“A girl doesn’t need anyone who doesn’t need her.” Those are the words spoken by Marilyn Monroe or, should I say, Norma Jeane Mortenson. Blonde is a 2022 American film directed by Andrew Dominik. Ana de Armas, who played the part of Marilyn Monroe, did a splendid job incorporating her personality.
Blonde is a biographical film based on the life of Marilyn Monroe. It received mixed reviews worldwide from professional’s film critics as well as audiences. People believed the direction of the movie was demining and unethical towards Norma Jeane, whereas Ana was praised for acting. The film focused on various life events of Norma Jeane presented in black and white.
The production started this film in 2010, but because of various events, it was released in 2022 after the pandemic. Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Tracey Landon, Brad Pitt, and Scott Robertson produced this film.
Many people find Blonde exploitative yet quite engaging, revealing all the dirty little secrets behind those curtains and camera lenses. The view opens the window for long and vivid discussions. The cinematography of the film is something to look forward to.
Ana did the perfect job of impersonating Marilyn. Blond premiered at the 79th Venice International Film Festival 2022 and got a little window for its theatrical release in the United States. It went through various controversies before streaming on online platforms such as Netflix.
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Blonde Movie: Summary
The film starts with Norma Jeane Mortenson’s childhood. She lives with her mentally unstable mother, Gladys. Gladys creates a fake image of Norma’s father; this fake image of her father stays with her for the rest of her life and affects her future as well. Gladys presents her framed picture of a man who she believes to be Norma’s father on her 17th birthday.
This event is going to change the course of her life. One night fire breaks out in the hills of Hollywood, and Gladys drives madly with her daughter, claiming that Norma’s father lives there. Of course, the police do not allow them to cross, keeping their safety in mind.
Following that, Gladys gets very angry at Norma and tries to kill her. To save herself from her mother, she runs away from her house with her neighbor, but she ends up in an orphanage.
Norma turns into Marilyn Monroe and gets featured in various magazines and calendars. She started receiving appreciation for her beauty from all around. She gets her first break at acting but instead gets raped by Mr. Z. She meets Charles “Cass” Chaplin Jr. and Edward G. “Eddy” Robinson Jr. while she slowly starts to rise as an actor.
She leads a polyamorous relationship with both of them. People start criticizing her for her relationships, and her manager advises Norma to stop going out in public with both of them. She was a free spirit and didn’t follow any society-oriented rules. Later she gets pregnant with Charles’s child but decides to get an abortion. She always feared that her child might suffer from her mother’s mental illness.
Charles supports her decision, but it affects their relationship and ends up breaking up. While going through the trauma of losing her child, she meets Joe DiMaggio, a former athlete who sympathizes with her and expresses his desire for her to move to New York City with him. New York skyrockets her career, and she films Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.
She receives a letter from her father, which messes with her head, and the feeling of abandonment overwhelms her, so when Joe asks her to marry him, she ends up saying yes even though she is reluctant to the whole idea. The image of Marilyn starts to creep her out from the inside. She questions her existence and her true self.
Cass and Eddy send explicit pictures of Norma to Joe. He hits her and asks her not to continue acting, but she does it anyway. She pulls the biggest publicity stunt, famously known as ‘the white dress.’ Joe starts hitting her regularly, and she ends up divorcing him.
She falls in love with the renowned playwright Arthur Miller. They both get married and move to Maine, away from all the fame and chaos, to lead a peaceful life together. She again gets pregnant but loses her child to a miscarriage.
Blonde Movie Ending Explained
Soon after that, she returns to acting. She becomes more and more unstable and falls under the tight grasp of alcohol and drugs. While filming Some Like it Hot, everyone gets to know about her mental illness. Her constant outburst made it impossible for people to work with her, especially Billy Wilder.
She grew further from Arthur. The constant attention overwhelmed her, and her existence felt like a walking joke to people. Pills were her only escape from this overburdening world. Under the influence of drugs, the secret service people kidnapped her, and she was raped by the president. She didn’t understand what was happening all around her and cursed her Marilyn Monroe image for everything that was going wrong in her life.
Her life became an illusion, and drugs kept her away from reality. Cass’s death was the breaking point for her. Eddy requests her to see what Cass left for her. His last words for Norma were that all the letters that she received from her father were actually from him, so she messed with her for leaving him behind.
She breaks completely after knowing the truth, and everything around her feels like lying to her and destroying her life inch by inch. This pushes her to the last step; she overdoses on barbiturates and slowly waits for her death on her bed while imagining her father welcoming her to the other world. The ending left the audience which lots of questions and speculations.
Everyone would agree that she did not lead a very happy life. She was constantly abused both mentally and physically. The fame came to her with a great price. The feeling of being abandoned by her father and mother left a mark on her life. All her life, she looked for someone who could love her, and the fear of losing messed up her head. She had no one to depend upon. She even lost her child twice.
She lived in a delusional world of hers where everyone lied to her, used her, and left her. Not knowing the truth left her in the grey area alone and her search for her father’s love pushed her toward her end. We should never take mental illness lightly. It can end your life in the worst possible way one can imagine. Alcohol and drugs seem like an easy way out, but it’s not.
Blonde Movie: Where to watch?
If you’re still searching for where to watch Blonde, say no more. We have all your answers. Blonde is streaming on Netflix. Go and check it out.
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