The Unexpected Critic Who Has Spoken Out Against Marilyn Monroe Biopic Blonde

Since Netflix released "Blonde" on September 28, the film has received a lot of strong reactions from viewers and critics. The biopic about Marilyn Monroe's life is based on Joyce Carol Oates' book, which was published in 2000, per The New Yorker. The book captures the life of the infamous blonde bombshell, aka Norma Jeane Baker. While Monroe portrayed herself as a bubbly Hollywood star, she had a dark past, which the movie captured.

Ana de Arnas, best known for her role in "Knives Out," played Monroe, but she wasn't the first choice for the role. Instead, "Blonde" faced a long and winding road, as the role was originally supposed to go to Naomi Watts, but then got transferred over to Jessica Chastain, per HollywoodLife. Years later, after the movie was put on pause and resumed casting, de Arnas joined the project. Following the movie's world premiere at the Venice Film Festival, "Blonde" received a 14-minute standing ovation, Variety reported. De Arnas wept for joy as she took in the applause. However, despite its original reception, one unexpected critic slammed "Blonde" for sending out an irresponsible message.

Planned Parenthood slammed Blonde abortion scene

Many might not have known that Marilyn Monroe had illegal abortions, which "Blonde" depicted. However, Planned Parenthood recently spoke out about the anti-abortion message the film seemed to spew, according to The Hollywood Reporter. "Blonde" shows Monroe having two abortions against her will and the film portrayed one of her fetuses saying to her, "You won't hurt me this time, will you?" Planned Parenthood believes that the fetuses begging Monroe to keep them feeds into anti-abortionist propaganda, mainly the false information about "depictions of fetuses and pregnancy." The organization went on to say, "'Blonde' bolsters their message with a CGI-talking fetus, depicted to look like a fully formed baby."

"Blonde" director Andrew Dominik defended the talking fetuses and denied that the movie is anti-abortion, per The Wrap. "What the movie is saying is she's not seeing reality. She's seeing her own fears and desires projected onto the world around her," Dominik explained. "And I think sort of this desire to look at 'Blonde' through this Roe. vs. Wade lens is everybody else doing the same thing." Regardless of the many polarizing reactions to "Blonde," viewers can't deny that film is one of the most talked-about in 2022.