Ana De Armas Has Some Strong Opinions On Blonde's NC-17 Rating
You've probably already heard that the upcoming Netflix film "Blonde," based on the novel about screen icon Marilyn Monroe by Joyce Carol Oates, has been slapped with an NC-17 rating. It's possible that you even know why "Blonde" is rated NC-17 for what the MPAA calls "some sexual content." The film's director Andrew Dominik has already chimed in on why the film's rough edges are artistically necessary (via Vulture).
Ana de Armas is starring in the film as "Norma Jeane" (via IMDb), a fictionalized version of Marilyn Monroe's real-life, off-screen identity Norma Jeane Mortenson. The original novel has plenty of graphic sequences that would raise eyebrows if faithfully adapted for the screen, so an NC-17 rating isn't a huge surprise. But de Armas nevertheless has some strong opinions about the controversial rating, which often acts as a commercial liability by limiting the potential audience for a movie, a factor that is unexplored territory for Netflix (via Vogue).
She says there are other more explicit shows and movies that deserve the rating more than Blonde does
In a sit-down with fashion magazine L'Officiel, Ana de Armas gave her thoughts on the unprecedented-for-Netflix rating applied to "Blonde." "I didn't understand why that happened," de Armas said of the film's already notorious NC-17 rating. "I can tell you a number of shows or movies that are way more explicit with a lot more sexual content than 'Blonde.'"
But, the actress says, whether the rating is truly justified or not, the actual content of the film is. "[T]o tell this story it is important to show all these moments in Marilyn's life that made her end up the way that she did. It needed to be explained." Audiences (above the age of 17, of course) will get to decide for themselves whether the NC-17 rating applied to "Blonde" is justified when the film hits Netflix on September 28th.