History YMMV / Blonde

* DancingBear: It's the first Netflix movie to have an NC-17 rating, which, in some viewers' eyes, is the most notable aspect. This rating brought a lot of attention it wouldn't have had otherwise and was the subject of controversy. Truthfully, the rating was most likely the result of de Armas being nude for at least half the runtime. The rape scenes are uncomfortable but not graphic.

** The [[SpecialEffectFailure poorly CGI'd]] foetuses interspersed throughout the latter half of an otherwise visually stunning film are out of place and quite funny. It gets even funnier when at one point, a talking CGI foetus has a conversation with Marilyn, berating her for having a (forced) abortion in the past.

* TookTheBadFilmSeriously: The movie got lukewarm reviews at best and proved to be highly controversial for the way it handles its subject matter, but star Ana de Armas received a lot of praise for her emotional performance as Norma Jeane/Marilyn, with even the most scathing reviews of the film singling out her performance as the saving grace of the film. Noticeably, during awards season the film was mostly shut out of nominations -- with the exception of de Armas's performance, which got Best Actress nominations at the Academy Awards, the BAFTA, the Golden Globes and the Screen Actors Guild. Conversely, the film swept the UsefulNotes/GoldenRaspberryAward nominations with eight, and went on to be chosen as Worst Picture and Screenplay, but de Armas was conspicuously absent, even though the actors who played Cass and Eddy got Worst Supporting Actor nominations.

* JustHereForGodzilla: Some tuned in to see the first movie of Andrew Dominik in nearly a decade, some tuned in for the NC-17 rating, and some tuned in to see Ana de Armas get nude.

* TookTheBadFilmSeriously: The movie got lukewarm reviews at best and proved to be highly controversial for the way it handles its subject matter, but star Ana de Armas received a lot of praise for her emotional performance as Norma Jeane/Marilyn, with even the most scathing reviews of the film singling out her performance as the saving grace of the film. Noticeably, despite the film checking various OscarBait boxes, during awards season it was completely shut out of nominations -- with the exception of de Armas's performance, which got Best Actress nominations at the Academy Awards, the BAFTA, the Golden Globes and the Screen Actors Guild. Conversely, the film swept the UsefulNotes/GoldenRaspberryAward nominations with eight, and went on to be chosen as Worst Picture and Screenplay, but de Armas was conspicuously absent, even though the actors who played Cass and Eddy got Worst Supporting Actor nominations.

** The scene where Joe storms back home after founding out Norma Jeane's nude photos, proceeds to slap her while she's topless and throw the photos at her afterward is often brought up as being unintentionally hilarious due to the POV shot and Norma Jeane being naked for no reason.

* {{Anvilicious}}: This movie very much wants you to know that Marilyn Monroe had an incredibly painful personal life, exacerbated by the sexism of Hollywood and society as a whole. To some, the sheer lengths it goes to convey this crosses the line into mean-spiritedness and even {{exploitation|Film}}.

** Norma Jeane's marriage with Arthur before her miscarriage is shown to be a happy and loving one, with her having the freedom to be herself and not Marilyn while he is one of the few characters who treats her like a person instead of symbol to be exploited. It's one of the very few, if not the only, times where Norma Jeane is genuinely and truly happy.

* TookTheBadFilmSeriously: The movie got lukewarm reviews at best and proved to be highly controversial for the way it handles its subject matter, but star Ana de Armas received a lot of praise for her emotional performance as Norma Jeane/Marilyn, with even the most scathing reviews of the film singling out her performance as the saving grace of the film. Noticeably, despite the film checking various OscarBait boxes, during awards season it was completely shut out of nominations -- with the exception of de Armas's performance, which got Best Actress nominations at the Academy Awards, the BAFTA, the Golden Globes and the Screen Actors Guild. Conversely, the film swept the UsefulNotes/GoldenRaspberryAward nominations with eight, but de Armas was conspicuously absent, even though the actors who played Cass and Eddy got Worst Supporting Actor nominations.

* TookTheBadFilmSeriously: The movie got lukewarm reviews at best and proved to be highly controversial for the way it handles its subject matter, but star Ana de Armas received a lot of praise for her emotional performance as Norma Jeane/Marilyn, with even the most scathing reviews of the film singling out her performance as the saving grace of the film. Noticeably, despite the film checking various OscarBait boxes, during awards season it was completely shut out of nominations -- with the exception of de Armas's performance, which got Best Actress nominations at the Academy Awards, the BAFTA, the Golden Globes and the Screen Actors Guild.[[note]]Conversely, the film swept the UsefulNotes/GoldenRaspberryAward nominations with eight, but de Armas was conspicuously absent, even though the actors who played Cass and Eddy got Worst Supporting Actor nominations.[[/npte]]

* TookTheBadFilmSeriously: The movie got lukewarm reviews at best and proved to be highly controversial for the way it handles its subject matter, but star Ana de Armas received a lot of praise for her emotional performance as Norma Jeane/Marilyn, with even the most scathing reviews of the film singling out her performance as the saving grace of the film. Noticeably, despite the film checking various OscarBait boxes, during awards season it was completely shut out of nominations -- with the exception of de Armas's performance, which got Best Actress nominations at the Academy Awards, the BAFTA, the Golden Globes and the Screen Actors Guild.

* DancingBear: It's the first Netflix movie to have an NC-17 rating, which in some viewers' eyes is the most notable aspect of the movie. This rating brought a lot of attention to the film it wouldn’t have had otherwise and was the subject of controversy.
* DontShootTheMessage: Several critics and general viewers have noted that the film wants to criticize and deconstruct the abuse, excessive sexualization and exploitation Norma Jeane Mortensen (and numerous women like her) went through in Hollywood, which is certainly not a bad thing, but that the execution is flawed; it's been argued that beyond graphically depicting Norma Jeane suffering one occurrence of trauma and degradation after another, the film doesn't have much else to say on the subject (which also tends to reduce Norma Jeane herself to being a helpless victim), and it at times even feels like it indulges in the same exploitation of Norma Jeane [[BrokenAesop it tries to condemn]].

* TookTheBadFilmSeriously: The movie got lukewarm reviews at best and proved to be highly controversial for the way it handles its subject matter, but star Ana de Armas received a lot of praise for her emotional performance as Norma Jeane/Marilyn, with even the most scathing reviews of the film singling out her performance as the saving grace of the film. Noticeably, despite the film checking various OscarBait boxes, it was completely shut out during awards season it was completely shut out of nominations -- with the exception of de Armas's performance, which got Best Actress nominations at the Academy Awards, the BAFTA, the Golden Globes and the Screen Actors Guild.

* TookTheBadFilmSeriously: The movie got lukewarm reviews at best and proved to be highly controversial for the way it handles its subject matter, but star Ana de Armas received a lot of praise for her emotional performance as Norma Jeane/Marilyn.

* JustHereForGodzilla: Some tuned in to see the first movie of Andrew Dominik in nearly a decade, some tuned in to see the Netflix hype, some tuned in for the NC-17 rating, and some tuned in to see Ana de Armas get nude.

* DontShootTheMessage: Several critics and general viewers have noted that the film wants to criticize and deconstruct the abuse, excessive sexualization and exploitation Norma Jeane Mortensen (and numerous women like her) went through in HorribleHollywood, which is certainly not a bad thing, but that the execution is flawed; it's been argued that beyond graphically depicting Norma Jeane suffering one occurrence of trauma and degradation after another, the film doesn't have much else to say on the subject (which also tends to reduce Norma Jeane herself to being a helpless victim), and it at times even feels like it indulges in the same exploitation of Norma Jeane [[BrokenAesop it tries to condemn]].

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* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotPolitical: Many viewers have interpreted the film as anti-abortion due to its heavy focus on Norma Jeane having had multiple abortions and regretting them (especially given that while it's known that Monroe had miscarriages, there's no historical evidence of her having abortions, let alone regretting them), although Andrew Dominik claims this is unintentional. It probably didn't help that the movie was released at the same time abortion became a major hot-button issue in the United States, due to the overturning of Roe v. Wade just three months before its premiere.

* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotPolitical: Many viewers have interpreted the film as anti-abortion due to its heavy focus on Norma Jeane having had multiple abortions and regretting them (especially given that while it's known that Monroe had miscarriages, there's no historical evidence of her having abortions, let alone regretting them), although Andrew Dominik claims this is unintentional. It probably didn't help that movie was released at the same time abortion became a major hot-button issue in the United States, due to the overturning of Roe v. Wade just three months before its premiere.

* TookTheBadFilmSeriously: The movie got lukewarm reviews at best and proved to be highly controversial for the way it handles its subject matter, but star Ana de Armas received a lot of praise for emotional performance as Norma Jeane/Marilyn.

*** Before their marriage, Norma Jeane auditions for a Broadway play that Arthur has written. At first he's unimpressed by her performance, but he warms to her when she's able to give him some insightful analysis on her character. One particular suggestion moves him so much that he begins to tear up and sincerely thanks Norma Jeane for her insight.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: Some viewers have lamented that the film focuses solely on the painful, miserable parts of Norma Jeane's life (especially since the movie isn't a straight biopic, to the point the filmmakers labeled it "biographical fiction" well before release, and it's dubiously accurate at best), while glossing over or ignoring other aspects of her life and personality, such as her intelligence (contrasting her DumbBlonde public image), her progressive social views, her friendship with Ella Fitzgerald and so on. It's been noted that the film seems more interested in depicting Norma Jeane as an unstable victim and focusing on her troubled relationships with the men in her life, than exploring her in more depth.

* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotPolitical: Many viewers have interpreted the film as anti-abortion due to its heavy focus on Norma Jeane having had multiple abortions and regretting them (especially given that while it's known that Monroe had miscarriages, there's no historical evidence of her having abortions, let alone regretting them), although Andrew Dominik claims this is unintentional.

* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotPolitical: Many viewers have interpreted the film as anti-abortion due to its heavy focus on Norma Jeane having had multiple abortions and regretting them (especially given that there's no historical evidence of Monroe having abortions or regretting them), although Andrew Dominik claims this is unintentional.