Madonna vs Monroe

Diamonds are a girl’s best friend

 VS

Material Girl

In 1953 Marilyn Monroe starred in a song named “Diamonds are a girl’s best friend”, similar to a music video however it appeared in the film “Gentlemen prefer blondes”. The music video depicted Monroe in a glamorous scenario, surrounded by men lusting over her as she denies them in favour of her love of diamonds, claiming that they are a girl’s best friend. Later in 1985 Madonna released a music video named “Material Girl” which displayed a notable deconstruction of Monroe’s “Diamonds are a girl’s best friend” with several similarities in choreography, cinematography and mise en scene.

The first notable similarity between Monroe and Madonna’s respective music videos are their outfits. The mise en scene between these two music videos is remarkably similar,  Madonna and Monroe both wear a long pink dress with matching gloves that reach up to below their shoulders with a big bow wrapped up at the back. The similarities  between their outfits are made further blatant with their jewellery, the both of them wearing diamond bracelets, diamond necklaces and to top it off; diamond earrings. The general premise of both of the songs is also quite similar, which is probably what sparked the idea for the deconstruction of Monroe’s song. Madonna’s Material Girl revolves around her and her love for jewellery, as a “material girl” refers to a girl who has a great love for objects and clothing rather than another person. This idea is evident within Monroe’s song, which can be clearly taken from the title of “diamonds are a girl’s best friend”, which has heavy connotations towards a materialistic mind-set.

Beyond the names of the songs and the appearances of the two artists in both of the songs there are even more similarities that can be drawn from the supporting dancers in both of the music videos and the mise en scene used in the scenes of both songs. In both of the music videos both Madonna and Monroe are surrounded by men in identical black suits who are all pining for them, only to be comically overshadowed by Madonna or Monroe’s love for materialism. The men in both music videos are seen surrounding Monroe and Madonna in their respective songs and providing supporting choreography for them. The men in both of the music videos are dressed identically in dark colours, in contrast to Monroe and Madonna who wear bright pink dresses and are the only ones wearing these outfits in order to emphasise their importance within the music videos.

In addition, the setting of the music videos is remarkably similar, both of them having very minimalistic designs and similar colours. The set of Monroe’s song is set on a completely red stage in order to emphasise her backup dancers and her bright pink dress and white jewellery in contrast to the harsh red. The colour red is also commonly associated with romance and love, which is an evident theme within both music videos, as the men in both music videos are seen lusting for Monroe and Madonna’s romantic attention but are denied. The setting is the same in “Material Girl”; a very minimalistic set sporting a harsh red background reflecting the colour of romance and love in order to emphasise the colours of the people performing within the music video. This setting was probably taken by Madonna and inspired by Monroe due to its relevant symbolism revolving around romance and materialism In both of the music videos.

The most notable similarity between the two music videos in regards to the choreography of the backup dancers is a scene in Monroe’s video in which several men form a circle around her and all revolve around her and make her the centre of attention. This scene is completely recreated in Madonna’s “Material Girl”, with Madonna being surrounded by her male backup dancers as they revolve around her.