The movie got a rare rating in the US for explicit scenes
Dark scenes in the new movie Blonde have left some viewers so “disgusted” that they have deemed it “unwatchable”.
The almost-three-hour film, directed by Andrew Dominik and produced by Brad Pitt, is inspired by the life of Marilyn Monroe. Viewers watch Ana de Armas portray Monroe as the Hollywood superstar desperately tries to give audiences the sex symbol they desire, while also exploring her traumatic childhood and battle with mental health.
Blonde, which came out on Netflix this week, is based on the fictional novel of the same name by Joyce Carol Oates, published over twenty years ago.
The author has been keen to remind viewers that it is a work of fiction and not a biography, telling the Financial Times: “It’s very painful and touching, not a feel-good movie, not Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.”
“It’s about a woman who has been exploited by Hollywood, exploited by men,” she said.
Despite this, some viewers have struggled with witnessing multiple rape scenes which saw the movie get a rare NC-17 rating in the US – the equivalent of an 18 rating in the UK – due to its elements of nudity and violence.
Blonde is one of the worst movies I’ve seen all year.
Some creative filmmaking aside, it’s borderline tone deaf how detached this film is from Marilyn Monroe and her absolutely tragic life. It’s so pretentious and exploitative that it’s just unwatchable. Absolutely awful. pic.twitter.com/8qrW5Eu8H7
— Kyle Snape (@kylemsnape) September 28, 2022
One viewer took to Twitter to describe Blonde as “pretentious”, “exploitative” and “unwatchable”, adding: “Some creative filmmaking aside, it’s borderline tone deaf how detached this film is from Marilyn Monroe and her absolutely tragic life.”
“Do not even waste your time with this movie,” another wrote, “It’s the most disgusting, exploitative, distasteful and disrespectful f***ing biopic I’ve ever watched in my life.”
https://twitter.com/teoppoet/status/1575246574976110593
“Misogynistic” is another term being used to describe the movie, with one branding it a “borderline torture film that berates an already tragic figure”.
Though it appears the actor portraying Monroe would disagree.
Speaking to Queue ahead of Blonde’s release, Ana de Armas described how the director presented the most “feminist take” on Monroe’s story she had come across.
She said: “[The director’s] ambitions were very clear from the start – to present a version of Marilyn Monroe’s life through her lens. He wanted the world to experience what it actually felt like to not only be Marilyn, but also Norma Jeane. I found that to be the most daring, unapologetic, and feminist take on her story that I had ever seen.”
Just watched #Blonde and I loved Ana de Armas 🙌🏻
The story was very touching, at times also disturbing
I also loved the direction, the music, the different colors used to express every feeling she felt in the various scenes
I just LOVED this movie!
I hope to see it at the Oscars— Manu 🌙 (@BlanchettStone) September 28, 2022
The film certainly hasn’t been hated by all, with other viewers describing the story as “very touching” albeit “at times also disturbing”.
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