Ladies in LA

Kristen Stewart will be hitting the press circuit soon for her new film, The Wrong Girls, a stoner comedy written and directed by her wife, Dylan Meyer. But first: coffee.

Here she is in Los Angeles on a coffee run. Her hair lately is bringing me back to the days when she was filming The Runaways and constantly hiding her Joan Jett mullet under hoodies.

But wait, because KStew is not the only lady out in LA. Dakota Johnson was also outside, sporting a vintage DARE shirt (the Unsung History podcast episode on the history of DARE is bananas).

While KStew is gearing up for a press run, so is Dakota. She co-stars in a new short film by Maggie Gyllenhaal, Flesh Impact, which is premiering at the Venice Film Festival in a few weeks (Gyllenhaal will also serve as the jury president). Dakota stars as Marilyn Monroe, and the first-look photo is not the worst Marilyn we’ve ever seen. Though she kind of looks like Camilla Belle? Is that just me?

Flesh Impact also stars Ellen Burstyn as an older version of Marilyn that obviously never existed because Monroe died at 36. This year marks what would be Marilyn Monroe’s 100^th birthday, and we still cannot get enough of Marilyn Monroe, to various exploitative degrees. I kind of wish we could agree to a moratorium on Marilyn, to let the woman’s memory rest, but I do understand the perpetual fascination. She is forever young, forever vulnerable, a target of conspiracy, an underappreciated talent and savvy businesswoman. And because there were so many versions of her throughout her own lifetime—Norma Jean, Marilyn, starlet, bombshell, trainwreck, girl, wife, lover—it’s easy to project myriad themes onto her.

Flesh Impact is written and directed by Gyllenhaal, who received the blessing of the controllers of the Marilyn Monroe estate, Authentic Brands Group. But that is nothing. That’s like saying McDonald’s gave me its blessing to make a hamburger. Perhaps the number one reason Marilyn Monroe is so exploited is simply because there is no individual left to fight for her, the person behind the persona. All that is left is the persona, the brand, the image. I’m curious to see what Maggie Gyllenhaal does with Marilyn Monroe, especially after her rather wild take on Mary Shelley, but at the same time, I really do think we need that Marilyn Monroe moratorium. Just like five years. Everyone Leave Marilyn Monroe Alone For Five Years Challenge.