On Wednesday, with the opening of My Week With Marilyn, Michelle Williams becomes the latest person to impersonate Marilyn Monroe. Williams is doing Monroe circa 1957, during the making of The Prince and the Showgirl, which means we don’t get to see her try out Monroe’s most iconic move, the so-called “subway grate” pose. (Though Williams does do a mean version of the baby voice that goes with it.) But don’t feel bad for the pose, which has had enough attention over the years. Made famous in a scene from 1955’s The Seven Year Itch, when Monroe’s character catches a “delicious” breeze under her dress as the subway passes by below, the pose has been mimicked in advertisements and art (including a controversial statue in Chicago where tourists can stand underneath Marilyn’s gigantic billowing dress and stare up at her behind for hours), as well as TV and film scenes, where characters either blatantly rip off Marilyn’s move (white dress and all) or just casually hint at the classic scene. Check out our montage and see for yourself.
