Adaptation Displacement: Most people think of the 1953 film, but don't even know it was originally a musical or a book. And that Marilyn Monroe wasn't even the original Lorelei! What's more is that the original was set in the 1920s, rather than the film's setting update to contemporary times (The '50s that is).
"Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" has gone down in pop culture for a very good reason. Marilyn Monroe sings it with such passion and determination that Marni Nixon refused to dub it, aside from a couple of the "no"s at the start and "these rocks don't lose their shape". The reprise by Jane Russell later in the film is just as splendid.
"Ain't There Anyone Here For Love?" has a nice jazzy beat that shows off Jane Russell's talents and is almost as iconic as the above-mentioned song.
Common Knowledge: For a while, even On This Very Wiki, Dorothy was assumed to be Lorelei's "plain" best friend. This ignores that Dorothy actually has the more active love life than Lorelei - and actually gets a whole song about how she's looking for a good time. She actually has to be warned not to go mad with the boys since she's supposed to be chaperoning Lorelei.
Harsher in Hindsight: Lorelei asking if three sleeping pills in the straight vodka is enough to knock out the detective to steal his film. Most people know how Marilyn Monroe, Lorelei's actress, died.
Ho Yay: "Ain't There Anyone Here For Love?" as mentioned on the main page has some pretty straightforward homosexual/bisexual undertones.
I Am Not Shazam: Several people who are familiar with this movie but have never seen it think the title is "Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend", after its famous musical number.
Les Yay: Through modern eyes, it's fairly easy to interpret Dorothy and Lorelei as being more than Heterosexual Life-Partners. The double wedding at the end has them wearing identical dresses and holding each others' hands, while the camera cuts off their male spouses.
Moe: Dorothy pretending to be Lorelei, complete with her own version of the Marilyn voice, is several levels of precious.
Narm: The bad frost-and-streak temples of the men in "Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend" are about as convincing as Aldo Farnese's in The Dead Talk Back.
Sequelitis: Gentlemen Marry Brunettes didn't get the two leads back, so it tried being about their daughters.
"Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend" of course! It's probably Marilyn's second most iconic moment after the Marilyn Maneuver from The Seven Year Itch.
A close second is the "Ain't There Anyone Here For Love?" sequence.
Strawman Has a Point: When confronted about her unabashed gold-digging Lorelei gives a pretty cogent speech pointing out that a man would want his daughter to marry into wealth, so why she shouldn't want that for herself?
Testosterone Brigade: Marilyn Monroe at the height of her It Girl popularity, with her beauty showcased in the heights of 1950s fashion - including several skimpy show costumes (and her flattering dress for "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend"). Likewise, Jane Russell getting two sexy musical numbers, one of which has her in what's basically a diamond bikini. Even critics at the time admitted that the two leads' flattering wardrobes were reason enough to see the film.
Dorothy's Chicks Before Dicks loyalty to her best friend, and Lorelei's famous speech pointing out the Double Standard that rich men would want their daughters to marry into wealth so why shouldn't she want the same for herself, have both aged very well in the 21st century.
It really said something that feminist film critic Molly Haskell praised this film and other female "buddy films" from the 1930s-1950s of showcasing female friends working together towards a common goal, even if it's to land a man. Then there's the fact that when the women get cut off financially, they end up making it on their own by going into show business together; becoming independently successful before marriage.
