Each year, a film rolls out of the Hollywood canon that promises to be extraordinary, delivering spellbinding performances from its stars and a script that is both fresh and intriguing. For 2022, all attention has turned towards Andrew Dominik’s Blonde, a film based upon the book by Joyce Carol Oates that saw a reimagining of the myth of Marilyn Monroe. With its all-star cast including the likes of Adrien Brody and Bobby Cannavale, and a remarkable performance from Ana de Armas as the titular character, Blonde arrived on Netflix and has already caused something of a sensation amongst audiences far and wide.
The tagline for the film reads, “Watched by all. Seen by none,” and it’s with this in mind that Dominik attempts to centre the film. Though the film has garnered criticism from film critics and movie aficionados alike, Dominik still achieves a breathtaking drama that is brought to life thanks to the effortless presence of de Armas who can switch between painful expressions of loneliness and heartbreak to the breezy smile and disarming warmth that Monroe was known for. Stylistically, it’s beautiful, alternating between black-and-white and colour shots, and showcasing creative elements throughout.
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If Blonde was meant to give us a greater understanding of Monroe’s personal life – that of Norma Jeane – it seems to have only raised more questions. For those who have long admired the personality of the film icon, it’s safe to say that while her canon of films might be revered, her personal life can easily be ignored and, as Carol Oates’ novel seems to suggest, such ignorance can lend itself to creative freedom. From threesomes with the offspring of Hollywood legends to hotel affairs and abandoned pregnancies, Blonde doesn’t shy away from getting into some of the more scandalous moments of Norma Jeane’s life. But as any viewer has since questioned after watching the film, what was truth and what was fiction?
Here, we separate fact from fiction when it comes to Marilyn Monroe and Dominik’s Blonde. If you haven’t yet seen the film, be warned: spoilers lie ahead.
Did Marilyn Monroe really date Charlie Chaplin Jr. and Edward Robinson Jr?
Though established as one of the more seminal relationships Norma Jeane entertained in her life, there is little evidence to suggest a throuple was enjoyed between the actress and Charlie Chaplin Jr (Cass) and Edward Rodriguez Jr (Eddy) in real life. However, Monroe is said to have had a brief romantic relationship with Cass at some point.
Did Marilyn Monroe marry baseball player Joe DiMaggio?
Monroe did marry retired baseball player, Joe DiMaggio and experience a relationship that was best described as tumultuous. According to numerous accounts, DiMaggio, despite being infatuated by Monroe, was jealous of the attention she received from other men and sought to control her. According to his sons, the ex-athlete physically abused Monroe and their marriage lasted just nine months before they divorced.
What was Marilyn Monroe’s relationship with Arthur Miller like?
Considered Monroe’s best known romance, the star met playwright Arthur Miller who not only became her husband, but also one of the most significant relationships of her life. Having met, the pair were already having an affair with one another despite being married. They later split from their spouses and married in a swift, four-minute civil ceremony on June 29, 1956, later having a Jewish wedding which saw Monroe converted. The pair were not only lovers but also admirers of one another’s work (or so it seems), with Miller rewriting a number of Monroe’s productions including 1960’s Let’s Make Love and 1961’s The Misfits.
But with her gruelling film schedule, Monroe began experiencing health issues and, as depicted in Blonde, also suffered a miscarriage. After taking 18 months off to focus on her and Miller’s relationship, she suffered from an ectopic pregnancy in 1957, followed by a further miscarriage.
The pair were married for six years until 1961, with the love story coming to an end after Monroe discovered Miller’s diary open on a table at home. She learned that the playwright was disappointed and embarrassed by her, and even feared that his own creativity would be threatened due to her dependence on him. As Vanity Fair wrote at the time, “One of her greatest fears, that of disappointing those she loved, had come true.”
Monroe died shortly after their divorce, dying at the age of 36 of a barbiturate overdose on August 5, 1962. Miller did not attend the funeral, explaining in an essay: “Instead of jetting to the funeral to get my picture taken I decided to stay home and let the public mourners finish the mockery…She was destroyed by many things and some of those things are you. And some of those things are destroying you. Destroying you now. Now as you stand there weeping and gawking, glad that it is not you going into the earth, glad that it is this lovely girl who you at last killed.”
Did Marilyn Monroe have multiple abortions?
Blonde presents a number of abortions Monroe had: one after she is pregnant with either Cass’s or Eddy’s child and the other during her affair with President John F. Kennedy. No concrete evidence has been found to confirm these portrayals, or confirm that Monroe had any at all. Some have speculated since viewing the film that Monroe had endometriosis, given her struggle to conceive during her marriage with Arthur Miller.
Gloria Steinem, writing for her book Marilyn: Norma Jeane, came to the assumption that Monroe had undergone countless abortions despite the lack of historical record. “One can imagine her sacrificing contraception and her own safety to spontaneity, magic, and the sexual satisfaction of the man she was with,” wrote Steinem.
Did Marilyn Monroe have a pregnancy with President John F. Kennedy?
In Blonde, Monroe becomes pregnancy shortly after having an affair with “The President”. The rumour has long existed, largely as a result of author Fred Lawrence Guiles’ 1969 book Norma Jeane: The Life of Marilyn Monroe which claimed the actress had an abortion in July 1962, less than a month before her death. Guiles claimed that it would be “easy to assume” the aborted child was JFK’s, but no conclusive evidence has been found to confirm this.
The ending of Blonde explained: why did Cass pretend to be Norma Jeane’s father?
While Blonde certainly suggests that much of Norma Jeane’s undoing comes from trauma surrounding her absentee father, it also establishes that the men she surrounds herself with are far from upstanding and model citizens. Early on in the film, Jeane meets Charlie Chaplin – otherwise known as Cass – and Edward Robinson Jr, who appear to be two men she is closest to throughout the film’s entirety. But rather than present an ideal model of friendship, there is a sinister undercurrent to this relationship, seen later when the pair attempt to blackmail Jeane’s first husband to purchase nude images of the model-turned-actress.
The ending of the film reveals that Cass was the one writing to Jeane, pretending to be her father. He would sign each letter with the line, “Your tearful father,” giving Jeane/Monroe the hope that her father might introduce himself to her one day and look to become a stable part of her life. While viewers are sure to have theories of their own surrounding Cass’ motivations to do such a thing, some have posited that he may have been coming from a place of love, but ultimately the action is one that is cruel as he exploits Jeane’s traumatic past and something so intimately private.
It’s possible that Cass didn’t fully recognise the extent of his actions or the damage they would cause to Monroe when she learned that her hopes had been in vain, but his letters certainly speak to the abuse Monroe reckoned with continually from the hands of men.
Blonde is now available for streaming on Netflix.
