Blonde has stirred up plenty of strong reactions in its first week on Netflix, and now the Marilyn Monroe biopic is getting flack from a national organization for its depiction of abortion. The Andrew Dominik drama includes two brutal abortion scenes and a representation of a talking fetus, which Planned Parenthood blasted as irresponsible, accusing Blonde of furthering the anti-abortion agenda in a statement shared with The Hollywood Reporter.
Caren Spruch, Planned Parenthood Federation of America’s national director of arts and entertainment engagement, spoke out against Blonde to THR, telling the outlet Dominik’s film mishandled the sensitive topic of reproductive rights.
“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,” Spruch said. “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 continued, “Planned Parenthood respects artistic license and freedom. However, false images only serve to reinforce misinformation and perpetuate stigma around sexual and reproductive health care. Every pregnancy outcome — especially abortion — should be portrayed sensitively, authentically and accurately in the media.
“We still have much work to do to ensure that everyone who has an abortion can see themselves onscreen,” she said. “It is a shame that the creators of Blonde chose to contribute to anti-abortion propaganda and stigmatize people’s health care decisions instead.”
Despite Planned Parenthood’s concerns, Dominik has insisted his film is not political, and specifically addressed Blonde‘s abortion plots in an interview with Decider published Sept. 28, the day the film premiered on Netflix.
“I wrote the thing in 2008. I’m not trying to comment on anything,” the director said. “I wasn’t thinking about [the abortion debate] at all. This is about Norma’s feelings about it, and Norma’s feelings about it are valid. She’s not existing in 2022. It’s not about 2022. It’s about the ’50s.”
Decider’s Anna Menta analyzed Blonde‘s stance on abortion in an essay published Thursday (Sept. 29), shortly after the movie’s streaming debut, writing that Dominik’s film “vilifies the concept of abortion, while simultaneously humanizing the concept of an unborn fetus.”
“Here is a movie that asserts that not only does life (and conversation!) begin at conception, but that any woman who chooses to have an abortion will be plagued by regret, guilt, and trauma for the rest of her days,” she continued. “It’s like Dominik was taking notes from the Catholic Church itself.”
Blonde is now streaming on Netflix.
