Why is 'Blonde' – Netflix's Marilyn Monroe biopic – rated NC-17 instead of TV-MA?

There’s no shortage of media and memorabilia created by Marilyn Monroe and in her memory, all serving as a way to better understand the inimitable icon whose life was famously shrouded in mystery. Behind the blonde bombshell are complex feelings, deep intelligence, a storied history and an untimely death.

In one of the latest representations, Ana de Armas plays Monroe in the film “Blonde,” based off of Joyce Carol Oates’ novel. The film, like the book, is a reimagined version of Monroe’s life, fusing fact and fiction to paint a portrait of her era of Hollywood. It premieres on Netflix in September.

Activist Gloria Steinem created this complex portrait of Marilyn Monroe — one of the first that can be credited with changing the public perception of the historic actor and model.

Through stories that had never before been told, Steinem reveals the tortured feelings and intelligence often obscured behind the photos that made Monroe into the ultimate sex symbol.

Marilyn Monroe’s history is often shrouded in mystery and rumor.

But Fred Lawrence Guiles’ definitive biography “Norma Jean” sets the record straight, including interviews with some of the people closest to Monroe throughout her life, like her husband and acclaimed playwright Arthur Miller, her first husband James E. Dougherty, Lee Strasberg, Otto Preminger and John Huston.

Alongside Ben Hecht, Monroe tells her own life story in this autobiography, including her childhood as an orphan, her whirlwind romance with baseball player Joe DiMaggio, and dozens of passages that show her underappreciated intelligence and wit.

The most shocking line in the book might be Monroe’s prescient description of herself as “the kind of girl they found dead with an empty bottle of sleeping pills in her hand.”

Lois Banner’s thoughtful curation in “MM Personal” feels like you’re wading through the cabinets, drawers and closets of the historic actor and model yourself.

You’ll find a vast collection of screenshots, documents and memorabilia from Monroe’s private archive that come together to paint a portrait of her impossibly complex life.

There’s something magical about seeing the remnants left from a past life.

That’s what Stanley Buchthal taps into with “Fragments,” which includes handwritten notebooks, notes, letters and poems written by Monroe.

This 2018 biography of Monroe is considered one of the most definitive accounts of her life, based on years of exclusive interviews and research.

In addition to her abusive childhood, her struggle with bipolar disorder and infamous affairs, Charles Casillo delves into her final days in meticulous detail, revealing the tragic miscommunications that contributed to her death.

Bert Stern’s iconic “Last Sitting” photos of Marilyn Monroe, taken just weeks before her death, are combined with Norman Mailer’s 1973 biography in this photo book from Taschen.

Stern, one of the most elite photographers in the 20th century, is known for capturing the most intimate photos of Monroe.