“A woman doesn’t like to hear that she is ugly“. In 1963, Paul Giannoli and André Parinaud broadcast forty interviews with Marlene Dietrich on France I Paris Inter. On the menu of this thirtieth part: the question of beauty, a permanent search that has become an obsession in the United States and beauty criteria evolving with fashion and times. An episode that is at least astonishing, taking the form of a slightly retrograde and misogynistic women’s magazine. But the star, who is not herself a resolutely radical feminist, always comes out of this type of interview with honors.
“Among women there is the doubt that one cannot be loved for one’s mind, and they are somewhat right.”
According to Marlene Dietrich, women prefer to be told that they are stupid rather than ugly. She believes that if they were offered the choice between beauty and intelligence, they would all opt for physical appearance and leave intelligence to men. In the United States, the aesthetic subject becomes a permanent quest because “It is believed that beauty is the sister of happiness.“. In fairy tales, the young girl, even poor, is always beautiful: “We tell ourselves that Prince Charming will come when we are the prettiest of all and it is very sad because girls lack a lot of happiness, it is a life full of emptiness at the end.”
France Culture Nights Listen later
Lecture listen 11 min
- Production: André Parinaud and Paul Giannoli
- With Marlene Dietrich (actress and singer)
- Interviews with Marlene Dietrich 30/40 (1st broadcast: 11/26/1963 France I Paris Inter)
- Web edition: Amélie Potier, Radio France Documentation
- Archive Ina-Radio France
