I LOVE A YEAR THAT MULTITASKS.
1926 WAS ONE OF THOSE YEARS. IT GAVE US ROUTE 66, MARILYN MONROE, AND MARION DAVIES MOVING INTO A BEACH HOUSE, WHICH, FRANKLY, IS MORE CULTURAL INFRASTRUCTURE THAN MOST DECADES CAN MANAGE. NOW THAT WE’RE COMING UP ON 100 YEARS OF ROUTE 66, IT FEELS LIKE EXACTLY THE RIGHT MOMENT TO NOTICE WHAT THAT HIGHWAY REALLY CARRIED - NOT JUST CARS AND POSTCARDS, BUT WOMEN, AMBITION, WARDROBES, AND ENTIRE SECOND ACTS. AND IN SANTA MONICA, WHERE THE ROAD ENDS AND THE LIGHT BEHAVES DIFFERENTLY, THOSE STORIES TEND TO LINGER LONGER.
ROUTE 66 WAS MARKETED AS FREEDOM, BUT WHAT IT ACTUALLY OFFERED - ESPECIALLY TO WOMEN - WAS POSSIBILITY. THE CHANCE TO ARRIVE AS SOMEONE NEW. TO STEP OUT OF THE CAR IN A DIFFERENT DRESS AND MEAN IT.
IN 1926, WHILE ROUTE 66 WAS BEING STITCHED TOGETHER FROM EXISTING ROADS, MARION DAVIES WAS SETTLING INTO HER BEACH HOUSE IN SANTA MONICA. SHE HAD ALREADY CONQUERED SILENT FILM, MASTERED COMEDY, AND PERFECTED THE ART OF WEARING WIDE-BRIMMED HATS AS IF THEY WERE PUNCTUATION MARKS. SANTA MONICA BECAME THE PLACE WHERE GLAMOUR EXHALED, WHERE HOLLYWOOD WOMEN COULD BE OFF-CAMERA AND STILL FULLY THEMSELVES. BAREFOOT, BRILLIANT, UNDERESTIMATED.
THEN GUSSY MORAN BLEW A HOLE RIGHT THROUGH POSTWAR PROPRIETY WITH A TENNIS RACKET AND A PERFECTLY TIMED FLASH OF LACE. IN 1949, AS THE WORLD WAS STILL PRETENDING IT WANTED ITS WOMEN POLITE, COVERED, AND GRATEFUL, “GORGEOUS GUSSIE” WALKED ONTO WIMBLEDON IN A SHORT SKIRT AND LACE-TRIMMED PANTIES DESIGNED BY TED TINLING AND TURNED SPORT INTO SPECTACLE.
IT WASN’T JUST SCANDAL FOR SCANDAL’S SAKE - IT WAS REBELLION. LIKE MARION DAVIES BEFORE HER, SHE UNDERSTOOD PERFORMANCE AND GLAMOUR; LIKE MARILYN MONROE AFTER HER, SHE GRASPED THE POWER OF BEING LOOKED AT AND TALKED ABOUT ON HER OWN TERMS. GUSSY MADE THE FEMALE BODY VISIBLE, ATHLETIC, AND UNAPOLOGETICALLY PRESENT, DEMONSTRATING THAT EVEN IN THE MOST BUTTONED-UP INSTITUTIONS, A WOMAN WITH CONFIDENCE, CHARM, AND A SENSE OF HUMOR COULD REVISE THE RULES - AND LOOK FANTASTIC DOING IT.
THE SAME YEAR, MARILYN MONROE WAS BORN - NORMA JEAN AT FIRST, WHICH IS HOW YOU KNOW DESTINY WAS INVOLVED. MARILYN WOULD LATER EMBODY EVERYTHING ROUTE 66 CAME TO SYMBOLIZE: MOTION, LONGING, REINVENTION. SHE WAS PHOTOGRAPHED ENDLESSLY ON THE BEACH, IN CARS, ON HIGHWAYS, IN HOTEL ROOMS, AND ON THRESHOLDS. FASHION ADORED HER BECAUSE FABRIC HAD NO CHOICE BUT TO FOLLOW HER. FILM LOVED HER BECAUSE THE CAMERA BELIEVED HER. AND SANTA MONICA, JUST DOWN THE ROAD, BECAME PART OF THE MYTHOLOGY; THE OCEAN, THE LIGHT, THE PROMISE THAT YOU COULD BEGIN AGAIN AND STILL BE ADMIRED FOR WHO YOU WERE.
ROUTE 66 DIDN’T JUST DELIVER STARLETS - IT DELIVERED ERAS.
THEN THERE’S MARGOT ROBBIE, WHO SOMEHOW MANAGES TO HOLD THE ENTIRE HISTORY AT ONCE. OLD HOLLYWOOD BONE STRUCTURE. NEW HOLLYWOOD INTELLIGENCE. A PRODUCER’S MIND IN A MOVIE STAR’S BODY. WHEN SHE STEPS ONTO A RED CARPET - ON INTO ROLLERBLADES, OR A PINK CONVERTIBLE - SHE’S CHANNELING DAVIES’ WIT, MONROE’S VULNERABILITY, AND GUSSIE’S AGENCY. SHE DOES’T JUST REFERENCE THE PAST; SHE REFRAMES IT. AND SANTA MONICA, WITH ITS LONG MEMORY AND EXCELLENT LIGHT, REMAINS FLAWLESS IN THE BACKGROUND.
WHAT STRIKES ME ABOUT ROUTE 66 AT 100 IS THAT IT ENDS IN SANTA MONICA FOR A REASON. IT DOESN’T STOP AT A STUDIO GATE OR MANSION. IT STOPS AT THE OCEAN. AT A PLACE WHERE HISTORIES DON’T END SO MUCH AS DISSOLVE AND REAPPEAR IN ANOTHER FORM.
WOMEN IN FASHION AND FILM HAVE ALWAYS UNDERSTOOD THIS BETTER THAN ANYONE. CLOTHES CHANGE. ROLES CHANGE. NAMES CHANGE. BUT PRESENCE - TRUE PRESENCE - STAYS. MARION DAVIES KNEW IT WHEN SHE MOVED INTO THAT BEACH HOUSE IN 1926. GUSSY MORAN CHALLENGED IT. MARILYN MONROE FELT IT BEFORE SHE COULD NAME IT. MARGOT ROBBIE NOW CARRIES IT FORWARD WITH A PRODUCER’S CREDIT AND A KNOWING SMILE.
SO HERE WE ARE, 100 YEARS LATER, STANDING AT THE END OF ROUTE 66, LOOKING OUT AT THE PACIFIC, SURROUNDED BY GHOSTS IN COUTURE AND WOMEN STILL ARRIVING.
IF HISTORY IS A ROAD, THESE WOMEN DIDN’T JUST TRAVEL IT.
THEY MADE IT WORTH TAKING.
