Reclaiming Jennifer’s Body
Screenwriter Diablo Cody saw significant success in 2007 with her debut film Juno, winning the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. Though the movie had its critics, its widespread acclaim meant that Cody could follow up with whatever type of film she wanted. And that’s exactly what she did with Jennifer’s Body.
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Cody intended to “write something that genuinely scare[d] her”. What was the source of her worst nightmares that she could manifest into an on-screen horror flick? Teenage girls, of course. The film follows many conventions of a typical coming-of-age movie. It showcases the heightened emotions of teenagers as they navigate high school life but instead of the traditional transition from youth to adult that we have come to expect from the genre, the titular character undergoes a transformation from a regular teenage girl to a flesh-eating succubus.
With an offbeat plot and the potential of as many quippy one-liners as Juno, the film had bundles of potential. But when Jennifer’s Body hit the theatres in 2009, it was met with an onslaught of slating reviews from critics. Criticism became an echo chamber of complaints that the film wasn’t funny, scary or as sexy as it promised. And this can all be traced back to the monumentally mismanaged marketing campaign.
Coming off the back of Transformers, Megan Fox was the sex symbol of Hollywood. The film would lead to years of objectification, sexualisation and claims that the actress would amount to nothing more than her looks. The trailers for Jennifer’s Body capitalised on this status, plastering Fox’s sexiest moments in the film all over the marketing campaign. It successfully baited flocks of men to the cinemas, desperate to thirst over Megan Fox and destined to completely miss the point of the movie.
Karyn Kusama, the film’s director, and Diablo Cody used Fox’s sex symbol status and turned it on its head. Real-life male perception of the actress was reflected on-screen, where the characters failed to look beyond how attractive she is. So Jennifer uses her sexuality to lure men (very easily) and then she eats them. Not exactly what the misogynistic fan boys were hoping to see, I’m sure, shattering all illusions that this film would cater to their regressive male fantasies.
Movie executives failed Fox by exploiting her body and failed the female creators by preventing their feminist film from reaching their intended demographic. Cody even said that she wrote it for girls, but it is not surprising that the male-dominated critical landscape would undermine the quality of art created for teenage girls. From One Direction to Twilight, art consumed in mass by teenage girls consistently becomes the target of brutal criticism that is undoubtedly rooted in misogyny. So, when a male critic says that a movie, he is not the demographic for, says “it doesn’t know what it wants to be”, roll your eyes and press play.
Jennifer’s Body expertly captures the complexities of teen female friendships. The only person who sees Jennifer as more than just a sexual object is her best friend Needy, who gets her nickname from her attachment to Jennifer. It’s clear from early on that Needy’s infatuation with Jennifer runs much deeper than friendship. Her emotions vacillate between jealousy and confusion as she watches Jennifer form connections with various boys, but their co-dependent relationships become the heart of the movie.
The perplexing blend of desperately wanting to be Jennifer and desperately wanting to be with Jennifer is an experience that many queer women can relate to, especially when you’re working so hard to repress those feelings. If you’re not yet convinced by the queer subtext of the film, the characters literally share an intensely passionate kiss, but that kiss was exploited and sensationalised. A moment that should have been celebrated by queer audiences was turned into the object of the male gaze yet again.
The kiss was reduced to fetishized ‘girl on girl’ action, and mismarketing made it look like the sole purpose of its inclusion was to cater to male sexual fantasies. It’s insulting, especially when that one kiss is multifaceted. It signifies a moral dilemma between two girls who desperately need each other, but whose paths are diverging drastically. Jennifer can eat all the men she wants, eradicating every single one, and still manage to be sexually satisfied. Despite an overwhelming desire to be with Jennifer, Needy cannot let her do this.
Having a bisexual woman play a bisexual character in a time where LGBTQ representation was scarce was highly influential, helping young sapphics come to terms with their sexuality. On its 10th anniversary, mainstream media began to re-evaluate Jennifer’s Body as a feminist horror classic, especially in light of the ‘Me Too’ movement. Women’s bodies have been the site of oppression for all of time and the film offers up a revenge fantasy where women come out on top.
'"We wanted to subvert the classic horror model of women being terrorized. I want to write roles that service women. I want to tell stories from a female perspective. I want to create good parts for actresses where they're not just accessories to men." Diablo Cody
Few people in 2009 could conceive that a horror film made by women, starring women, to be consumed by women could be so successful, but Diablo Cody and Karyn Kusama could. The wiser critics and audience members knew as soon as this movie critically panned, it was destined to become a cult classic. It is by no means a perfect film, but it’s always been a good one. If you find yourself in the category of people who didn’t like Jennifer’s Body the first time around, maybe give it another go this Halloween.
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