As a legendary woman of the last century turns 85 today, there are echoes of a Marilyn-like media frenzy in the hide-and-seek game being played now by another super-celebrity.
“Congratulations, Sarah Palin, you have turned the Washington press corps into a bunch of paparazzi stalking your every move,” a reporter writes about the bus tour meant to bolster her presidential chances by blowing kisses to crowds while avoiding contact with journalists.
What we have here is a 21st century equivalent of that classic photo of Marilyn posing on a subway grate, her skirts billowing up while dodging reporters’ questions about her future.
Somehow, with as little political substance now as Monroe had in her acting career then, Palin has attained the same iconic status and, no matter what the media and public think about her, she is an irresistible object of curiosity.
“Why,” Marilyn asked me when we first met back then, “do they print things about me that aren’t true?”
“Because,” I told her, “pictures of you sell magazines and newspapers, and when there’s no excuse for running them, they’ll print rumors, gossip, anything they can get.”
Palin and her people have learned this lesson of publicity sainthood well.