‘Saturday Night Live’: Marilyn Monroe ‘Blonde’ Sketch Was so Funny, Heidi Gardner Couldn’t Keep a Straight Face
Saturday Night Live always keeps its finger on the pulse of what’s happening in the pop culture canon. This includes everything from the biggest television shows and movies to celebrity gossip. However, sometimes it’s so funny that even the cast members can’t get through it with a straight face. Saturday Night Live slammed Netflix’s Blonde to the point that Heidi Gardner was on the verge of laughing through the whole sketch.
‘Blonde’ is a fictional look into Marilyn Monroe’s life
Saturday Night Live took a jab at Blonde after the movie gained a huge amount of traction on social media. The fictional Monroe biopic first earned a heap of attention due to it earning an NC-17 rating for its explicit sexual content. Actor Ana de Armas starred in the lead role, as Norma Jeane transforms into Monroe. Writer/director Andrew Dominik brought the story from the novel written by Joyce Carol Oates.
Blonde seeks to put the viewer in the mind of Monroe, rather than viewing her from the outside. She frequently calls all of the men in her life “daddy,” as she yearns to once again reunite with the father that she never knew. However, the male figures in Hollywood, in her personal life, and the fans that admire her use and view her as nothing more than her image.
‘Saturday Night Live’ fans say ‘Blonde’ sketch had Heidi Gardner on the verge of laughing
The official Saturday Night Live YouTube channel uploaded the Blonde sketch that had all of its audience talking about it. The segment begins by informing the viewer that it’s based on Netflix’s NC-17 movie, acting as a mock preview. Chloe Fineman plays Monroe, who is looking at herself in the mirror. However, three people (James Austin Johnson, Brendan Gleeson, and Gardner) enter to read her fan mail. Similar to those in Blonde, they range from admiration to incredibly demeaning messages.
The fan comments under the video overall loved the sketch. They pointed out the Saturday Night Live props department for Fineman’s Blonde costume, as well as her performance as Monroe. However, one user wrote, “Heidi was trying not to laugh since the beginning of the sketch.”
Fineman remained entirely in character for the duration of the sketch, but especially as Gardner kept reading the fan mail. Gleeson was reading positive messages from fans, while Gardner could barely keep a straight face while reading the negative ones. Another commenter said, “I expect I wouldn’t do any better sitting next to Brendan Gleeson in drag.”
Nevertheless, Gardner’s hilarious delivery had many fans in stitches in the sketch.
The movie divided many moviegoing audiences
The Saturday Night Live sketch poking fun at Blonde went over much better than the movie itself. Dominik’s film is incredibly polarizing. The Rotten Tomatoes Tomato-meter critics score is currently sitting at 42%, while the audience score is at 32%. They pointed out de Armas’ fearless and transformative performance, but they drew issue with its contribution to Monroe’s exploitation.
The audience consensus went as far as calling the movie “unpleasant,” but some critics and audiences found the film to successfully call out the misogyny in Hollywood that plagued Monroe’s life. Additionally, they pointed out the film’s beautiful visual imagery and haunting score.
