Although I was never a fan of hers, I did learn and understand her influence on contemporary artists like the late Dave Stevens. Originally, I used to think she was fictitious, some kind of ideal from the past that Baby Boomers idolized…other than the overrated Marilyn Monroe. The photos? Never saw many of them, by the time I was old enough to browse the risque section of the comic book store, what I had seen of Bettie were illustrations. Hence my theory. Besides, the photos were from the Fifties, they could’ve been multiple women wearing a wig because of the bangs from the hair style.
All doubts of her existence were dispelled after we saw the TV show about Bettie on cable with a rare interview. Bettie insisted on being hidden in a silhouette to spare her fans any disappointment on her current appearance.
The movie starring Gretchen Mol is pretty decent too. It treats Bettie and the subject matters involving those particular years in a tasteful, entertaining and mature fashion. I don’t know what other adjectives to use. It’s not a documentary and anyone expecting a late-night, softcore Cinemax movie will be disappointed.
Bettie will be missed in many ways. To me, she represented one of the last “models” of beauty which wasn’t artificially blonde, ultra-skinny, and over-proportioned in the chest: a living Barbie doll. It’s rather ironic to have Hugh Hefner of Playboy fame speak kindly of her too, he’s a major architect of the current, fake standard.