Marilyn, The Myopic

How did the filmmakers behind Blonde miss this trick?

When it came to back-peddling, Writer-Director Andrew Dominik, the man behind Blonde, along with his star Ana De Armas, listed every excuse in the book for failing to capture the truth, and nothing but the truth about Marilyn Monroe.

'It's Marilyn behind closed doors,' they said. 'It's not a biopic,' they said, along with other decorated, press-worthy catch-phrases, used to justify Blonde's grueling and gratuitous depiction of the most iconic, cinema siren in Hollywood history.

Correct, Blonde is far from a biopic; it's speculative, at best, which pushed it-girl Ana De Armas out on a limb to uphold the film's narrative, and defend her performance when, if she only had the sensitivity to explore a deeper dive into Marilyn's dimensions, she wouldn't need to.

Instead, Dominik's Blonde played the legend to one empty, subservient note and missed a trick; Marilyn was no victim— neither of abuse, nor fame.

Marilyn actually was, a caricature. A coping mechanism. The masterful conjuring of Norma Jean to transmute pain into a superpower, and to the degree that made her uniquely unforgettable —sixty years past her death.

 Marilyn was woman who, though deeply submerged in her trauma, remained so attuned to the intrinsic power of her sexuality, it was animalistic.

She used her raw, female prowess to become a muse, a fantasy, a sex symbol, and a spectacle to everyone in her orbit and anyone who witnessed her.

The essence of what made her quintessentially and iconically Marilyn, was blissfully overlooked in a sense that the film Blonde, may as well have been a cautionary tale about someone else.

Arguably, it was.

All of that, plus a shallow, missed opportunity to unravel a true legend.

About the Writer

Sonia Lowe is a Writer-Producer with a penchant for storytelling.