Director Andrew Dominik has reacted to the backlash received by “Blonde,” noting that it’s “kind of strange” since the Netflix film “doesn’t make any difference” in the life of Marilyn Monroe, which it is based on, as “she’s dead.”
The 55-year-old director, who made an appearance at the Red Sea International Film Festival held in Saudi Arabia on Sunday, said the U.S. audience “hated” his movie.
He explained during the event that the audience was expecting him to reinvent Monroe’s life in the movie as an empowered woman and they got upset when he didn’t.
“Now we’re living in a time where it’s important to present women as empowered, and they want to reinvent Marilyn Monroe as an empowered woman,” Dominik said, according to People. “That’s what they want to see. And if you’re not showing them that, it upsets them.”
Dominik went on to explain that this feels “kind of strange” to him.
“Because she’s dead,” he said. “The movie doesn’t make any difference in one way or another.”
However, he admitted that comments about the movie exploiting fans’ memory of the actress make sense.
“What they really mean is that the film exploited their memory of her, their image of her, which is fair enough,” he added.
The director shared that the whole idea behind making this movie was to “take the iconography of her life and put it into service of something else, it’s trying to take things that you’re familiar with, and turning the meaning inside out. But that’s what they don’t want to see.”
“Blonde” is based on Joyce Carol Oates’ 1999 biographical fiction book of the same title. The novel offers a fictionalized take on Monroe’s life.
Monroe, whose real name was Norma Jeane Mortenson, was born in Los Angeles in 1926. She died in 1962 at the age of 36 due to a barbiturate overdose.
Actress Ana De Armas portrays the legendary actress in the Netflix movie.
De Armas will be next seen in the movie “Ballerina,” starring Keanu Reeves. The flick is directed by Len Wiseman.
De Armas will also appear in the action-adventure movie “Ghosted,” which is helmed by director Dexter Fletcher.
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