TV - Movies
How Historically Accurate Is Ana De Armas’ Blonde On Netflix?
By SAM SKOPP
After a limited festival and theatrical run earlier this month, “Blonde” premiered on Netflix on September 28, 2022. The film chronicles the life of Norma Jeane Mortenson, better known as Marilyn Monroe. Rather than being based on her life, the film is based on a novel by Joyce Carol Oates, leaving audiences wondering exactly how accurate the movie is.
Leading up to the premiere, Smithsonian Magazine published a piece by author and American history Ph.D. student Grant Wong, that determined that the film is not a historical account of Marilyn’s life, but an attempt to depict truths about her in a poetic fashion. Rather than pulling from Marilyn’s life, the film delves into the meaning behind aspects of her life and persona.
Director Andrew Dominik explained in an interview with the L.A. Times that adapting Joyce Carol Oates’ book was his priority. In the same interview, Dominik said “…I’ve done an enormous amount of research. But in the end, it’s about the book. And adapting the book is really about adapting the feelings that the book gave me.”