Content Warning: This article includes discussion of mental health and suicide.
The legendary icon Marilyn Monroe looks to be only one of actress Ana de Armas’ roles in the upcoming Blonde movie. Directed by The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford director Andrew Dominik, Blonde’s NC-17 rating—a first for a Netflix Original movie—has already caused quite a stir. Now, Dominik’s movie hints at a new take on Monroe that could change the way many see the star forever.
The Blonde trailer begins with de Armas seated before a mirror, at once recognizable as the legendary movie star, Marilyn Monroe, but deeply distraught. Hands clasped, sobbing, she begs “please come. Don’t abandon me.” The man applying her makeup replies soothingly, “She’s coming,” before several iconic scenes of the star flash over the screen. The trailer then returns to de Armas, who slowly looks at her reflection. “… She’s almost here,” the man says.
Moments later, de Armas’ expression alters completely and her character tips her head back and giggles with a wide, confident smile. In under a minute, the Blonde movie trailer intimates that de Armas’ character has Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID). As a mental health condition that typically sees one person with a “host” personality and one or more “alters,” this implies that de Armas will not be playing Monroe in the traditional sense but will likely be playing Monroe as an alter for host, Norma Jeane.
The trailer suggests that in this instance of DID the host personality has little or no control over the alters and vice versa. As detailed by the American Psychiatric Association (via The Washington Post), each personality state “takes control of the person’s behavior” and has a unique and distinct way of processing and relating to the world, frequently leaving the other states with long lapses in memory. This appears to be the case in the Blonde movie’s trailer, with de Armas (recently seen in Deep Water) beginning the trailer as host Norma Jeane, begging for her alter, Monroe, to take control—thus relieving what appears to be an extremely shy Norma Jeane of a public appearance.
While the implications of this speculative reimagining are substantial in respect to how the public perceives Monroe, the idea that Monroe was a product of Norma Jeane’s DID is surprisingly plausible. As is commonly the case with those who develop DID, Norma Jeane is believed to have endured multiple forms of trauma at a young age. Furthermore, looking to Norma Jeane’s tragic death, especially untreated in the 1960s, people living with DID are prone to depression, drug addictions, and suicide (via JAG).
If the Blonde movie portrays de Armas’ character as one with DID, viewers will likely see de Armas playing Norma Jeane and Monroe as separate, distinct characters, but, interestingly, the trailer may suggest another alter as well. In the trailer’s final moment, the film’s title, Blonde, appears in three different fonts—an elegant, polished script for the “B,” followed by a less-refined, bolder “lond,” and finally a chalk-looking, printed, and perhaps child-like “e.” Considering this, it could be that the Blonde movie will see Norma Jeane as the host (in this case the most substantial part of the title), with Monroe being the elegant alter (and also the alter that the world sees first, i.e. the first letter of the title), and a second alter—possibly a child—represented by the title’s “e.” Accordingly, viewers should prepare to see Monroe in a whole new way and de Armas in the role(s) of a lifetime.
Blonde premieres on Netflix on September 23rd.
