Despite being marred in controversy, the new Marilyn Monroe biopic Blonde has become the #1 movie on Netflix.
Blonde has been hit with nearly non-stop criticism and controversies in the past few months. For one, it was stamped with a stigma-ridden NC-17 rating. The MPAA cited “some sexual content”, which includes a rape scene. There, too, is a point-of-view shot from Monroe’s vagina during one of the abortion scenes. Through such depictions, some have labeled it “so anti-abortion, so sexist, so exploitative.” By contrast, our own critic gave it a strong review but warned it was a difficult watch, and that viewers need to have a “strong stomach.”
Lead actress Ana de Armas was also criticized for not matching her vocals to the late movie star, but was quickly defended by the Monroe estate, who called de Armas “a great casting choice as she captures Marilyn’s glamour, humanity and vulnerability.”
More recently, director Andrew Dominik put one of Marilyn Monroe’s most beloved movies, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, on full blast, calling it “romanticized whoredom.” He also openly wondered if anyone even watches or cares about Monroe’s filmography, which is a gutsy move considered, you know, he made a movie about the woman on Netflix, which has over 220 million subscribers.
Regardless of these issues, Blonde has been an enticing and buzzy film for Netflix, likely steering many of its viewers to press play. Considering it also runs a rather daunting 166 minutes, all of this is quite the feat. While the official number of viewers and hours watched has yet to be released, reports have come in that many viewers were so repulsed by the content that they couldn’t make it through the first act.
While Blonde sits at #1 for movies on Netflix, another controversial work inspired by real-life events has hit #1 on the television side, as the limited series Dahmer quickly hit the top spot. Dahmer
Did you see Blonde? What did you think of the Marilyn Monroe biopic? Let us know in the comments below.