I did not like Blonde (2022). When the film was being announced and more and more critics I respected were talking about how bad it was, I really tried to have a measured response to it. I did my best to not participate in the discourse surrounding the film because I really don't have the space in my brain for hating films I haven't even watched. I scrolled past. I ignored. I gave a cursory glance at those praising Marilyn Monroe as an actor, and moved on. I knew I was going to watch it at some point but it wasn't going to be when everyone was talking about it with this much animosity. More and more, outrage sells. We've probably all had a celebrity we once respected saying or doing something outrageous (code for transphobic or racist), and I'm just cynical enough to believe that at least some of them enjoy the attention and the money that comes from it. Bad publicity is better than no publicity in the internet age and thus the hate-watch is solidified in our cult