Netflix's Blonde movie faces backlash after landing at #1 on streamer's charts

gamesradar.com:

Ana de Armas’ new movie Blonde has caused some controversy since landing on Netflix. Based on Joyce Carol Oates’ book, the film is directed by Andrew Dominik and follows Marilyn Monroe from her rise to fame to her sad death. 

The fictionalized biopic has only been streaming for a few days but is already climbing up the streaming charts. It currently sits at number one on Netflix’s Top 10 movies in several countries, including the UK and the US. 

However, despite its streaming success, several viewers have taken to social media to criticize the movie’s graphic portrayal of Monroe. "Blonde Netflix is distasteful," writes one (opens in new tab). "Even if it is a fictionalized story, there can be some care put towards the film. There is this emotional detachment from Marilyn Monroe that makes this such a dark and graphic film. It’s actually disturbing how exploitative this is."

Several graphic scenes, in particular, have been criticized, including some featuring an abortion and sexual assault. Responding to these, another viewer adds (opens in new tab): "I had the extreme misfortune of watching Blonde on Netflix last night, and let me tell you that movie is so anti-abortion, so sexist, so exploitative. CanNOT recommend it LESS. Do not watch. The abortion scenes in particular are terrible, but so is the whole entire movie."

"Blonde is an exploitative, misogynistic, borderline torture film that berates an already tragic figure," tweets another viewer (opens in new tab). "De Armas is good but the cruelty behind the made-up narrative and the unfocused direction takes away from her presence. This was an awful experience. Painful to watch."

A fourth agrees (opens in new tab): "On a technical level, #Blonde is perfect. Impeccable