Marilyn Monroe finds TikTok fame

The Future. Turner Classic Movies (TCM) went viral on TikTok this fall with a Marilyn Monroe post that earned over 12 million views. Bringing the classics to Gen Z’s favorite social platform, TCM is using TikTok to share their upcoming film lineup and promote their refreshed tagline “Where Then Meets Now.” Thanks to the account’s success, Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn, and Bette Davis, among other Hollywood icons, are finding revived stardom.

Old Hollywood meets new audiences

TikTok is showing younger generations the timeless power of Hollywood classics

• On the TCM account, TikTokers blew up the comments on a viral clip of Marilyn Monroe from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, taking note of the iconic actress’ “goddess” status.
• Marilyn Monroe also has her own verified TikTok account, @marilynmonroe, with 354.8k followers. Her character Loreli from Gentlemen Prefers Blondes also has an account.
• There are 156M views on videos with the hashtag #audreyhepburn.
• #bettyboop content and the #bettyboopchallenge have earned hundreds of millions of views for the animated 1930s starlet.

TikTok time machine
Beyond the classic film genre, TikTok trends often create new buzz around pop culture from previous decades. A scroll through the @TheOriginalTikTokTrends account, which posts origin videos of the platform’s hottest trends, shows decades-old episodes from the Simpsons, 90’s chick flick scenes, Mario Kart clips, and 70’s music, among other nostalgia-based trends.

TikTok is a cultural time machine turning long-form and old-school (at least by Gen Z’s standards) classics into digestible content primed for the fast-paced digital era.