Films and Costume Essay
Snigdha Singh (n8779171) KFB210: Fashion and Costume in Film Assessment: 1
“A good costume must be material enough to signify and transparent enough not to turn its signs into parasites.” (Barthes Roland, 1972 pg 5)
That is exactly what is portrayed in Marilyn Monroe’s white halter dress in “The Seven Year Itch” (1955) directed by Billy Wilder. The movie revolves around Richard Sherman (Tom Ewell), an employee at an advertising company who resolves to eat healthy food, and quit smoking and drinking while his wife and son are away. During this time he meets his upstairs tenant: dizzy, appealing, luscious Marilyn Monroe known as “The Girl” who had come to spend the summer. His resolutions fly out of the window as he finds himself trapped with an “Itch”.
Marilyn Monroe in the “subway scene” has been portrayed in such a way that it creates a “montage of attractions” by flashing her iconic image throughout the sequence. A costume so iconic in itself formed a remarkable landmark in the film industry creating an absolute enigma in the minds and hearts of people. We can find continuing modernity in later references but earlier parallels put these images in the history of cinema. Showcasing women undergarments, “the wondrous revealment” is also one of the recurring concepts in literature and psychology. Barthes locus on erotic character of “intermittence” points directly toward the concept of “appearance-as-disappearance” where as Freud’s interpretations in his writings about sexuality explains this preoccupation about “wondrous revealment.” “Is not the most erotic portion of a body where the garment gapes? . . .” psychoanalysis states that this is “intermittence” which is further erotic: the intermittence of skin illuminated between garments in this case Monroe’s legs and thighs or the flashing because of the wind. The seduction created by the flash or rather the staging of appearance-as-disappearance plays with the mind and psych of Sherman (Barthes 1975
“A good costume must be material enough to signify and transparent enough not to turn its signs into parasites.” (Barthes Roland, 1972 pg 5)
That is exactly what is portrayed in Marilyn Monroe’s white halter dress in “The Seven Year Itch” (1955) directed by Billy Wilder. The movie revolves around Richard Sherman (Tom Ewell), an employee at an advertising company who resolves to eat healthy food, and quit smoking and drinking while his wife and son are away. During this time he meets his upstairs tenant: dizzy, appealing, luscious Marilyn Monroe known as “The Girl” who had come to spend the summer. His resolutions fly out of the window as he finds himself trapped with an “Itch”.
Marilyn Monroe in the “subway scene” has been portrayed in such a way that it creates a “montage of attractions” by flashing her iconic image throughout the sequence. A costume so iconic in itself formed a remarkable landmark in the film industry creating an absolute enigma in the minds and hearts of people. We can find continuing modernity in later references but earlier parallels put these images in the history of cinema. Showcasing women undergarments, “the wondrous revealment” is also one of the recurring concepts in literature and psychology. Barthes locus on erotic character of “intermittence” points directly toward the concept of “appearance-as-disappearance” where as Freud’s interpretations in his writings about sexuality explains this preoccupation about “wondrous revealment.” “Is not the most erotic portion of a body where the garment gapes? . . .” psychoanalysis states that this is “intermittence” which is further erotic: the intermittence of skin illuminated between garments in this case Monroe’s legs and thighs or the flashing because of the wind. The seduction created by the flash or rather the staging of appearance-as-disappearance plays with the mind and psych of Sherman (Barthes 1975