Emily Ratajkowski says 'Blonde,' the new Marilyn Monroe biopic on Netflix, fetishizes female pain and suffering
- Emily Ratajowski says the Netflix film "Blonde" fetishizes female pain and suffering.
- The model and author took to TikTok to share her views on the new Marilyn Monroe biopic.
Emily Ratajkowski joined a growing choir of critics of "Blonde," the new Marilyn Monroe biopic, after she said the film fetishized female pain and suffering.
The model and bestselling author uploaded a video on TikTok on Friday discussing her view on "Blonde," which dropped on Netflix on Wednesday. The black-and-white film was directed by Andrew Dominik and features Ana de Armas in the lead role, with other cast members including Adrien Brody and Bobby Cannavale.
Netflix describes "Blonde" as a fictional portrait of Monroe that "boldly reimagines the tumultuous private life of the Hollywood legend – and the price she paid for fame."
Ratajkowski started her TikTok, which has more than 1.3 million views as of Sunday, by saying she hadn't yet seen the movie but had "been hearing a lot."
"I'm not surprised to hear it's yet another movie fetishizing female pain even in death," said Ratajkowski, 31. "We do that in many, many different ways, but I want that to change."
She points toward what she said are historical examples of how society fetishizes female pain. "Look at Amy Winehouse, look at Britney Spears, look at the way we obsess over Diana's death," she added.
"You know what's kind of hard to fetishize? Anger," Ratajkowski said. "I'm going to be pissed off when I see this movie, I already know it. But it's nothing new, and yeah, I'm just going to get angry."
Ratajkowski isn't alone of her negative view of "Blonde," which has also sparked a backlash over its portrayal of abortion.
In 0ne scene de Armas, playing Monroe, appears to communicate verbally with an unborn fetus that asks her not to "hurt it" like she did last time – referencing an earlier abortion. "You won't hurt me this time, will you? Not do what you did, last time?" the fetus says in the movie.
A Planned Parenthood representative directly called out the scene in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter published Friday.
Carolyn Spruch told the outlet: "As film and TV shapes many people's understanding of sexual and reproductive health, it's critical these depictions accurately portray women's real decisions and experiences."
"While abortion is safe, essential health care, anti-abortion zealots have long contributed to abortion stigma by using medically inaccurate descriptions of fetuses and pregnancy. Andrew Dominik's new film, 'Blonde', bolsters their message with a CGI-talking fetus, depicted to look like a fully formed baby," Spruch said. It was a shame the creators of "Blonde" chose to contribute to anti-abortion propaganda, she added.
Defending the scene, Dominik told The Wrap he thought the anti-choice criticism became bigger because the film was released three months after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, a legal precedent from 1973 that made abortion legal across the US.
"I think sort of this desire to look at 'Blonde' through this Roe v. Wade lens is everybody else doing the same thing," the director told the outlet. "They've got a certain agenda where they feel like the freedoms of women are being compromised, and they look at 'Blonde' and they see a demon, but it's not really about that."
Dominik added: "I think it's very difficult for people to step outside of the stories they carry inside themselves and see things of their own volition."