SOME LIKE IT HOT: A Comedy About Disguise, Desire, and What Happens When Men Step Into a Woman’s World

It took me a while to watch Some Like It Hot. I had heard about it many times, especially its reputation as one of the best comedies ever made, but I hadn’t sat down to see it properly—until now. June, being Pride Month, felt like the right moment. And what I found wasn’t just a light-hearted film or a classic with good jokes. I found a movie that says more about gender, power, and attraction than many others that try to be more “serious.”

The story follows two musicians, Joe (played by Tony Curtis) and Jerry (played by Jack Lemmon), who happen to witness a mafia execution and have to run for their lives. They’re broke and have no real plan, so when the chance comes up to join a band that’s headed out of town, they say yes—even if that band only accepts women. So, they become “Josephine” and “Daphne,” and that’s how they manage to escape.

That premise—two men disguising themselves as women to survive—is what sets the whole plot in motion. But very quickly, it becomes much more than just a trick to get out of trouble. Through their disguises, they enter a different world: one where they’re no longer the center, where they have to listen more than speak, and where they realize how different life feels when you’re the one being looked at instead of the one looking.

What’s interesting is that they don’t mock femininity. They adapt to it. They’re clumsy at first, but they learn to walk in heels, to do their makeup, to be part of a group of women musicians who are strong, joyful, and full of personality.

Then there’s Sugar Kane, played by Marilyn Monroe. I had never seen her in a full movie before, and I have to say, watching her in this one is moving. She’s funny, charming, and yes, incredibly beautiful—but also fragile. You can feel that she’s acting with more than just technique. She’s giving something real. Her character dreams of falling in love with a kind, rich man who will take her away from all her past disappointments. And while her dreams might sound traditional, there’s something honest in them: she knows what she wants, and she says it out loud.

One of the most powerful aspects of the movie is how it plays with attraction and identity without turning it into a lesson. There’s no speech about tolerance or labels—just situations where gender becomes more fluid than fixed, and where feelings start to appear in unexpected ways. Especially with Jerry, or “Daphne,” we see how putting on a costume ends up transforming the person wearing it. What started as survival turns into a form of expression, maybe even freedom.

The final line of the movie—which I won’t spoil here—is famous for a reason. It’s funny, but it’s also a quiet statement. It reminds us that love, affection, and connection don’t always follow the rules we’re used to. And sometimes, that’s exactly where comedy can surprise us the most: by showing us how human we are, even when we’re pretending to be someone else.

Watching Some Like It Hot during Pride Month gave the film another layer of meaning. I don’t know if it was meant to be a statement at the time, but the result is there: a film where two men live as women for most of the story, and nobody around them falls apart. Some laugh, some flirt, some get confused. But the world keeps spinning. And that, in itself, says something valuable.

Maybe that’s part of why it still matters. Because even though the world in the movie is black and white, the ideas it plays with are much more open than that.