A Nation Turns Its Lonely Eyes To . . . Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce

Image Credit to TMZ

Recently, although the world has understandably been primarily focused on Hamas’s inhumane attack on Israel and conflict that has succeeded it, there has been one other big news story, albeit much more trivial in scale: the new relationship between singing sensation Taylor Swift and Kansas City Chiefs football star Travis Kelce. 

To call this relationship a tour de force is an understatement. Kelce is one of (American) football’s biggest names; considered one of the best players in the league, he helped his team win two Super Bowls, including last year’s. Further, he has also raised his profile with a popular podcast and a major documentary called Kelce. Though the film was originally centered on his brother, Jason, a player for the Philadelphia Eagles, things took a turn when the Kelce boys found themselves playing against each other at last year’s Super Bowl. When the film was released, it quickly became Amazon Prime’s most watched documentary ever, and remained in the top five movies on the platform for the following three weeks. 

But while Kelce is undoubtedly a big star, Taylor Swift is an even bigger one. Her recent Eras Tour is on track to be the highest grossing tour ever; current estimates claim that the chanteuse will earn around $4.1 billion by its end. To give some perspective, this is more than double the GDP of around two dozen countries, such as Belize and San Marino. But her popularity isn’t just seen in her earnings; estimates suggest that NFL viewership for the New York Jets vs. Kansas City Chiefs game, where Taylor appeared to cheer on her new beau, jumped by a whopping 27%. It was the second most viewed program of the year, after the Super Bowl itself.

But, of course, this is not the first time a wildly popular entertainment celebrity has coupled with a mega sports star; that honor arguably belongs to Marilyn Monroe and baseball legend Joe DiMaggio. 

Some Like It A Hot Mess

When Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio were married in a courthouse wedding in San Francisco, the crowd that turned up based on just the rumor that the two were planning to tie the knot was so large that the ceremony was delayed because the man carrying the marriage licenses had difficulty worming his way through the mob.

Marilyn’s popularity was two-fold. She appealed to men for obvious reasons. But she appealed just as much to women, as evidenced by pictures of the throng at the San Francisco courthouse that leaned more female than male. Further evidence is that she was the face of dozens of advertisements, both national and international, for female-targeted items including shampoo, soap, hair dye, and makeup. She was even hired by the U.S. government to attract recruits to the women’s armed services. While men may have wanted to date her,  women wanted to be her.

​​Marilyn Monroe's ability to connect with female fans can be attributed to a combination of her unique charisma and the media environment of her time. In the mid-20th century, cinema and the emerging television industry brought celebrities into the living rooms and local theaters of millions of people. Monroe's frequent appearances in movies and on television programs allowed fans to feel a regular, even intimate, connection with her. This was also abetted by the growth of the magazine industry; Marilyn’s face was a constant presence.

But all actors and actresses benefitted from these changes in the media landscape, and while many celebrities were the focus of what are now deemed parasocial relationships, what set Marilyn apart – especially for women – was her ability to connect with her fans. Part of this was due to openness about her troubles, such as her tough childhood or her battles with mental health. Some of this was not by choice: as one of the most covered women in the world, details about her life inevitably made their way to the press. But other instances were a deliberate decision to discuss normally taboo subjects. Moreover, she had an ability to frame them in a way that made them relatable; her brutal honesty about her flaws stood in stark contrast to the manufactured movie star persona of years before (though, of course, Marilyn’s persona was not devoid of studio interference). 

For example, in a 1952 interview with The San Francisco Examiner, Marilyn plainly discussed the pain and embarrassment of living in 15 different foster homes as a child before declaring, “I guess I wanted love more than anything else in the world.” 

In another interview, she joked about flubbing her conversation with President John F. Kennedy during the reception where she sang “Happy Birthday” to the politician.

“I was with my former father-in-law, Isadore Miller, so I think I did something wrong when I met the president. Instead of saying, ‘How do you do?’ I just said ‘This is my former father-in-law, Isadore Miller.’ He came here an immigrant and I thought this would be one of the biggest things in his life . . . I should have said, ‘How do you do, Mr President,’ but I had already done the singing, so well you know. I guess nobody noticed it.”

Many of her quotes are still, to this day, reposted on social media websites such as Pinterest and Instagram, showcasing her ability to connect with the public across time and place.

But it was not just Marilyn’s emotional rawness that resonated with her female fans. Marilyn also fought against many of the issues, such as sexism and abuse, that faced women in the 1960s. As noted by feminist activist Erin Johson:

"Marilyn puts a face on the hardships that women have to face every day in this country - sexual abuse . . . abusive relationships, sexual objectification,” (per The Guardian). 

For example, she often discussed the pros and cons of being a sex symbol and, in a move ahead of its time, even developed her own production company so that was empowered enough to make her own films, rather than star in studio-mandated ones that played to her “dumb blonde” persona. Note that it was just a few years ago when celebrated actresses like Reese Witherspoon and Margot Robbie did the same, to great feminist fanfare. She even wrote a short story, titled “Wolves I Have Known,” that gave a “me too”-esque judgment on Hollywood men. The story was published in both Motion Picture and Television Magazine and the New York Daily News.

While she received press adoration, she also received harsh headlines and cruel media attention. For example, during a honeymoon press conference with DiMaggio, she was asked rude and prying questions such as whether she slept naked or was wearing undergarments. In a 1959 review of Some Like It Hot, the author declared that “she has put on quite a bit of weight and would make two Brigitte Bardots,” before generously conceding that the actress still looked “good.” The media went wild after Tony Curtis said that kissing Marilyn was like “kissing Hitler,” though he later said the comments were taken out of context. Though it is difficult to find hard data on why contemporary women were fans of Marilyn, it is not difficult to imagine that her attempts at empowerment despite the bigoted environment of the time endeared her to those who faced similar battles.

Last but not least, many of Monroe's films, especially her comedies, were popular among female audiences. Films like Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and How to Marry a Millionaire, where she starred alongside other leading ladies, were comedies that touched on themes like female friendship and ambition. All together, her focus on girl friendships, her open desire to be accepted, and her struggles with a sexist media and her own mental health all managed to make a woman who was beautiful, wealthy, and privileged relatable to the masses who were not.

In other words, Marilyn appeared to have a unique kind of parasocial relationship with many women who either saw themselves or saw an aspirational figure in her. Accordingly, marrying Joe DiMaggio, one of the greatest baseball players of all time, was the ultimate stamp of approval from all factions of the American public that an actor or writer or financier could not provide. It was validation that she – and thus millions and millions of her female fans – was the ideal American girl, despite any flaws.

A Swift Response

Though Taylor Swift’s image is not at all similar to Marilyn Monroe’s, her ability to connect with her fans has followed a close pattern, differentiating her romance with Kelce from other current sports/media relationships like Tom Brady and Giselle (RIP) or Kate Upton and Justin Verlander. Giselle and Kate Upton may be successful, but their brands are not relatable to most women.

Swift, like Marilyn, has fostered a parasocial relationship with her fans in what may be some of the savviest marketing of the 21st century so far. The “Blank Space” singer has made it a game with her followers to leave clues about her life, thoughts, and plans in her songs and social media postings. She will reward followers who figure out these riddles by liking their posts – creating the illusion of a relationship through a simple click of a button where none actually exists. 

Though Swift did not grow up in foster care, she nevertheless cast herself as the underdog – the loser in high school who lost out to the popular cheerleader or the girl who got dumped by Joe Jonas in “a 30 second phone call.”

Like Marilyn, as she has gotten older, she has rebranded herself as a girl’s girl with a focus on female empowerment. Though originally well known for her love life, she is now just as well known for her “squad,” a group of gal pals that frequently make appearances in her social media, tours, and paparazzi pictures.  It is also no coincidence that Swift’s return to the public eye after lying low following a spat with Kim Kardashian was to testify in a lawsuit in which she alleged a radio host had touched her inappropriately. In addition, she has openly critiqued the media for sexist coverage about her love life, and she has  referenced it in her songs lyrics, which often take a narrative bent to call out perceived societal issues.

Lastly, Swift’s most recent move, in another echo of Marilyn, was to re-record her entire discography to prevent the man who purchased her catalog, whom she claimed “bullied” her, to profit from her music.

Thus, when pundits wonder about the fervor surrounding Swift’s new relationship, it echoes the fervor with Marilyn: it’s a widespread stamp of approval for the modern kind of woman that Swift both spearheads and represents. 

The marriage of Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio lasted less than a year.  This may have been due as much to Joe as it was to Marilyn.  Similarly, the prospects of Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift depend as much upon him as they do about her.  Next week we will examine Joe DiMaggio and Travis Kelce.