[Warning: Potentially Triggering Content]
The Blonde reviews are in… and they are incredibly negative!
The new Marilyn Monroe biopic starring Ana de Armas hit Netflix on Wednesday, and while it skyrocketed to the top of the streamer’s top 10 list, viewers have been left incredibly disappointed by the nearly three-hour long film! While the movie was met with a 14-minute standing ovation after its premiere at the Venice Film Festival earlier this month and critics have pretty much universally praised the leading lady’s performance (despite previous casting backlash), at-home reviewers of all kinds now think the movie is “cruel,” “sexist,” and one of the WORST films they’ve ever pressed play on! Yikes!
Related: Ripley’s Says Kim Kardashian Did NOT Damage Marilyn Monroe’s Dress
If you haven’t yet, you can see the trailer (below)!
It seemed so promising, but not anymore!
Twitter has been filled with reactions from those who couldn’t “stomach” watching more than 20 minutes of the movie. Uhhh, turning off a movie that early is a terrible sign!! Users took to social media to hash out their frustration – and send a warning to other potential viewers — writing:
“Tried to watch @netflix Blonde. Couldn’t stomach more than about 20 minutes of the nearly 3 hours length. That 20 minutes was nothing but cruel and heartbreaking. Absolutely unwatchable.”
“I watched the first 20 minutes of #blonde and then immediately had to check twitter to see if I was missing something or if other people were as disgusted as I am. I feel vindicated.”
“Nah… the beginning of this Blonde movie not for the faint of heart. I’m about to turn it off in the first 15 minutes.”
Whoa…
Not good! So, what has fans so disgusted? Unfortunately, there are a LOT of reasons! But most broadly, Marilyn’s supporters are upset to see her story overshadowed by the abuse she went through — and are calling out director Andrew Dominik for his “misogynistic” take on her story. Some argued:
“The fact people are going to watch @netflix’s #Blonde and think it’s even REMOTELY accurate really boils my blood. The director should never ever work again, he literally thinks she was a w***e, that all women are w***es, he doesn’t even like her movies. He’s a b*****d.”
“F**k Andrew Dominik and the garbage movie he’s trying to sell as a Marilyn biopic. All he’s doing is dehumanizing a very real and complex person. Because she has no living relatives, there’s no one to speak up on her behalf. #Blonde is disgusting and a bad work of fiction.”
“#Blonde is an exploitative, misogynistic, borderline torture film that berates an already tragic figure. De Armas is good but the cruelty behind the made up narrative and the unfocused direction takes away from her presence. This was an awful experience. Painful to watch.”
For some context, earlier this week, Andrew was asked by BFI’s Sight and Sound Magazine to explain why viewers were not getting to see the many positive aspects of the Some Like It Hot star’s life on screen — such as when she formed her own production company or was involved in political activism. His response? He didn’t think any of that mattered since he wanted to make a movie “about a person who is going to be killing themselves.” Oof. Read his full response (below).
Blonde was very evidently only made to appeal to the male audience and Andrew Dominik projected his own fantasies onto the film. You can see this in many of his interviews he has given out. He does not actually care about Marilyn Monroe or her life story. He chose to exploit her. pic.twitter.com/r54efj3UwR
— carleigh♀ (@remainsoflilies) September 29, 2022
Yeah, we can see why viewers have a bone to pick with him!
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Others are upset about an anti-abortion narrative and the numerous depictions of other traumas. Take a look at more reactions:
It depicts Marilyn being coerced into her first abortion, screaming on the table that she's changed her mind & then she hallucinates finding a crying baby in her childhood home, which is engulfed in flames. For some INEXPLICABLE reason the camera pans INSIDE HER VAGINAL CANAL??
— Steph Herold (@StephHerold) September 29, 2022
just watched #Blonde … it puts norma/marilyn in a box that only allows to her be abused, sexualized, or call people daddy. extremely strange. maybe we stop letting misogynistic men try to make groundbreaking films about women- of which they know nothing about.
???? pic.twitter.com/0TwPw5l2sQ— jules (@sinceiveknownu) September 28, 2022
In a technical level, #Blonde is perfect. Impeccable cinematography and score. Ana de Armas gives a chilling performance. But when it comes to the script, the director tried to tell the story of an exploited movie star using – ironically – exploitation instead of compassion. pic.twitter.com/Lise9MYlnN
— YUSDEE (@notyourfilmbro) September 28, 2022
blonde RECREATED marilyn’s death at the EXACT SPOT she died??????????? how was this even allowed??????
— kie (@criminalplaza) September 25, 2022
This disappointed chatter isn’t just coming from everyday film lovers. Film critics have also slammed the flick, such as The New York Times‘ Manohla Dargis, who said:
“Given all the indignities and horrors that Marilyn Monroe endured during her 36 years, it is a relief that she didn’t have to suffer through the vulgarities of Blonde, the latest necrophiliac entertainment to exploit her.”
Blonde seems to be getting blasted by most reviews since it only has a 45% score on Rotten Tomatoes, but, surprisingly, there have been some people who enjoyed the film, including Vogue, which thinks the flick might be considered a “masterpiece” down the line. Huh. Not sure this one’s gonna make it on our weekend watch list, TBH… What about you?! Let us know if you’ll be taking a chance on Blonde after these hot takes (below)!
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