Blonde is a psychological thriller of sorts, and a voyage into the darkest moments of an icon’s career. The character of Marilyn Monroe in the new Netflix film from director Andrew Dominik does essentially what the character of Elvis did in the most recent biopic, Elvis. The film captures more of the essence and the feeling of Monroe as a concept than telling a biographical story.
Blonde has been the subject of much debate and controversy with audiences and critics. The central plot of the movie is quite vague, and the threadline is spliced and jumbled in many directions. One of the most reputable and redeeming qualities to the actual film itself, however, is Ana de Armas.
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Ana de Armas in Blonde
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Perhaps the shining star of a generation is honored and represented perfectly by actress Ana de Armas. Armas has starred in the critically acclaimed Blade Runner 2049, Rian Johnson’s great film Knives Out, and the most recent James Bond flick, No Time to Die. Armas has shown versatility as an actress through a wide variety of ranges.
However, Armas’ performance as Monroe honors the icon because she captures the angelic mysticism of Monroe and how she impacted the world. Not only do we see the external impacts of her success, Armas also embodies the physicality and emotional turmoils Monroe faced. Her performance does not harp on the negatives. She speaks in an almost angelic whisper, with powerful facial expressions. In fact, she speaks with such freedom and as an actress, she exudes confidence as essentially two characters. The first character is Norma Jeane, who continues to be buried by the second character… Monroe herself. Armas’ job in this film is not an easy one, and she puts her entire soul into this performance and does the famed model and actress justice.
Trauma Shown in Blonde
Sequences of the woman’s trauma in Blonde are shown in a brutal, raw, and unexpected ways. Specifically, sequences of Monroe’s abuse from studio presidents are presented in a way that is meant for shock value. However, it is strung together within sequences that don’t coalesce with one another. While the pacing of the film is stylistically meant to be jumbled into snapshots, traumatic sequences to this film are treated as a jump scare would be in a horror flick, which isn’t exactly respectful.
Blonde also briefly scans Monroe’s childhood. Living with an abusive mother, who attempts to drown her in the beginning sequences, she dwells on her absent father. Her mother, Gladys Monroe Baker (played by Julianne Nicholson), was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. We briefly see glimpses of her condition, but the film deviates from the childhood trauma in the opening act and jumps right to the figure she had created for herself, Marilyn Monroe.
When Monroe finally goes to see her mother in a psychiatric facility, she is told that her mother doesn’t even know who she is. This is right after Monroe makes a comment about how there is no Norma Jeane, which is a representation of how Monroe is remembered as her character who has fully taken over the spotlight from her true self. The film also portrays Monroe’s smile as the mask that covers a traumatized woman. Much of this intensity is due to Ana de Armas’ performance as the icon.
She Wasn’t Thinking, She Was Remembering
Blonde portrays the dichotomy between Norma Jeane and Marilyn Monroe. However, those moments and separation between “characters” are noted between factors such as technicolor and black and white. While this shift may be jarring at some moments, it adds more to the film’s psychological exploration. In addition, the film also shows the audience what Norma Jeane is thinking to get into the mind of her characters. It shows the hardest moments of her life and how those moments fueled her performances.
The fantastical dramatization of Monroe’s life are more-or-less snapshots of than a fully-fleshed out story. It is represented by the opening moments of Monroe’s classic image over the blowing air vent. It is fully realized through flashing lights from a camera. In reality, Monroe’s fast-paced reality was out of her control. She was exposed to abuse as a child and an adult. Her talent in the film industry and her presence was the factor that shot her to stardom, however, the film does not glorify that aspect of it. Instead, the camera seems to be the perverted eye that lingers on Monroe’s body and hides the story of Norma Jeane and her transformation into Marilyn from the audience.
The Sexualization of Marilyn Monroe
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The reality of Marilyn Monroe and what she represented changed the entertainment industry. She represented liberation and sexual freedom. However, the film seems to oversexualize Monroe and seems to choose a perspective of shaming the performer rather than embracing what she stood for. Does this truly honor her legacy? The divisive nature of the movie’s reception seems to say that the fantasy is a sexist take.
The reasons for this reaction are valid. Blonde is a well-crafted film with beautiful cinematography and incredible performances. However, the heart of this film is the oversexualization of Marilyn Monroe and the death of Norma Jeane. The film is not necessarily about her road to stardom. In fact, the film cuts away to graphic sequences of assault right after Monroe is asked by Joe Dimaggio how she got her start. According to the film, this is to imply that her body is the only justification for her rise to fame.
In the nearly three-hour long film, most of the sequences showcase Monroe’s interactions with men. Rarely are any women other than Monroe and her mother shown. Even so, Monroe is the center of a male audience and gaze. In reality, Monroe did attract much attention and cause controversy. However, how she changed cinema and entertainment to this day was not necessarily highlighted in the film, which downplays her legacy to just the attention of men, just as the title reduces her to a hair color.
Marilyn Monroe’s life was controlled and manipulated. Blonde as a film does not shy away from these darker moments in the iconic celebrity’s life. Her mind deteriorates as drugs fuel her system, and the film does get the audience to feel her feelings. But these feelings are overshadowed by the enormous presence of men and trauma fueled by those men. We all would have wanted to see more of Marilyn in reality, but in this film we see too much of what should have been left in the darkness.
