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FOR THOSE CRITICIZING...

posted 2 years ago by SWLinPHX (246)
3 replies | jump to latest

I totally get it and see why many gave it a low score. However going into it I already knew that this was not meant to be a "by-the-numbers" biopic or docudrama. There have been at least a dozen or more of those about Monroe already, in addition to many documentaries. This was an art house character study inside the mind of Norma Jeane. The famous scenes from her films and life were peppered in to preserve a timeline, but it was not meant to be historic or a chronicle per se. As a character study (or actually an inner psychological identity struggle) it succeeded. And although many of the scenes were imagined or not fact (JFK rape, abortions, Chaplin/Robinson threesome, etc.), they are also not proven untrue either (in other words, knowing how her life was going they could have happened, so it wasn't like they were out of sync with the story). Note that they never mention Joe Dimaggio, Arthur Miller or JFK by name. They are simply known as the "the ex-athlete", "the playwright" and "the President" (even in the credits). I was a bit surprised however that there was no glimpse of the Happy Birthday, Mr. President scene & dress, or the issues on set with her final films "The Misfit" (Gable's last) and "Something's Got To Give" (Monroe's last).However the actor portraying "the President" is the same one to portray JFK in the Natalie Portman movie "Jackie".

[–] 123Guy (7386) 2 years ago

not watching it, but I just don't understand why they made it? just FICTION about the past? I would rather see a new movie featuring this old version of her. like brand new fiction featuring her as the actress, not playing herself.

in the future, this will be possible too. might get interesting.

But, a old version, FICTIONAL about her? meh

[–] Letess (129) 2 years ago

Spoilers. Most of it is true. Maybe legally it is easier to say it’s fiction. The only thing that was taken to another level and was genuinely fictitious was the Jrs. Relationship - Edward G. Robinson Jr. and Charlie Chaplin Jr. who are gay in this movie but also with her. She knew one of them. These are the happiest days for her in this movie - being with these guys and they play a huge part in the end.

All the other stuff is mostly true - her mother was abusive and unbalanced. There was a fire in Griffith Park in 1933 but I don’t think they were in it. The mother was hospitalized and MM was forced into an orphanage. Her mother showed her a photo of the father and told her she was responsible for her father not marrying her. This played a huge role in her life and in this movie and for her sanity. These next years are skipped, i.e., her first marriage. It jumps to Hollywood and Zanuck. She had 12 abortions and a couple of miscarriages. She was with JFK and his Security did escort in the back entrance and out the door like they did with his other women. He had a bad back so that determined the way they had sex. She did marry DiMaggio who was incensed with her showing herself to American servicemen in Korea and in Some Like it Hot - and she did make spaghetti & he did hit her. Miller was nice to her and she started taking advantage of him - he was seen carrying her luggage. And she had an affair with Montand around this time that ended her marriage with Miller. She didn’t really like Miller’s The Misfits. Zanuck was a predator but I am not sure she was raped and she might have been complicit as I think she understood this was the way it worked and was really eager to please - there were others like Joseph Schenk and even Joan Crawford. Toward the end, they even show her gall bladder surgical scar. The house at the end where she died was filmed at her real home on Helena Dr. So the things that make it fiction is NOT showing a lot of her relationships and not analyzing the criminality of her death. You don’t see Bobby, Sinatra, Giancana, Yves Montand, Brando, Kazan…there are soooo many. There was an early sex tape some guy paid $1.5M in 2008. But much of this actually happened. I’m not sure about the father’s letters. I recall she tried to see him but he refused. Best to google that one.

[–] AnubisRaydeen (7897) 2 years ago

It isn't the liberties taken with the truth that bothered me so much. It was the dreadful script and relentlessly gimmicky directing that made this movie so very very bad.