: ‘Men grow cold as girls grow old/And we all lose our charms in the end.'”
Margot Robbie, who played Barbie to Gosling’s Ken in the 2023 blockbuster, had already performed a more subversive take on the song as the comic book anti-heroine Harley Quinn in Birds of Prey (2020.) And as if that wasn’t ‘kenough’, Marie-Claire suggests that Margot’s red-carpet attire this Oscar night may have been inspired by Travilla’s costumes for Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.
“Our very own Barbie echoed Jane Russell’s sinuous squid-ink sequined gown and even got herself a Marilyn to match her Jane. Now that is dedication to theme. Later, at the Vanity Fair after-party, Margot changed into a gilded Mugler corset, which I couldn’t help but think (read: fantasise) was another nod to Howard Hawks’ frothy film for all us Classic Hollywood nerds, we see you, Margot!”
At the same Vanity Fair party, many compared actress Sydney Sweeney‘s appearance to Marilyn in her famous ‘subway grate’ dress from The Seven Year Itch.
Sydney’s gown – designed by Marc Bouwer, and originally worn by Angelina Jolie at the 2004 Academy Awards – also recalls another of Marilyn’s iconic Travilla looks, the gold lamé dress she wore to the Photoplay Awards in 1953; as well as the white silk gowns that were a style staple for the original blonde bombshell, Jean Harlow.
Sadly, this year’s ‘In Memoriam’ sequence omitted Don Murray, Marilyn’s leading man in Bus Stop (1956), who died in February – other than a cursory backdrop which also mentioned screenwriter Norma Barzman, the blacklist survivor who had an intriguing encounter with a young Marilyn in 1947.
And finally, Marilyn’s performance as Sugar Kane in Some Like It Hot (which won her a Golden Globe) makes her the highest placed woman – and second only to Edward G. Robinson in Double Indemnity – on Telegraph film critic Tim Robey’s list of 20 Great Actors Who’ve Never Been Nominated for an Oscar. (Marilyn’s Niagara co-star, Joseph Cotten, also gets a nod for his prior role in The Third Man.)
The Marilyn Report 
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