Will Chicks Dig 'Jennifer's Body'?
Filed under: Horror
Diablo Cody has been popping up on magazine covers in anticipation of her upcoming horror flick, Jennifer's Body. So far she's hit BUST Magazine's August/September issue, and the September issue of INKED, and of course there will be plenty of Ms. Cody to go around at this year's Toronto Film Festival, where Jennifer's Body will have its world premiere.
Jennifer's Body is a unique beast because it was written and directed by women, with Cody behind the script and Girlfight's Karyn Kusama directing. Cody is also the executive producer. Naturally, Cody has plenty to say about Jennifer's Body and how it relates to women – and feminism – in the latest issue of BUST. A brief excerpt is as follows:
"It's really about girl-on-girl crime. It's Mean Girls taken to an extreme. When the alpha girl becomes cannibal-like, nitpicking is no longer enough. Now she literally has to consume flesh." (p. 40)
Later the self-professed feminist says, "The movie also references eating disorders. Jennifer's eating habits revolve around a binge-purge cycle... She actually throws up before she eats. She's possessed. She vomits disgusting black bile on her victims before she eats them. But in one of my favorite scenes, she's binge-eating out of her refrigerator. I thought to myself, 'Man, if we aren't getting it across...' I was happy about that." (p. 43)
However, when BUST posted the red-band trailer for the movie and asked its readers for feedback on what they thought and whether or not they'd see it, the overwhelming response was pretty much "Hell to the no." Also problematic for female readers who peeped this particular trailer was how it was obviously marketed towards guys.
In INKED, Cody says, "I grew up with horror movies, especially those classic '80s horror movies with teenagers in peril, adults who don't listen, women who are either incredibly heroic or incredibly sexy or both. You'll notice that the last person standing in a horror movie is typically female, which is an interesting part of the genre. I didn't want to write a modern horror movie. I wanted to write a classic horror movie. I wanted the whole vibe to be 1983, and I think we pulled that off." (p. 53)
Film critics/theorists who've read Men, Women, and Chainsaws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film by Carol J. Clover might have all sorts of arguments about Cody's feminist interpretation of the "final girl" in horror, but since I'm neither, I personally prefer the more simplistic "girls kick ass!" interpretation. However, I can't remember many final girls who were both sexy/sexual and lived to see the end of the film. (Also, I am not even pretending that I read the entire book; film and gender theory are not my strongest points.)
I am totally rooting for Diablo Cody and Jennifer's Body. I'm also well aware that while I might be part of the audience Cody had in mind, I'm not representative of the overall movie-going female audience. Of course, I have no doubt that Jennifer's Body is also making fun of the hardcore male horror audience by offering an incredibly sexy woman who also wants to eat them alive. That's like a freaking Freudian box of worms. Except for the vorarephiliacs, of course; they're pleased as punch!
The question is, ladies and gents, do you think Cody and Kusama can pull this off? Is the male-targeted marketing going to turn off any women who might otherwise be tempted to see it? Or, for that matter, what about folks who are tired of the ubiquitous Megan Fox?
(Full disclosure: I am also a freelance contributor to BUST Magazine.)
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
9-06-2009 @ 8:52PM
vegimorph said...
I'm not sure about Diablo Cody cause I've only seen Juno but with Megan Fox, purely based on the trailer alone, is going to be the start of her downfall because the acting was incredibly bad and Megan Fox just doesn't sound very appealing as a person either. I mean she sounds shallow and a jerk. People like Angelina Jolie, Amy Adams, Hilary Swank, Cate Blanchett all have beauty AND class AND good acting skills. Plus I'm just not going to see in general because I'm a guy who doesn't like horror/slasher movies
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9-06-2009 @ 9:28PM
NP said...
Yeah, uh, Cody is certainly distorting what the vast majority of final girls were like back then. They usually weren't sexy. They were generally the awkward girl scout of the group. They usually didn't have a boyfriend. They were perceived as weird.
Ugh, that aside, whether or not there are feminist undertones to Jennifer's Body (and I'm sure that'll be one POSSIBLE interpretation), my guess is they alienated feminists by casting Fox, whose career so far has been entirely about being the object of the straight male gaze.
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9-06-2009 @ 9:43PM
pinsleric said...
If you watched the trailer, or even read a plot description, you'd know that Megan Fox's character is a villain, not the final girl. The real final girl is Amanda Seyfried's character, Needy, described as Jennifer's "plain-Jane" best friend.
9-06-2009 @ 9:30PM
mezzaninex said...
Eh, I think Cody is a hack. Not interested in this film at all.
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9-06-2009 @ 9:45PM
Porcalina said...
I'm a BUST subscriber and when I read all the comments at the trailer I was pretty surprised at how HUGE the backlash was. I'm hopeful though. I actually liked the red band trailer and am looking forward to it.
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9-06-2009 @ 9:47PM
NP said...
@pinsleric: if you read my comment more carefully, you would see I'm addressing two separate things and not claiming Megan Fox is the film's final girl. Would a list help?
1) Cody's comments about final girls.
2) generally speaking about Megan Fox's potential appeal to feminists.
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9-06-2009 @ 10:57PM
Jenni Miller said...
also @pinsleric -- Needy is later described in the interview as someone who does have and enjoy sex and isn't just a "good" girl. of course, you guys all have to buy the magazine to read the rest of the interview ;)
9-07-2009 @ 12:20PM
pinsleric said...
@NP: Whoops. Looks like I misunderstood what you were saying. My apologies.
@Jenni Miller: Fair enough.
9-06-2009 @ 9:55PM
Jaded said...
When they first released that they were making this film I was interested in seeing it. I love 80's horror cheese. But after one too many interviews with that girl complaining that Michael Bay actually made her work for her paycheck and subsequent fame I've lost all interest in anything that she is in.
I really used to prefer it when actors/actresses only spoke to the press when on a junket. I could deal with the David Letterman, Jay Leno or whomever interviews where they pretty much all said the same thing... "Funny thing happened on set" or "My new baby did something funny", or "Here is my movie clip".
While I was rooting for Megan Fox at first because she was kind of a rebel, she is now coming off as stupid as Paris Hilton, and it's turning me off to watching any of her further work.
At this point I'd rather watch Lindsey Lohan paint her toenails for 2 hours.
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9-06-2009 @ 10:20PM
Holly said...
Well, I loved Juno and I loved "Candy Girl" Cody's memoir of her year as a stripper. So I have faith that Cody will be able to spin the whole "OMG Meghan Fox is so freaking hot" male gaze of the fanboy thing in a feminist way. I am very curious
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9-06-2009 @ 10:39PM
Christian M. Howell said...
Well, I'm a firm believer in the power of the girl fight, so I may be the wrong person to ask, but the trailer had some moments.
It could be my first non-superhero movie in awhile. Gore has it's place.
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9-06-2009 @ 10:49PM
Rae Kasey said...
I'm interested against my better judgment. I loved Juno but can't stand Megan Fox.
I'll see it if reviews are good enough. If not I'll skip it without too much disappointment.
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9-07-2009 @ 2:23AM
pete thomson said...
Wheither its 'feminist' or not will be down to interpretation an any movie can be given a feminist slant if you look hard enough. The movie from the casting an the trailer still pitches itself very squarely into the laps on the 18-25 male demographic. Its not going to be remarkable this is just more marketing hype. Cody is a business woman and knows her film has to make money. I know i sound cynical but Megan Fox an feminism???????????
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9-07-2009 @ 2:58AM
frankie said...
Geez, I read those comments and by internet standards, it's a lovefest. It's about 25 individuals negging it, another dozen for it, the rest neutral or side comments. And a lot of the negatives are about the marketing. Just pointing out that it is pretty hard to discern what "women" are thinking about this movie from this sample of issue-oriented commenters.
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9-07-2009 @ 4:02AM
MediaOKra said...
I love Transformers 2 but don't really care if Megan Fox gets hired back for the third. This movie on the other hand looks so fucking cheesy and the SFX look really terrible.
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9-07-2009 @ 11:38AM
ohhmads said...
Wow , maybe I'm the only one but I'm a chick , I love megan fox and I love movies like this . There different and kind of edgy . I think this looks like a great movie with a fair mix of humor and gore . Honestly I think people are way overanalyzing it . It's just supposed to be a movie for entertainment .
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9-07-2009 @ 3:21PM
Gareth Walters said...
My main concern is the fact that it's been kicking around in post-production for an awful long time, which normally bodes ill. It's interesting that Karyn Kusama is frequently referred to as the director of Girlfight (made in 2000), and rarely as the director of Aeon Flux (2005). I want this to be good (I really like Diablo Cody), but my expectations are low.
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9-13-2009 @ 4:44PM
Laurie said...
I am a woman and VERY excited to see it. From what I see in the trailers, i think it will be one of my favorite movies. not only because of the fact that women are the main characters in a horror film. But the whole "popular girl in school gone bad, and not just mean bad, but BAD bad" just sounds really interesting to me. and im not usually into horror movies. but this one sounds like it is gonna be good. I cant wait!
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9-13-2009 @ 6:06PM
Frankie. P said...
I can agree with most of the comments already posted. I enjoyed Juno, and am also a massive fan of Bay's Transformers. But after watching the sequel my interest in Megan Fox has degraded a huge amount. In the first film I saw her as a different, pretty, down to earth, kick-ass girl who hels save the day. Buf after her obvious plastic surgery and on-going exploitation of her looks I like her less and less.
I am curious to see this film to find out if there is still some hope of liking Fox for her work. I can't stand actresses who solely use their looks to get work.
What would the film even be without Megan Fox parading her body? She is the main reason for the film's 'popularity', but is the quirky story line being ruined by becoming a sole exhibition of Megan Fox's body?
I can't see much of the female audience flocking to the cinema. But I'm definately drawn to the film's story-line and edgy comedy.
(Sorry about the essay)
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9-17-2009 @ 11:22AM
mary said...
sure, i had to take my boyfriend to see rob zombie's "halloween II".....it too, was no "date movie" but then again, my current boyfriend is a horror movie buff LOL!!!.......also i, would like to fix meagn fox up with my ex!
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