An official of Planned Parenthood has derided the Marilyn Monroe biopic “Blonde” as “anti-abortion propaganda” for its depiction of abortion and humanization of an unborn baby.
The film is a fictionalized take on the life of the legendary Hollywood starlet which includes a storyline about Monroe undergoing two abortions and a miscarriage.
“While abortion is safe, essential healthcare, anti-abortion zealots have long contributed to abortion stigma by using medically inaccurate descriptions of fetuses and pregnancy,” Caren Spruch, Planned Parenthood Federation of America’s national director of arts and entertainment engagement, told The Hollywood Reporter.
“Andrew Dominik’s new film, Blonde, bolsters their message with a [computer generated imagery]-talking fetus, depicted to look like a fully formed baby.”
The movie, which stars Ana de Armas as Monroe, is based on a novel by the same name which fictionalizes the actress’ life.
It has long been suspected, but never proven, that she may have undergone abortion, and she is known to have had multiple miscarriages.
In the film, Monroe arranges to have an illegal abortion with the help of a studio secretary, The Christian Post explains. She changes her mind, having first decided to abort out of concerns the baby would have her mother’s mental illness, but the doctors ignore her and continue with the abortion.
She later undergoes a second illegal abortion, telling herself it will be just like a dream before waking up covered in blood.
The film implies that then-President John F. Kennedy, with whom Monroe was said to have had an affair, was the father.
A third pregnancy depicted in the film ends in a miscarriage, but at first the still-living baby speaks to Monroe and asks if she is going to do the same thing as she did to her previous babies.
This was the scene that Spruch described as bolstering “the message” that unborn babies are human beings.
“We still have much work to do to ensure that everyone who has an abortion can see themselves onscreen,” the Planned Parenthood official also said. “It is a shame that the creators of Blonde chose to contribute to anti-abortion propaganda and stigmatize people’s healthcare decisions instead.”
Director Andrew Dominik, however, contended in a statement that his film is not “anti-pro-choice” but rather a nuanced look at a complicated issue that is simply being viewed through the lens of the recent Supreme Court decision.
“I think it’s very difficult for people to step outside of the stories they carry inside themselves and see things of their own volition. And I think that’s really what the movie is about: the dangers of that,” he said.
“But, I mean, no one would have given a s*** about that if I’d made the movie in 2008, and probably no one’s going to care about it in four years’ time,” he also said. “And the movie won’t have changed. It’s just [what’s] sort of going on.”
It is no fictionalized account of abortion that depicts the practice as harmful and heartbreaking for women. It is infuriating to consider that Planned Parenthood, which profits off the deliberate death of unborn babies and also leverages disinformation about miscarriage to defend abortion, was also offended that it depicts the humanity of a baby lost in miscarriage.
If you appreciate the work we are doing for faith, family, and freedom, please consider a small donation to help us continue. Thank you so much!
