Adrien Brody said Blonde is “Fearless Filmmaking.” Is It?

Review: Blonde (2022)

By Sara Ciplickas

On September 16th, Netflix released its first NC-17 film Blonde, the Marilyn Monroe biopic directed by Andrew Dominik, starring Ana de Armas. The film has quickly become one of Netflix's most controversial releases as Blonde takes immense creative licensing while telling the story of Monroe’s life. Adrien Brody, who plays Monroe’s second husband and famous playwright, Arthur Miller, defended the film. He called Dominik’s work “fearless filmmaking,” which was meant “to be a traumatic experience because you’re inside of her.”

He was right. It was traumatic. Almost the entire two-hour and forty-six-minute film, except for a small break when Marilyn (Armas) and Miller (Brody) are married in Connecticut, consists of rape, sexploitation, forced abortions, domestic abuse, and a miscarriage. The fact that most, if not all, of this film's storyline, based on Joyce Carol Oates’ novel, was fiction makes it very hard to believe that Blonde isn’t another example of Hollywood exploiting Marilyn Monroe.

Growing up, I always knew who Marilyn Monroe was. How could I not? Monroe’s film, Some Like It Hot (1959) became one of my all-time favorite films when I began to study film seriously. I became quite the fan, and watching Ana de Armas perfectly depict her abuse was heartbreaking. Armas gave the performance of a lifetime, and if this film weren’t as traumatic as it is, I would put her on my favorites list for potential Oscar nominations.

Dominik expertly blurred the lines between Marilyn as a character played by Armas and a character played by Norma Jeane Baker. What baffles me is why Dominik chose to add so much fiction to this film. The film fantasizes Monroe has been in a throuple with the sons of Charlie Chaplin and Edward G. Robinson. Additionally, Cass Chaplin is accredited with being a reason Monroe commits suicide at the end of the film. Even more controversially, the film includes President Kennedy sexually assaulting Monroe, who is then kidnapped and forced to have an abortion. The film includes some truthful storylines, including Monroe’s marriages to Joe DiMaggio and Arthur Miller, her father was not present, and her mother suffered from schizophrenia. However, the early depictions of domestic abuse from her mother, including attempted murder, are also made up.

While biopics often take creative licensing to make “a better story,” most of this film is imaginative. And most of those imagined images are vulgar and put Monroe through absolute hell. What was the point? There are a million other ways to show that Marilyn Monroe was exploited by Hollywood and the American public. What possessed Dominik to film a woman being forced to have an abortion from the perspective of her genitals? I almost had to shut the film off.

It's hard to review a piece of art when I cannot define its purpose for the life of me. The acting was wonderful. The set design, costume design, and score were exquisite. And the editing by Adam Robinson expertly added to the uncomfortableness and reflexivity of the film. But I refuse to focus on the technical aspect of this film when I am faced with the question of why we needed a film that made Monroe suffer. Why did we need to depict her, a woman who was exploited enough in her life, as nothing but an abused object? The film mentioned nothing about the good Monroe did in her life. She was kind, loyal, generous, and founded her own production company. We only watched her slowly deteriorate. Dominik did not make a film about Marilyn Monroe. He made up a fictional explanation of why she died so young.

Was it fearless? It sure was ballsy of a man to depict some of the worst forms of trauma a woman could endure. Whether or not this film was made out of malice (and I don’t think it was), we didn’t need it. Marilyn didn’t deserve it. I agree that we should recognize the harm we caused Marilyn Monroe. Our favorite icon, the most famous person to come out of Hollywood, was exploited and abused all her life. She didn’t deserve that, and the people responsible, including those who mindlessly consume her films, should feel ashamed. However, it’s hard for me to defend a film that was so traumatic and lacked truth. I see no point in conjuring up fake depictions of a woman suffering when her real life was traumatic enough. Blonde is one film Marilyn didn’t need to be in.