Why 'Blonde' Viewers Can't Get Through The First 20 Minutes Of The Highly Controversial Movie
Watch "Blonde" at your own risk.
Netflix / Twitter Andrew Dominik’s controversial movie on the life of Marilyn Monroe, starring Ana de Armas, was released on Netflix this week and fans are struggling to get through it.
Those who tried to watch the film, either to see what all the buzz was about or because they are interested in Monroe’s legacy, took to Twitter to share their disgust with the film.
Here’s why “Blonde” viewers couldn’t get through the first 20 minutes.
Without getting too deep into spoilers, the first 20 minutes of “Blonde” immediately show you scenes of child abuse and sexual assault.
The scenes appear completely unprompted, without warning, and unapologetically.
Fans who sat through the same first impressions of the film paused it in order to share their disbelief on Twitter — with many claiming they couldn’t pick it back up again and labeled it “unwatchable.”
“I started to watch Blonde but couldn't watch anymore after about 20 minutes,” tweeted one user, “anyone else persevered? It was so hard to watch.”
“Not even 20 minutes into Blonde & I’m about to shut it off. It is. Awful,” wrote another, who eventually finished it and claimed it made them “sick.”
When “Blonde” first premiered at the Venice Film Festival, many people shared their excitement to see it after it received a 14-minute standing ovation.
Soon after, early reviews of the film started coming out that tore into the movie, claiming that Dominik was exploiting Monroe’s legacy — tainting the icon that Monroe became.
The standing ovation contrasted with the mixed reviews surrounding “Blonde” in a controversy that the film hoped would be saved once those who worked on the project addressed the claims.
De Armas addressed filming the scenes in question and Blonde's alleged exploitation of Marilyn Monroe.
"It's harder for people to watch [those scenes] than for me to make them, because I understood what I was doing and I felt very protected and safe," de Armas said during an interview with Entertainment Weekly.
"I didn't feel exploited because I was in control.”
Although many people held doubts about Dominik’s intentions behind including the scenes in the film, de Armas claims that she didn’t think it was a problem at all.
“I knew what the movie I was doing. I trusted my director. I felt like I was in a safe environment. We had hundreds of conversations about these scenes,” she continued.
“Everyone felt a deep respect for the movie we were making. And in that sense, I had no fear. I didn't feel uncomfortable at all, even though they were really hard scenes."
She mentions that there were intimacy directors with them at all times and that she felt completely in control when filming — defending Dominik and the rest of the producers who worked on the film, including Brad Pitt.
Regardless, viewers continue to be completely disgusted with the film’s clear exploitation of Monroe.
The movie holds a 34% rating from the audience and a 44% from critics on RottenTomatoes.com as the reviews continue to slam Dominik’s tasteless depiction of Monroe’s life.
Isaac Serna-Diez is an Assistant Editor who focuses on entertainment and news, social justice, and politics. Since graduating from Rutgers University, he spends most of his free time gaming or playing Quadball. Keep up with his rants about current events on his Twitter.