Talking With Ms. Monroe

I woke up from a dream. It was not quite like the dreams I normally remember, but at the same time there was a strong air of surrealism.

I was talking with someone whose life tragically ended before mine had even started. Marilyn Monroe was sitting across from me in a living room setting, and the two of us were having a normal conversation, like a pair of good friends.

The topic swung around to tattoos because I noticed a few going up and down both her arms. She showed me the artwork she had done all the while telling me that she wanted to cover her entire body, but because she was so much in the public eye, she couldn’t achieve that dream. Then she showed me more tattoos on her back. In my dream they were mostly comic book characters, and of course there were several of Harley Quinn.

I have to believe that if Ms. Monroe was still alive today, she would definitely feel an affinity for the enigmatic and tragic Harley Quinn. My own, extremely biased opinion.

After admiring the careful craftsmanship of the colorful ink adorning her skin, I showed her the two I have and waxed poetic about the struggle to collect more art upon my own skin canvas.

That was the end of the dream. Nothing exciting, no misadventures, and thankfully it didn’t morph into some B horror movie where a sinister, distorted, nightmare looking Marilyn Monroe suddenly transforms into a zombie who only wants to eat my brains.

I’m surprised the dream wasn’t actually about another early Hollywood bombshell, Hedy Lamarr. I have been learning about her this week, reading articles, and watching shows that delve behind her pretty face. She was a fascinating human being.

For those who are interested and still reading this, let me throw down some facts that have recently been bestowed upon me: She was born in 1914 in Vienna, Austria, became a rising film star in Eastern Europe, married and subsequently escaped an arms dealer that helped to supply munitions to the Nazi army, but to me the most fascinating of all her accolades is that she was a brilliant inventor. In fact, when on set, she had her dressing room decked out so that she could continue working on her experiments. I’m sure it wasn’t like this, but my mind likes to think after her scene, she ran back to her dressing room donned her lab coat, thick rubber gloves, and protective goggles then became the alter ego, the Mad Scientist!

While working with a composer by the name of George Antheil, Hedy was able to come up with technology that would cripple the Nazi’s during the war. The Nazi army were jamming and intercepting communications from allied troops, preventing the allied troops from being able to torpedo the Nazi U-boats that were destroying fleets in the Pacific. This technology went on to be the basis for our wireless communications today such as bluetooth, and WiFi!

Without getting too technical (and because I don’t know that much about how it all worked and don’t have the luxury yet to research everything about Hedy’s breakthrough) the premise was since the Nazi’s were able to easily jump onto and read the communications between fleets, the radio frequencies were changed every few seconds before switching again. If the Nazi’s were able to piggyback onto the signal, they would only be hanging on for seconds before the signal switched and it was lost to them. This technology could have changed the fate of the war, or possibly ended the fighting much sooner.

She and Antheil then went on to propose this new discovery and technology to the US Department of Defense. They did not seek money, fame, or anything to help themselves out, they merely wanted to save lives and try to end the war. The response from our governmental officials was typical, and I am only paraphrasing what I learned but it went something along the lines of ‘You [Hedy Lamarr] would be better off helping the war effort by selling kisses.’

Because she was so beautiful, and often termed “The most beautiful woman to ever grace the big screen,” she was brushed away. One of the worst wars, and most atrocious acts against mankind could possibly have been shortened, but all the ‘big wigs’ could see was a pretty face, and couldn't comprehend that this gorgeous woman actually had a high degree of intelligence.

Don’t worry, there’s no moral I’m trying to pound into your heads. I was simply fascinated by this tale and it tied into the dream I had, and simply wanted to share information that I have found extremely fascinating.