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According to The Guide to United States Popular Culture, "as an icon of American popular culture, Monroe's few rivals in popularity include Elvis Presley and Mickey Mouse ... no other star has ever inspired such a wide range of emotions – from lust to pity, from envy to remorse." According to academic Sara Kettler, Monroe remains "an unforgettable icon for the past 55 years and counting." Art historian Gail Levin stated that Monroe may have been "the most photographed person of the 20th century", and The American Film Institute has named her the sixth greatest female screen legend in American film history. The Smithsonian Institution has included her on their list of "100 Most Significant Americans of All Time", and both Variety and VH1 have placed her in the top ten in their rankings of the greatest popular culture icons of the twentieth century.

Hundreds of books have been written about Monroe, she has been the subject of films, plays, operas, and songs, and has influenced artists and entertainers such as Andy Warhol and Madonna. She also remains a valuable brand: her image and name have been licensed for hundreds of products, and she has been featured in advertising for multinational corporations and brands such as Max Factor, Chanel, Mercedes-Benz, and Absolut Vodka. Monroe’s 50th anniversary of her death caused a swarm of movies, publications, and a collection of photographs causing a media frenzy. Liz Garbus’ documentary Love, Marilyn made its appearance at the Cannes Film Festival in honor of Monroe’s death. Richard Lippe states, "the films needs to be clearer with its intentions and what it wants to say." According to Richard Lippe, "Love, Marilyn relies on Monroe mythology...and offers a lot to digest." Lois Banner states that three biographies: The Genius and the Goddess, Marilyn Revealed, and The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe were published by men and geared towards a male audience with an underlying message that men can understand Marilyn’s sexual nature, “whose appeal was innocent and erotic, childlike and sexual—the quintessential virgin/whore of the western immigration.”

Monroe's enduring popularity is linked to her conflicted public image. On the one hand, she remains a sex symbol, beauty icon and one of the most famous stars of classical Hollywood cinema. On the other, she is also remembered for her troubled private life, unstable childhood, struggle for professional respect, as well as her death and the conspiracy theories that surrounded it. She has been written about by scholars and journalists who are interested in gender and feminism; these writers include Gloria Steinem, Jacqueline Rose, Molly Haskell, Sarah Churchwell, and Lois Banner. Some, such as Steinem, have viewed her as a victim of the studio system. Others, such as Haskell, Rose, and Churchwell, have instead stressed Monroe's proactive role in her career and her participation in the creation of her public persona.

Due to the contrast between her stardom and troubled private life, Monroe is closely linked to broader discussions about modern phenomena such as mass media, fame, and consumer culture. According to academic Susanne Hamscha, Monroe has continued relevance to ongoing discussions about modern society, and she is "never completely situated in one time or place" but has become "a surface on which narratives of American culture can be (re-)constructed", and "functions as a cultural type that can be reproduced, transformed, translated into new contexts, and enacted by other people". Similarly, Banner has called Monroe the "eternal shapeshifter" who is re-created by "each generation, even each individual ... to their own specifications". On the other hand, Monroe has also been linked to political and cultural discussions from her support to troops overseas to advocating for civil rights. According to academic Sara Kettler, Monroe's controversial "reputation as a 'dumb blonde' with little to offer beyond sex appeal, and the controversy over whether her death was suicide, an accidental overdose or something more sinister — have often overshadowed everything else." Kettler states that during the war, Norma Jeane "went to work in a factory that made military drones; there, she was discovered by a photographer searching for subjects to inspire the troops. Norma Jeane became a model, and went on to take risqué pin-up photos that would be hugely popular with soldiers in Korea." After becoming the actress Marilyn Monroe, "army publication Stars & Stripes dubbed her "Miss Cheesecake of 1951" and Monroe showed her appreciation and gratitude to her fans and visited troops in Korea in February 1954, according to Kettler. Kettler goes on to state that "Monroe attended rallies protesting the violation of civil liberties caused by anti-Communist fervor. Monroe also became an advocate for civil rights."

While Monroe remains a cultural icon, critics are divided on her legacy as an actress. David Thomson called her body of work "insubstantial" and Pauline Kael wrote that she could not act, but rather "used her lack of an actress's skills to amuse the public. She had the wit or crassness or desperation to turn cheesecake into acting – and vice versa; she did what others had the 'good taste' not to do". In contrast, according to Peter Bradshaw, Monroe was a talented comedian who "understood how comedy achieved its effects", and Roger Ebert wrote that "Monroe's eccentricities and neuroses on sets became notorious, but studios put up with her long after any other actress would have been blackballed because what they got back on the screen was magical". Similarly, Jonathan Rosenbaum stated that "she subtly subverted the sexist content of her material" and that "the difficulty some people have discerning Monroe's intelligence as an actress seems rooted in the ideology of a repressive era, when superfeminine women weren't supposed to be smart". According to scholar James Harvey, Marilyn represented a ‘walking dirty joke,’ she was too peculiar and too hard to cast; and embodied the sexual essence desired on screen, yet was scrutinized for her sexual promiscuity off screen. James Harvey states, "we're hard on innocence-and then we want it back. Monroe embodied both these impulses for us, as well as the tortur- ing contradiction between them. It's no wonder we wept over her." Harvey further explains that no matter how small her role, Marilyn steals the show. According to Harvey, Marilyn’s role in Monkey Business, which was brief, meant more at the box office than the main actors. Kettler states that "Monroe worked hard by taking lessons..and to gain experience for a role in B movie Ladies of the Chorus (1948), she performed in a burlesque show under the name "Mona Monroe." Marilyn took the time to study her craft and took lessons regularly perfecting her skill.