Adaptation of Joyce Carol Oates' fictionalized biography of Norma Jean Baker -- best known to the world as Marilyn Monroe. Recounts the life of a beautiful and talented but vulnerable woman on an eternal quest for happiness and belonging. From her abysmal childhood to her tempestuous affairs as an adult, Norma never gives up hope that she will one day have a better life. This vulnerability makes her an easy target, and those looking to cash in on Norma's good looks create the public persona of Marilyn Monroe, a woman in whose skin Norma is never entirely comfortable. The story weaves fact with fiction as it recounts the struggle of a woman striving to reconcile her glamorous public persona of Marilyn with the troubled and complicated girl that is the true Norma.