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Netflix's New 'Adults-Only' Marilyn Monroe Film Is Facing Backlash

Many find the film problematic as it is based on a novel that already reimagines Monroe's life, as opposed to a film based on a proper biography.

Cover Image Credits: YouTube | Netflix

This week, Netflix was in the spotlight after it released the official trailer of Blonde, starring Ana de Armas.



 

The fictional movie is based on the 2000 novel, Blonde by Joyce Carol Oates, and has earned an NC-17 rating. Blonde will explore how the Hollywood industry's violence led Monroe to lose her sense of identity. And because of the dark subject matter and depiction of sexual assault, it is the first Netflix-produced film rated NC-17. The high age rating was no surprise to the director Andrew Dominik, in response to which he has said that he's not making a movie that's going to "run for public office" and "if the audience doesn't like it, that's the f***ing audience's problem," reported LADBible.

After the release of the trailer, Blonde started facing backlash on Twitter.

"I think an NC-17 violent fantasy about Marilyn Monroe presenting itself as a biography, or even if it was upfront about being a fantasy is pretty appalling," film critic Grace Randolph tweeted.



 

Many found the film problematic as it is based on a novel that already reimagines Monroe's life, as opposed to a film based on a proper biography.



 

Others are concerned that Blonde could be an exploitative fictional take on a real woman's life in which 'Marilyn Monroe has no say' on how her story is told and what events she could be depicted in.



 

The trailer also received some appreciation from fans. While one person noted, "She deserves to be portrayed with sincerity and humanity and this definitely looks promising," another user commented that the trailer "really captures the beauty of the darkest moments of Marilyn Monroe’s life offscreen."