Blonde: What’s the true story behind Netflix’s controversial Marilyn Monroe biopic?

This article includes references to rape and sexual assault. 

Blonde, starring Ana de Armas, has finally hit Netflix, and it is continuing to divide viewers and critics with its retelling of Marilyn Monroe’s life, spanning everything from her marriages to her untimely death in 1962.

While Ana’s portrayal of the Hollywood icon has been praised, the movie, which has been rated 18+ due to its pretty graphic sex scenes, has received plenty of criticism for its sensationalist depiction of the late star’s life – with many arguing that the film industry is continuing to benefit from an exploited woman.

However, it is essential to note that the Andrew Dominik-directed film is based on a book of fiction by author Joyce Carol Oates and doesn’t necessarily follow Marilyn’s real life, even though it’s described as a biopic and a biographical account of her life. Even Oates admitted to “distilling” certain events of Monroe’s life and inventing things to suit the story, which has left fans confused and uncomfortable.

One fan tweeted: “Blonde is heavily based on a FICTIONAL book about Marilyn Monroe that will go to feed the public more lies about her. this is NOT a biopic”. Another wrote: “I’m so disgusted by #Blonde. Using someone’s life as a fictional story and everyone thinks that’s how it was. Well, to me art has limits.”

So with it now being known that large chunks of the movie were fictional, GLAMOUR UK will run down the list of what is fact and what is fiction in Netflix’s Blonde. 

What was Marilyn Monroe’s childhood actually like?

Blonde: The movie shows a young Marilyn, who at the time was known as Norma, enduring a strained relationship with her alcoholic and physically abusive mother, Gladys. After her mother suffers from a series of mental health breakdowns and is committed to a mental institution, Marilyn is put into foster care and later enters an orphanage.

Real-life: Blonde portrays Marilyn’s childhood mostly accurately, as she was placed in a string of orphanages and foster homes in 1934 following the emotional breakdown of her mother, who was later diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic). Marilyn hated the orphanage so much that she wed police officer James Dougherty at the age of 16 in 1942 to avoid having to return. 

What happened to Marilyn’s father?

Blonde: In the movie, Marilyn’s mother (played by Julianne Nicholson) shows her a picture of her supposed father, telling her: “Norma Jeane, look, that man is your father.” Later scenes show her mother driving her into the Hollywood Hills as a fire rages on, telling a police officer that Marilyn’s father has a fireproof home that can protect them.