Why The New Marilyn Monroe Film, 'Blonde,' Starring Ana De Armas Is Rated NC-17

Blonde is the Netflix biographical drama film that is a fictionalized take on the life of actress Marilyn Monroe. It is based on the historical fiction novel of the same name by Joyce Carol Oates. The film has been embroiled in controversy for the longest time mostly due to the subject matter. It has been given an NC-17 rating that was mentioned at the end of the new trailer. This means the movie has been restricted to only audiences over the age of 17 and will need adult supervision for viewing.  

There have been plenty of films and documentaries about the legendary starlet. But with this film, there are a lot of fictionalized events of Marilyn Monroe's life. "It's a film about the human condition. It tells the story of how childhood trauma can shape an adult who's split between a public and a private self," Andrew Dominik, the writer and director of the film stated. "It's basically the story of every human being, but it's using a certain sense of association that we have with something very familiar, just through media exposure. It takes all of those things and turns the meanings of them inside out, according to how she feels, which is basically how we live. It's how we all operate in the world. It just seems to me to be very resonant. I think the project has got a lot of really exciting possibilities, in terms of what can be done, cinematically."

The iconic Hollywood actress will be played by Ana de Armas whose fame has skyrocketed in recent years. She has landed roles in some of the biggest films recently, including Blade Runner 2049, Knives Out, and even the James Bond flick No Time to Die. She was even nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical. Initially, the role of Marilyn Monroe was supposed to go to Naomi Watts and then to Jessica Chastain. Armas was confirmed to play the role in 2019. The film is said to have a lot of jarring content which explains the rating.

The plot includes a brutal and violent sexual assault of the 21-year-old Norma Jeane who goes to her first movie audition where the producer, Mr. Z rapes her. There also seems to be another graphic scene involving "bloody menstrual cu***lingus." This scene had led to Netflix's resistance to green-light the project. But Dominik says he is determined to portray the hardships Monroe had experienced in the film industry and pushing the boundaries in this biopic, as per Screenrant.

“I have seen the rough cut of Andrew Dominik’s brilliant adaptation and it is startling, brilliant, very disturbing, and [perhaps most surprisingly] an utterly feminist interpretation…not sure that any male director has ever achieved anything (like) this," author Oates has said after having the opportunity to watch an early cut of the film.