fourfour: RIP, Marilyn

April 14, 2009

RIP, Marilyn

I was genuinely saddened all day yesterday after reading about the death of porn star Marilyn Chambers. She starred in my favorite adult film of all time, 1980's Insatiable. I'm not into straight porn like that, but I do enjoy that flick for its kitsch and porno-chic factor (I know it's a very gay thing to say about a straight porno, but the wardrobe is great!). She also starred in Cronenberg's Rabid, in a very early (1977!) and thus unfathomably bizarre porn-to-mainstream crossover. As an adult-film actress of yesteryear, she was a definitive underdog. I think that finding out that someone so dirty-glamorous back in the day died in a trailer park is what affected me the most. The fall seems further than the ascent. Per the 2006 2-disc special edition of Insatiable, which includes a really fantastic film-long commentary with Marilyn, she seemed like a nice lady. I clipped part of another of the set's special features, an interview in which she talks about that film, Behind the Green Door, her softcore work and her life and its disappointments. The segment below might as well be her own eulogy. Bucking the stereotype associated with her career ever so slightly, I'm glad she was at least reasonably eloquent:

My favorite of Marilyn's pop-culture contributions, though, was her music. She didn't record an album or anything, just some tracks here and there that managed to encapsulate the seediness of disco and her industry. I went on at length about Insatiable's theme, "Shame on You," a few years ago, but I recently found an extended re-edit of the track. You can listen to it here. That song still regularly pops into my head. Not bad for a cheesy porno theme! There was also the slightly inferior "Benihana," which Michael Zager of "Let's All Chant" fame produced. I love that it could have been named after the restaurant. This woman fucked, sang and ate kitsch! Save me a space next to that great teppan in the sky, Marilyn.

Posted at 06:08 PM in Crazy Old Ladies, Dance music all night long, Filmses | Permalink

Comments

This woman seemed full of life and it's a shame she is gone. I'll be renting Insatiable soon.

Posted by: Noel | April 14, 2009 at 07:16 PM

Marilyn*

Posted by: Noel | April 14, 2009 at 07:17 PM

Glad to see someone else remembering Marilyn fondly. All the trashy Jenna Jamesons and Tera Patricks of the world have nothin' on Ms. Chambers.

Posted by: Staci | April 14, 2009 at 07:29 PM

not gonna lie, i downloaded "insatiable" from you forever ago and it's one of the top songs on my ipod.

Posted by: amanda | April 14, 2009 at 07:38 PM

I am SO happy to see this RIP. I've been sad all day, too. Behind the Green Door is one of my favourite movies, and I always thought Marilyn was BEAUTIFUL. So thanks for giving a fan a place to say RIP.

Posted by: jennifer | April 14, 2009 at 09:08 PM

Insatiable was the first porn I ever age. At age 14 or so, I found it in my dad's closet, made myself a copy, and watched, transfixed. My favorite scene, which I watched with the boy from across the street in an effort to seduce him, was the one where she's fucked atop a pool table. That guy in the scene seemed so hot at the time, but I'd probably think he was hideous now.

Posted by: Brandon | April 14, 2009 at 11:41 PM

*I ever saw. Whoops.

Posted by: Brandon | April 14, 2009 at 11:42 PM

I thought there was some interview with her where she really wanted to have sex with pool table guy, but since she was married it only seemed right to do it in the movie. And then she went full force into it. I always thought was weirdly enduring in my twisted mind.

Posted by: rustyspigot | April 15, 2009 at 12:32 AM

*How about endearing as well as enduring? Nice slip. Time for bed.

Posted by: rustyspigot | April 15, 2009 at 12:40 AM

this saddens me, as does the death of eve kosofsky sedgwick. man, its been a bad week.

Posted by: yumi | April 15, 2009 at 01:10 AM

Jack Wrangler and Marilyn Chambers die within the same week? WTF, universe?

Posted by: JJ | April 15, 2009 at 04:07 AM

So how did this attractive, articulate, pragmatic, seemingly world-wise (but not world-weary) woman from two years ago end up dying in a trailer park? Something terrible must've happened to her, health insurance-wise.

That's what precipitated Margot Kidder's awful downward spiral, anyway. These two saucy broads always seemed cut from the same cloth, to me. Very sad.

Posted by: spazmo | April 15, 2009 at 08:11 AM

So didn't the late Linda Lovelace end up married with kids. And she repudiated her porn past and tried to suggest she had been forced (this has been widely disproved.) I thought I read she had ended up married, maybe with kids. It seems unfair that Marilyn ended up sick in a trailer park without all of that when she stayed true to herself.

BTW, my first porn was Deep Throat speaking of La Lovelace. I saw it without sound on some old film reels my dad had. I was about 14 and my friend that always was getting me into trouble convinced me to let her set up my Dad's film projector so we could watch it. She promptly burnt reel 3 and spliced it with Scotch tape. The reels were marked as being $70 bucks apiece so I was terrified Dad would find out. It seems tho that he didn't often drag out the film projector to sit around and watch porn with no audio. Go figure.

Posted by: Vanessa | April 15, 2009 at 01:00 PM

OMG she looks like a WHITE PATTI LABELLE! WTF

Posted by: joshua | April 15, 2009 at 02:11 PM

Hear hear! I shall raise a glass in her honor, I remember watching her on the Spice channel while babysitting at my neighbors' house at a tender 13 years of age. Live on, Marilyn!

Posted by: Heather | April 15, 2009 at 03:07 PM

Thanks for this Rich. I'm not really familiar with her work, but I certainly knew of her. In the video you shared, she seemed like a really cool woman. Thanks. RIP Marilyn.

Posted by: studpup | April 17, 2009 at 03:46 AM

DxPRZc

Posted by: Dtxrinhy | July 15, 2009 at 09:48 AM