16214-SGW-Sixth Form Journal 2023-HI Res

ARTS

by Bee Scott

A Dissection of Blonde and the Fetishisation of Female Suffering on Screen INDIA BOLAH

subsisting through the lens of pain’s gaze on screen. This trope, if executed well, can be an immensely powerful tool in liberating female spectators and fostering a sense of affinity. However, if executed poorly, this presentation can result in a deeply disturbing experience for viewers; who are encouraged to view feminine pain as a sort of sexual reverie.

Andrew Dominik’s Blonde proved to be yet another grossly distorted depiction of the life and death of Marilyn Monroe. In part, due to its source material being a fictional interpretation of Monroe’s life, but additionally concomitant with even greater problem plaguing contemporary cinema: the perennial fetishisation of female suffering. For as long as film has existed, women have been depicted

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