Liberal critics are furious that the new historical psychological drama “Blonde,” based on the life of Marilyn Monroe, makes an effort to depict the humanity of unborn babies and the violence of abortion.
The movie was directed by Andrew Dominik and apparently took more than a decade to finish. It got slapped with an NC-17 rating due to graphic nudity and sex scenes, but that’s not necessarily the content that’s making some critics so upset. Reviewers are appalled by scenes depicting Monroe’s multiple abortions which include the actress’s unborn child speaking to her, begging her not to abort him or her.
Ana de Armas plays Monroe in the film, which debuted in a limited theatrical release on September 16. One scene shows her pregnant womb glowing in an ethereal light with a clear image of the unborn child. This is contrasted with another scene where Monroe is forced into an abortion against her will in an emotional moment full of screaming. “Please, won’t you listen? I’ve changed my mind,” she cries while a doctor inserts the speculum from the point of view of Marilyn’s cervix.
Later, Marilyn is pregnant again and in her garden when the baby kicks her. The unborn child begins talking to his or her mother, asking why she killed the baby last time and asking her not to do it again. She doesn’t, but instead miscarries in a bloody scene.
The Independent described the talking unborn baby as, “one of the film’s most disturbing bodily sequences.”
A reviewer from The Daily Beast takes a similar approach, writing, “Lest we want to champion the tortured actress for invoking her right to choose, ‘Blonde’ forces us to see a harsh metal device scrunch its way inward and toward a fetus, terminating it. The movie clearly—and, obviously, controversially—wants us to believe that the fetus is very much alive.”
Much of the film is devoted to Marilyn’s depression, which is attributed in part to losing her unborn children. Critics can’t stand to see the aftermath of abortion portrayed this way or to allude in any way to the humanity of the unborn child.
Dominik insists that he wasn’t trying to make a statement on abortion but was rather trying to portray reality. “There’s nothing I can do about that,” the film director told The Sydney Morning Herald when asked if he had any thoughts on those scenes following Roe v. Wade’s reversal.
“If people are looking at ‘Blonde’ as having a position on abortion, it does have a position and its position is that, if you’re an unwanted child, pregnancy is going to be deeply ambivalent.”
“Blonde” will be available on Netflix beginning September 28.