'Blonde' Doesn't Celebrate Marilyn Monroe, It Humiliates Her

Andrew Dominik's new movie earns its NC-17 rating for the wrong reasons.

Blonde portrays Marilyn Monroe as a lifelong victim. As one of Hollywood's sex symbols, it's not difficult to imagine the horrors and trauma that Norma Jeane...

Mortenson might have faced as an actor finding her way in Hollywood in the 50s and 60s. Exploited and often seen only for her physical beauty and allure, Marilyn was loved and hated by many.

In Blonde, the film sees that love as an obsession. Some might call director Andrew Dominik bold for his take on Monroe's story....

but it's hard to imagine that this movie is made by anyone who sees Marilyn as anything other than a sex object and a perpetual victim.

Norma Jeane Mortenson was many things, but Blonde only sees her as one. A woman without agency, she is there to be abused, abandoned, beaten, exploited, and raped — all right in front of the camera.

The camera is absolutely obsessed with her, as degrading as the men in Monroe's life. If you ever wanted a lesson in what the male gaze looks like, this movie is the prime example.

It has a Ph.D. in Male Gaze. And perhaps on some level, this might fit a movie about Monroe; after all, she spent her life under the male gaze essentially being pinned to a stereotype she wanted to grow out of.