The Writing on the Wall

Poring over the previously unseen diaries of Marilyn Monroe means searching for hidden meaning, even in her penmanship: in the world of handwriting science, fat, loopy t’s and squat, cursive d’s can signify a whole host of mental demons. VF.com spoke with an expert in the science, who analyzed Monroe’s words without knowing they were hers. A graphological investigation.

By Jaime Lalinde

In the November issue, Vanity Fair published a previously unseen archive of Marilyn Monroe’s private writings. With narrative by contributing editor Sam Kashner, these notebooks cover the most tumultuous years—from around 1951 to 1961—of the young actress’s life. As Kashner points out, “[w]e have had Warhol’s Marilyn, Mailer’s Marilyn, Joyce Carol Oates’s fictionalized Marilyn, now finally we have Marilyn’s Marilyn.” Through the pages of Marilyn’s diaries, we see the whole arc of her tragic life: the transition from starlet to icon, her pursuit of true artistry beyond the “dumb blonde” she was pigeonholed as, and the troubled thoughts that followed her, from childhood, through three marriages, and, ultimately, to her final days. It is clear that the experience of writing was cathartic for her, providing a momentary grasp on the whirlwind of emotions that accompanied her life.
In the interests of science, VF.com had a professional graphologist (handwriting expert), Sheila Kurtz, examine a few of the documents found in the archive. And in the interests of good science, we declined to tell her whom she was analyzing—which did not prevent her from guessing that it was either Lindsay Lohan or Lady Gaga, the subjects of our last two covers.
This entry is from the first black “Record” notebook, which Marilyn kept around 1951, the year she would film Love Nest—a line from the script of which she jotted down on page 146. Not yet the star she would grow to be, Marilyn was finally beginning to appear in the credits of her onscreen roles.

Handwriting Sample One

Enlarge letter.

page 146

Pardon me
are you the janitors wife
page 147
caught a Greyhound
Bus from Monterey to Salinas. On the
Bus I was the person
woman with about
sixty Italian fishermen
and I’ve never met
sixty such charming gentlemen—they
were wonderful. Some
company was sending them
downstate where their boats
and (they hoped) fish were
waiting for them. Some
could hardly speak english
not only do I love Greeks
[illegible] I love Italians.
they’re warm, lusty and friendly
as hell—I’d love to go to
Italy someday.

Handwriting Analysis

There is a texture and flow that indicates a person who moves quickly once she gets over the stalling and decides to get going.
Goals are set uniformly high, to the point the writer must stretch to accomplish them, and some are set ultra-high, where it will require every ounce of energy and intelligence the writer can muster to reach them.
Much confusion (signaled by the intermingling of the lines of writing from one line to the one above or below) is evident. The contemporary concept of multi-tasking is probably poisonous to this person, who would be far better off and more effective by methodically doing one task at a time and finishing it before going on to the next task.
There are upper loops that signal a mystical, philosophical turn of mind. There are also lower loops (in the y’s and g’s), some full, some semi-formed, that signal the writer has a creative imagination that may concoct good ideas but at times fails to bring them to fruition.
The m’s and n’s are rounded at the top and indicate a methodical way of thinking that puts one fact after another in order to come to a conclusion. There are also signs of modest analytical skills and the ability to research and to investigate.
There is a soupçon of sarcasm (pointed, daggerish t-bars) and signs that the writer takes things out on herself because the writer believes she is a perpetual screwup.
The loops of the lowercase e forms are muddy or closed, an indication that the writer restricts the uptake of new ideas unless they are driven with force and repetition into the psyche.
There are indications, too, in the blotched and scratched-out scribbles in the text that the writer may at times not know the actual truth from the fictions created in the writer’s own mind.
Under high magnification, there are small, fuzzy congestion points visible inside the ink lines of the writing itself. These blots usually indicate that a full physical checkup with a medical doctor may be wise.
The fat loops of the lowercase d’s and t’s signal that the writer is extremely sensitive to destructive criticism, perhaps because the writer truly cares what others think, sometimes without knowing exactly why she cares.

Meta-critic

“The contemporary concept of multi-tasking is probably poisonous to this person”:
Marilyn wrote in a later entry,
“learn—lines logically
—I can’t do more than
one thing at a time
make map tonight.”
“The writer may at times not know the actual truth from the fictions created in the writer’s own mind”: In a later entry, Marilyn wrote,
“I haven’t had Faith in Life
meaning Reality—what
ever it is
or happens
There is nothing to
hold on to—but reality
to realize the present
whatever it may be
—because that’s how it
is and it’s much better”
“A full physical checkup with a medical doctor may be wise”: Marilyn actually suffered from severe endometriosis (a condition in which uterine issue grows outside the uterus) her entire life, which may have contributed to her miscarriages and to an ectopic pregnancy later in life.
“The writer truly cares what others think. The writer believes she is a perpetual screwup”: Later in this notebook, Marilyn wrote,
“Fear of giving me the lines new
maybe I won’t be able to learn them
maybe I’ll make mistakes
people will think I’m no good or laugh or belittle me or think I can’t act.”
In another entry:
“I’m not very bright I guess.
No just dumb/if I had
Any brains I wouldn’t be
On crummy train with this
Crummy girl’s band”

Handwriting Sample Two

Enlarge letter.

page 2 life starts from now
trust in the
Ida—I have still
faith in the simple
Been obeying her—
it’s not only harmful
for me to do so
but unrealality [sic] because
in my work—I don’t
want to obey her any longer
and I can do my work as fully
as I wish since as a small child
intact first desire was to be an actress
I have
I will not be punished
And I spent years
Play acting until I had jobs
Or trying to hide it
enjoying myself as fully
as I wish or want to
I will be as sensitive as
I am—without being ashamed of it
page 5 trust in the
faith in the simple
objects and tasks—(sense
memory—outside and inside
objects)
I haven’t had Faith in Life
meaning Reality—what
ever it is
or happens
There is nothing to
hold on to—but reality
to realize the present
whatever it may be
—because that’s how it
is and it’s much better

In another of the black leather “Record” notebooks, which dates to around 1955, Marilyn writes this prose poem that begins with a mention of her aunt Ida Martin, a stern authoritarian with whom she lived for a year in 1938, during a particularly difficult period of her childhood.
In 1955, shortly after moving to New York City, Marilyn began taking acting lessons from famed teacher Lee Strasberg. At Strasberg’s school, the Actors Studio, regular psychotherapy was required of all of his pupils. As a student at the Actors Studio, one was taught to act by invoking strong memories that would mimic the emotions the actor was trying to convey. This piece of prose may have been an attempt by Marilyn to harness the traumas of her youth.

Handwriting Analysis

Confusion of ideas and the counter-productive consequences of putting off actions are the most significant indications in this handwriting. The t-bars (the horizontal line in the letter t) that stop short of crossing through the t-stem (the vertical line in the letter t) are the signs of procrastination.
The slant of the writing is slightly to the right, an indication that the writer keeps emotions pretty much under control (thinks first, then acts) while appearing essentially friendly and outgoing to others. However, there are also signals of excessive worry and a repression of unverbalized fears.
The extra-tall t-stems indicate personal pride taken to the extreme of vanity. At the time this sample was written, the writer may well have experienced apparent success but “on the inside” felt keenly the pains of confusion and insecurity and used self-conceit and self-admiration as a way to cover up the pain.
The writer’s goals are inconsistent—from apple-pie-in-the-sky to easily picked up off the ground. (The placement of the t-bars on the t-stem indicates where goals are set.)
The writer is defiant to people who give her/him orders.
There is an indication in the paleness and light-handedness of the writing that the writer may not wish to expend the energy required to bring a complicated dream into reality.

Meta-critic

“Counter-productive consequences of putting off actions”: Marilyn was famously known for being late to set. She was fired from the final film she worked on, Something’s Got to Give, in part because of her serial tardiness and frequent absence.
“There are also signals of excessive worry and a repression of unverbalized fears”: Marilyn explores a recurrent fear throughout these journals, her dread of disappointing the ones she loved. From her therapist, Dr. Hohenberg, to Strasberg, to Miller, Marilyn—apprehensive about letting people in—depended on the approval of those she kept close to her. Marilyn recorded a terrifying dream of hers:
“they cut me open—Strasberg with Hohenberg’s ass[istance]
and there is absolutely nothing there—Strasberg is
deeply disappointed but more even—academically amazed
that he had made such a mistake. He thought there was going
to be so much more—more than he had ever dreamed possible in
almost anyone but
instead there was absolutely nothing.”
“The extra-tall t-stems indicate personal pride taken to the extreme of vanity”: In a letter written to her therapist, Marilyn says,
“I would never intentionally mark or mar myself, I’m just that vain. Remember when I tried to do away with myself I did it very carefully with ten Seconol and ten Tuinol and swallowed them with relief (that’s how I felt at the time).”              http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/features/2010/11/marilyn-monroe-handwriting-analysis-201011