If blondes are a feminist movie, why is Marilyn Monroe still exploited? | | Martha Gill
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T.there are few scenes here blondeNetflix’s new Marilyn biopic, Monroe is not topless, has not cried, been raped, or had a forced abortion. Thinking about gritty realism? Think again. All shot in a dreamy, high-glam soft focus, with artistic choices and the occasional cameo from a squeaky-voiced fetus. did not actually occur. For example, there is no evidence of abortion. Filmmaker Andrew Dominick told an interviewer that her Monroe activism and her success in wresting control from male-dominated industries, for example, starting her own production company, was the next. said likenot very interesting to me”.
There is now something of a fetish for biopics about exploited female celebrities. While calling themselves feminists, they speak lewdly about the suffering of their subjects.took Pam & Tommyabout famous sex tapes, or JudyJudy Garland in her final days, or the endless revisiting of Princess Diana’s unraveling in closer close-up.
You can see the incentives for filmmakers.Giving a biographical “comment” to a sexually exploited celebrity like Monroe or Anderson allows us to recreate the same sexual image that drew the crowd in the first place – only this time, it’s trendy. I am a feminist. blonde The camera steps into Monroe’s cervix at one point.) But there’s also a larger market that has nothing to do with feminism: women’s pain.
This market has always been well served by the television and film industry. The crime drama is replete with fake histories, including expertly displayed female corpses, histories, and fake medieval fantasylands. House of the Dragon – There is a disturbing trend towards what I call torture porn, and rapes are everywhere for the sake of “realism”. are unlikely to appear in such dramas, but may be contextually realistic.Why not?)
There are old moral precepts that are often shrouded in fear. Bad things happen most often to promiscuous and powerful women. This also applies to modern cinema (perhaps these lessons are so ingrained that they cannot help but be retold).the story of blondeof course, repeats the classic horror movie trope – the promiscuous blonde who deserves to die first.
This package — misogyny wrapped in the veneer of feminism — is well known outside of cinema. It’s also how we consume female celebrities right now. Photoshoots are always washed feminist in the accompanying articles. The celebrity is ‘reclaiming’ her body by ignoring the sexualization industry, making the ’empowering choice’ to be naked despite stretch marks, and taking out her breasts on her own terms. at” etc. But nudity alone is not enough. Female stars need to “open up” to readers about their struggles with trauma, anorexia, miscarriage, PTSD, trolling, or sexual assault.
If this serves a feminist purpose, it is lost within the larger patriarchal purpose. Even successful women are reduced to sexualized and traumatized bodies. It’s time to stop ‘investigating’ the exploitation of female celebrities by sticking cameras up their skirts.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/oct/02/if-blonde-is-a-feminist-film-why-is-marilyn-monroe-still-being-exploited If blondes are a feminist movie, why is Marilyn Monroe still exploited? | | Martha Gill