Duffy focuses greatly on the sexualization of Marilyn, present from the first line. The use of asyndeton, ‘close-up, back-lit, adored’ compounds the sense of invasion. The ‘camera’ follows her, capturing her from every angle. Even when ‘sleepy’, her ‘startled gaze’ is instantly captured. Duffy presents the chaos of this setting, the constant use of caesura fracturing the flow of the poem. This is emblematic of the chaos of Monroe’s life, constantly followed by the cameras due to her beauty. The repetition of ‘filmed her’ furthers this idea, with a camera constantly on the beautiful woman. The fact the whole ‘US whooped’ demonstrates the lengths to which Monroe was stalked, everyone knowing the intimate details of her life as she lived it.
Alongside the innate eroticism of Duffy’s language here, she also presents a note of violence. Monroe is a commodity to be employed, ‘investors’ gold’, Duffy suggesting how people capitalize on her beauty. Indeed, ‘her eyes’ are ‘pressed by a banker’s thumb’, the violent imagery being covered in false ‘sapphires’ and ‘platinum’ to cover up the horrors of her mistreatment. Monroe is manipulated and controlled by those around her, made into a money-making machine instead of treated like a human.
Duffy employs a form of epiphora at the end of the second stanza, ‘The whole world swooned’ echoing ‘The US whooped’. Now, her commodification has spread to the whole world, becoming an international sex symbol. She is abused and exploited for the whole world to see.