Blonde is misogynistic trauma porn – why can’t we celebrate Marilyn Monroe in all her complex glory?

Earlier this year, Baz Lurhmann’s flashy, epic biopic Elvis was released. The film recounts Elvis Presley’s rise to fame through the lens of his relationship with his mysterious, ultimately exploitative manager Colonel Tom Parker. Glitzy and extravagant, Lurhmann shares Presley’s tragedies and triumphs. Everything about this camp blockbuster shows Lurhmann’s deep love for Presley: he honours, cherishes, and respects the mythic rockstar.

Netflix’s Blonde, a semi-fictionalised Marilyn Monroe biopic, tells a very different story.

Since her death in 1962, Marilyn Monroe has stayed as culturally relevant as ever. Monroe’s name has been attached to vibrators, makeup lines, and hair products. Her face was painted by Andy Warhol, and her dress was worn by Kim Kardashian. We have had, and perhaps always will have, an insatiable obsession with exploiting and profiting from the image of Marilyn Monroe. Blonde is no different. Despite this continued exploitation, we often fail to acknowledge Monroe as a real adult woman who ensured her own agency in a male-dominated, often vicious industry. The latest adaptation proves, once again, our failings to honour Marilyn as the woman she was.

Blonde fails to acknowledge Monroe’s activism, philanthropy or groundbreaking masterminding of her own career. Produced by Brad Pitt and with a soundtrack from Nick Cave, it seems many rich and famous faces wanted a hand in exploiting the Monroe name as part of this 22 million blockbuster. 

Director Andrew Dominik presents a frail, childlike Monroe (Ana De Armas) stripped of agency, memorialising the same exploitative culture he attempts to condemn. Across the lengthy run time and disjointed plot, the Hollywood legend is nearly drowned, raped, attacked by a husband she calls “Daddy”, and forced to have an abortion. It’s no exaggeration to say that Monroe cries in every single scene. Dominik seems intent on inflicting misery and humiliation upon Monroe’s memory like never before, graphically depicting sex, violence and emotional trauma with little purpose or message.