Ever since Marilyn Monroe appeared on the silver screen back in 1957 she took the world by surprise, her magnetic sex appeal made her a sex symbol during that time.
Nevertheless, her story was far from butterflies and rainbows. Her life was riddled with abuse, and ended with her suicide in 1962, after she swallowed lethal amounts of sleeping pills in her house in Los Angeles.
She is still remembered to this day either by her performances in old movies or as icon of her time, we can still see her performances being replicated, her story being told over and over again, and her photos spread all over.
Andrew Dominik’s depiction of Marilyn Monroe in his fictional biopic Blonde based on a novel of the same name by Joyce Carol Oats, was supposed to be an artwork focusing on the abuse Marilyn Monroe suffered through her career and life.
Maybe the film Blonde's greatest strength ended up being the very reason the movie failed the audience and the memory of Marilyn Monroe.
Blonde, in my opinion turned out to be an extremely exploitative film, focused on the abuse of Marilyn Monroe without focusing on who she actually was or establish her character and change she suffered due to the abuse she suffered throughout her life.
The provocative nature of the movie alongside the sexual content featured in the film gave the movie an NC-17 rating.
The movie’s cinematography is exceptional, the beauty of the movie alongside the surreal scenes showing the deterioration of Marilyn Monroe mentality or as an expressive medium for her feelings in general, is honestly moving.
What is more the fact that the some parts of the film replicate old photos of Marilyn Monroe and the movie built a scene around them bringing the photos to life was something of beauty.
However, having a beautiful movie without adding anything to the story will only cause the movie to wither and die, many of the scenes even if they are beautiful often feel out of touch with reality and causing the viewer not to connect with the character of Marilyn Monroe.
Andrew Dominik felt that he showed how childhood trauma shapes an adult’s perception of the world and I believe that this is amazing.
But in this movie it only showed the constant trauma throughout and didn’t give us the chance to connect with the character and provided us with a very flat character arc for Marilyn Monroe.
Many of the film’s takes on the life of Marilyn Monroe are pure fiction or loosely based on the actual events of her life, and I do not believe that the movie has done Marilyn Monroe justice in depicting her life.
Ana De Armas in Blonde
Ana De Armas’s performance throughout the movie was astonishing; her being in touch with the character and the emotional depth of the character was nothing short of genius. Showing Ana being able to tackle any roll thrown her way.
He visto la Peli #Blonde@netflix
— edgard serrano (@edgardserrano) October 17, 2022
Muy Destacable el trabajo de la Actriz Ana de Armas en el rol de Marilyn Monroe . pic.twitter.com/39HvhUjZ8c
She expertly channeled her sexiness her intelligence her emotions as well as her depression and mental state.
In conclusion, I believe that Blonde is a movie that does not do Marilyn Monroe justice in its depiction of her. However, the cinematography and performances were out of this world.
Written by Munir Abumuhor
