Before becoming Marilyn Monroe and one of the greatest female pop culture icons of the 20th century, Norma Jeane suffered emotional and physical abuse from her unhappy, mentally unbalanced mother, Gladys Baker. Defined by a traumatic childhood and the deafening absence of a father figure, Norma Jeane transforms into dazzling Marilyn Monroe and tries to break into Hollywood's film industry. Instead, she receives abuse from all angles. And with people taking advantage of her, including husbands Joe DiMaggio and Arthur Miller, more and more, Marilyn Monroe finds herself split between her glamorous public persona and her maltreated private self. It is bitter, unkind reality that crushes Marilyn Monroe's confidence in herself, causing her to become increasingly dependent on drugs, more insecure, and more convinced that her dream of starting a family will never come true.—Nick Riganas