Actress Jayne Mansfield was one of the sex symbols of 1950s and 1960s Hollywood, sculpted by agents and producers as a replica of Marilyn Monroe. Despite her university education, her command of four languages, and her experience in dance, violin, and piano, her talent was undervalued and she was turned into what the media called her. dumb blonde. The magazine Life Mansfield was heavily exploited in advertising and, like Marilyn Monroe, died tragically at the age of 34 after a tortuous life in which men manipulated and abused her. Hollywood built cages to control its most explosive blondes.
Her youngest daughter, Mariska Hargitay, directed a documentary, My mom Jayne, which helps her investigate who her mother was. She was only three years old when she died, and all the media sensationalism surrounding her figure led her to reject her memory. The story is shocking and very moving, with an unexpected final narrative twist. It's worth adding a media detail: Hargitay is one of the most beloved television stars in the United States. spin-offs most successful of the series Law & OrderSince 1999 she has played Olivia Benson, the central figure in Law & order: Special Victims Unit, which investigates sexual crimes and violence against women. It is the series broadcast on prime time longest-running film in the United States. Hargitay also produced the documentary And I have evidence, about the rape kits that US police left untested in warehouses, leaving thousands of victims without the possibility of prosecution or investigation. Hargitay uncovered the story through her series and turned it into a documentary to expose police negligence.
My mom Jayne It's a first-person work that leads her to a family catharsis: placing her older siblings in front of the camera so they can talk to her about their mother. The beginning is devastating and allegorical: she walks through the remains of the family home they lived in on Sunset Boulevard. Destroyed rubble with privileged views over Los Angeles. Home movies and television archive footage serve as a contrast. From a seemingly idyllic glamour, pain and sordidity begin to emerge. It's a tragic and bizarre family story that, if translated into fiction, would be implausible. My mom Jayne It is a biography that allows the protagonist to reconstruct and understand her own story and viewers to witness the darkest side of Hollywood.
