Why People Are Calling Out ‘Blonde’ For Its Overly Traumatic Direction
— Content warning: This episode includes discussions of sexual assault and abortion. —
Safe to say you’ve probably heard by now that Blonde, the new Marilyn Monroe movie on Netflix, has kinda flopped. It’s currently sitting at 42% on Rotten Tomatoes, 5.6 on IMDb, and 2.1 out of 5 on Letterboxd.
The film hasn’t landed with audiences so far for a number of reasons — namely because of how graphic some of the scenes are and the way Monroe is portrayed overall.
Why People Thought The Movie Was Exploitative
One of the most commonly used words to describe the movie is ‘exploitative’. This Twitter user described it as “uncomfortable and painful to watch” and even went to great lengths to list out all the trigger warnings throughout the movie.
please don’t stream Blonde on Netflix. if you decide to, at least look at the trigger warnings. it is incredibly uncomfortable and painful to watch, make sure you’re in the right headspace if you decide to watch, preferably thru a 3rd party. pic.twitter.com/BkanfNUNoo
— m (@3AMNlGHTMARE) September 28, 2022
Several reviews, like these from The New York Times and Vulture describe the movie as “riddled with scenes of great trauma”. And spoiler alert: The bit that’s really throwing everyone for a loop is this CGI foetus complete with a creepy little voice asking Monroe not to “hurt me this time”.
There’s also been a lot of backlash online about an invasive POV shot during forced abortion scenes.
The Issue With Excessive Trauma Against Women
So what exactly is the point of these scenes, besides just the shock factor?
This tendency to overdo violence against women in movies has been a thing long before Blonde though. Back in 2016, Noah Berlatsky wrote in The Guardian that “violence against women in film is not the same as violence against men”. Berlatsky explained that when women are targeted for violence, that violence is overwhelmingly sexual. For men, violence tends to be about strength or even respect, done with minimal emotion and maximum toughness. For women, it’s a lot more sexualised.
In addition to the excessive depictions of the traumas themselves, it is the way that Monroe is depicted as an eternal victim that has angered fans everywhere. Because the truth is a little more complicated.
The Complicated Legacy Of Marilyn Monroe
Yes, Marilyn Monroe encountered a lot of hardships in her life, including absent parents, foster homes, and abuse. The sharp contrast of her real life as Norma Jean and the iconic Hollywood persona Marilyn Monroe is perhaps what makes her story so intriguing.
But it’s precisely these extremes of her persona that people have mistakenly conflated, and Blonde is no exception. As writer Angelica Jade Bastien noted in Vulture, “the trouble with being a woman and making your art look so natural is that the world believes you unaware of your own magic”.
Monroe was good at being sexy and flirty and beautiful on screen. But she was also a talented actor with the comedic timing to pull off her iconic roles. Making an entire movie focusing on the various traumas that the actress faced, in vivid detail and bizarre artistic choices in lieu of her own agency and development as a person, was a questionable choice.
And with other recent releases facing similar scrutiny for their depictions of real life trauma, like fellow Netflix production Dahmer, it doesn’t look like the conversation is over yet.