Meaning of Svengali Situation explained amid The Mystery of Marilyn Monroe documentary revelations

Marilyn Monroe said that she had no "Svengali" in her life. (Image via Getty Images/Alfred Eisenstaedt)

Production giant Netflix has released a new documentary on the late actress, Marilyn Monroe. The almost two-hour-long documentary has viewers wondering what the word "Svengali" means.

The documentary, created by Emma Cooper, includes recordings of Marilyn that have never been heard before, and it delves into the mystery surrounding the final hours before her death.

Cooper uses recordings and excerpts from over 650 interviews conducted by Anthony Summers. One of these pieces features an interviewee using the above mentioned term to characterize Marilyn Monroe's situation.

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What does Svengali mean in Marilyn Monroe's context?

As per Collins, the word 'Svengali' is used to describe a person who manipulates or dominates someone else, especially with malicious and evil intentions.

The term is also the name of a character in George du Maurier's 1894 novel Trilby. The novel's Svengali controls and manipulates the eponymous heroine Trilby, a young half-Irish girl. In the process, he transforms her into a famous singer.

One of the interviewees in The Mystery of Marilyn Monroe: The Unheard Tapes compares the actress to Trilby from George du Maurier's novel, implying that she was being used and exploited by the men around her.

However, the Hollywood legend despised being portrayed as a damsel in distress and dismissed the notion that she was being exploited. In fact, she once said,

“Johnny Hyde was wonderful, but he was not my Svengali. Milton Greene was not my Svengali. I’m nobody’s slave and never have been.”

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Marilyn Monroe's documentary reveals several secrets about the star

The Mystery of Marilyn Monroe: The Unheard Tapes released on April 27 on Netflix and revealed some shocking information about the star.

The documentary talks about how numerous casting directors of Hollywood used to maintain a "black book" where they would write down the names of s*xually-appealing women who had no connections in the industry. As per the interviewees, Marilyn Monroe's name was present in several such books.

In reference to her personal life, the documentary shows how Monroe spent her childhood in an orphanage and then hopped around from one foster home to another. She would frequently refer to herself as a "waif" rather than an orphan.

The star's friends revealed that Monroe had endured several years of s*xual abuse in her youth. As per Salon, she once said:

"I knew it was wrong, but to tell you the truth I think I was more curious than anything else. Nobody ever told me about s*x, and frankly I never did think it was all that important."

Marilyn Monroe was also in a troubled marriage with New York Yankees star Joe DiMaggio which ended within nine months. As per the interviewees, DiMaggio was jealous of Monroe's stardom and physically hurt her when he felt she was making a spectacle of herself.

The Mystery of Marilyn Monroe: The Unheard Tapes is currently streaming on Netflix.