From the outside, Marilyn Monroe’s life was picture perfect, every woman wanted to be her and every man wanted to have her. But even after her death, the darkness that was part of Monroe’s life started coming to the surface. And today, over sixty years after her death, the actress is put on a pedestal and finds new fans yearly, who idolize her.
It seems like from the moment that Norma Jeane switched to her stage name of Marilyn Monroe and entered the spotlight – the industry and world around her used her up and never let her rest. And in the new film about her life, Blonde, coming to Netflix next week fans can just see how bad things may have been for Marilyn, especially when the cameras were not rolling.
Blonde is going to be a hard watch for fans of Marilyn Monroe. Not just because of the almost three-hour runtime, but the dark nature of the material. It’s hard to see someone you admire torn down so much and every bit of the glitz and glamour taken away.
The movie seems to be based on those iconic images we all know and love with Marilyn in them, and the darkness that surrounded her in every moment of her life. From being abused as a child, being left at an orphanage, and how she was never seen as more than a body that was desired and consumed. It focuses on her pregnancies and losses, the multiple marriages, and being abused in those relationships as well. It shows how her voice is never listened to even in her own life, and how her overwhelming desire to be loved was her driving force.
It’s not an easy movie to watch just from the subject matter alone. It doesn’t matter how much you love Marilyn Monroe, the movie is going to break your heart and make you want to turn it off at times. But it’s this type of story that needs to be told. To start breaking the myths down and show that actors and actresses are actually just normal people, who’s struggles are the same as our own if not worse.
Since the movie is an adaptation of the book of the same name by Joyce Carol Oates, it does take some creative licensing with Marilyn’s life. It also has moments that are depicted artistically and others very graphically leaning toward the bizarre.
With all of that being said, Blonde is an interesting look at the life of Marilyn Monroe. Marilyn is played by Ana de Armas (Knives Out and No Time to Die), who morphs perfectly into the former actress. There are times in her portrayal of Marilyn we can even get glimpses of Brittany Murphy and have hopes for a possible biographic movie about that past actress as well. de Armas shows the pain and struggles Marilyn had in her life, and almost flawlessly recreates the iconic moments and images we have seen in so many magazines and books through the years.
Blonde is by no means an easy movie to watch, and probably should be broken up into at least two viewing sessions. But it is an interesting perspective on someone so iconic’s life, and this side of the story should be told as well.
Be sure to check out Blonde on Netflix on Monday September 28th
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About Blonde
Based on the bestselling novel by Joyce Carol Oates, Blonde boldly reimagines the life of one of Hollywood’s most enduring icons, Marilyn Monroe. From her volatile childhood as Norma Jeane, through her rise to stardom and romantic entanglements, Blonde blurs the lines of fact and fiction to explore the widening split between her public and private selves. Written and directed by Andrew Dominik, the film boasts a cast led by Ana de Armas and featuring Bobby Cannavale, Adrien Brody, Julianne Nicholson, Xavier Samuel and Evan Williams.