“An actress is not a machine, but they treat you like a machine. A money machine.” — Marilyn Monroe

We may never know the woman who inspired Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, but nearly every living human on this planet can identify the painting.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s International Database, approximately 5.4 billion people in the world are under the age of 50. Marilyn has been dead longer than more than 79 percent of the world’s population has been alive.

If our only means of remembering her are through her movies or kitschy licensed memorabilia, as a society we will only remember a figment. For future generations, it’s quite possible that Warhol’s Gold Marilyn will be more famous than Marilyn Monroe herself and that by coveting her likeness through laws, she could fall from the public consciousness entirely.