Jennifer’s Body is dead at the box office — or so it seems after this opening weekend. And there are a couple of likely contributing factors: 1. that it opened against a fantastic children’s film, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2. that it’s battling against people’s cumulative hate/dislike of one of the stars, Megan Fox, and 3. that a lot of the reviewers just don’t understand the film.
And why don’t they understand the film? Because it’s one of the very few honest-to-goodness feminist films out there — and more so then being feminist, it’s one of the few films that views things from a female lens. Boys are there, and make up the majority of the victims in this body horror film, but they’re not a concern. For once we have a story with female main characters who aren’t obsessing about, fighting over, or bitching about boys every five minutes. Jennifer’s Body is about women and how they relate to each other, the horror moments are there for style and allegory, but at its heart the movie is about two girls whose own toxic friendship is eating them both alive.
Hold up. You’ve probably heard the term “toxic friendship” a dozen times now in reference to Jennifer’s Body and if you’re a guy you’re likely scratching your head in bemusement. What’s the big deal about a toxic friendship after all? If you don’t like someone, you’re not friends with them, right?
Oh, if only things were so easy in Girl World. When you’re a girl growing up and going through the awkward throes of puberty and high school, you find that your best friends from childhood can be the first to throw you under the bus if it will make them look better. It’s not always the case, but almost every woman you meet has a sad BFF tale to tell. And the problem is exasperated by the fact that you have years of history with this BFF and, up until boys and training bras entered the scene, you understood and sympathized which each other.
But there often reaches a point where one, or both girls, rely too much on the relationship and each other. We’re not talking dependency, we’re talking a full-blown psychological crutch where one girl counts on the other to let her know she’s not crazy for liking that guy who’s on the swim team, that she’s not really fat like the others girls say, and that her friend will love her no matter what she says, does, or wears.
This is the definition of a toxic friendship. It’s no longer about being friends, but about needing someone else to function and often hurting them in the process. In Jennifer’s Body, Jennifer (Megan Fox) and best friend Needy (Amanda Seyfriend) have reached that point, but when Needy seems to be moving beyond the friendship by having a boyfriend and her own social circle, Jennifer starts to crack. But it really doesn’t show until, thanks to a Satanic ritual gone wrong, Jennifer ends up possessed by a demon. It’s a new toy, and something that makes her feel better about herself and better than Needy yet again.
In recounting this tale, Jennifer’s Body is packed with humor, one-liners, great moments of cheesy horror, and some poignant moments between Needy and Jennifer that will resonate with the female audience more than males. And that’s the problem.
Actually, no, that’s not the problem. That’s what makes the movie so great. The problem is that many audience members refuse to try to understand Jennifer’s Body and are subsequently calling it a failure because of that. For decades women have lived in a male-dominated world of cinema and have had to take things at face value but, thankfully, have found their understanding of men the better for it. How many male-bonding movies and buddy-comedies haven’t we watched with silent nods of “Oh, so that’s how guys interact when we’re not around. Good to know and I’m happy for that peek into something I normally wouldn’t see.”
Unfortunately, with Jennifer’s Body I’m seeing (and hearing) many males write off the parts of the film they don’t understand and, as a consequence, the entire film. What they should be doing instead, is trying to understand it as a seldom given look at the inner workings of women and their relationships with each other. When people accuse the film of having a plothole because of Needy’s constant gut feelings regarding what Jennifer’s up to, for example, they’re ignoring years of women swearing up and down about intuition.
Whether you believe in anything mystical or spiritual or not, you can believe in women’s intuition; it’s grown out of knowing a person (in this case a sandbox-BFF) so long that you’re almost in her shoes. When Needy realizes seemingly out of nowhere that Jennifer is after her boyfriend, it’s not because she’s a seer, it’s because she’s spent over a dozen years learning that that is how her friend operates; she’s a vindictive, conniving bitch, that Jennifer.
Another problem is that people, such as A.O. Scott of The New York Times, think that Jennifer’s Body is a revenge movie against boys for being the presumed predatory sex. If you think that then you haven’t been paying attention to the film in the slightest. From early on in the movie we see Megan Fox as a high school girl who is confident in her sexuality and uses it as a tool, whether it’s seducing a police cadet to avoid getting into trouble or buying drinks from the bartender despite being underage.
Jennifer doesn’t hate men — she loves them because they make her feel better about herself and she enjoys using them both for sex and power. So when Jennifer becomes possessed by a demon with a taste for human flesh, she goes after the boys. Why? Because she already knows how to bewitch them, and she’s more than in the habit of using them.
If you need further proof that Jennifer’s Body is not about revenge against the male sex, then consider this: Jennifer never goes after the indie boy band responsible for her possession. In fact, she seems bemused by their part in her fate… and potentially even thankful. So please, no more accusing Jennifer’s Body of being a diatribe against the male sex and our chance for revenge. Boys are beside the point in Jennifer’s Body, the only goal Jennifer has is to stay young, pretty, and better than her friend Needy. Boys are just a convenient way of making all three of those things possible.
In fact, if you think that Jennifer’s Body, both in title and story, is about objectifying the female body, you really need to rewatch it and reconsider. It’s about Jennifer’s greatest tool, her body, and how she uses it to hurt her best friend.
As a final defense against the negative reviews of this film, I want to quickly bring up the accusations of Diablo-Cody-speak. Some people hated it in her first film Juno, and many more hate that new Cody words are showing up in Jennifer’s Body. To these complaints I have two responses:
1. That’s how teen girls speak. They like to invent words to express their individuality and create a group identity. Slang can differ vastly from school to school and clique to clique, and because Cody integrates that into her script doesn’t mean that she’s trying to be oh-so-cool and invent slang for you. Clueless, Heathers, and Mean Girls also do great jobs at showing this tendency amongst female high schoolers.
2. Is it wrong to invent words? Need I remind anyone how many words Shakespeare is responsible for contributing to the English language? Is Cody’s right to play with the English language somehow invalidated because she used to be a stripper? Come on now.
Like it, love it, or hate it, Jennifer’s Body is a well-made movie. I have no problem with people not taking to it because they don’t like horror in their comedy or comedy in their horror, or because they hate Fox’s always-pouty lips, but don’t hate Jennifer’s Body just because you don’t understand it or refuse to. It’s time we start accepting that girls are different and movies from a female-perspective may require that you watch it with a different mindset.
If you liked this rant/review of Jennifer’s Body, check out EruditeChick’s post over at All Things Fangirl. She has some great points that inspired me to write up my own thoughts about the movie.
15 Comments
I haven’t seen the movie though reviews like this have made me interested. I don’t know about professional reviewers, but I think one of the problems with word-of-mouth reviews is that the movie isn’t marketed in any way that suggests it’s a feminist film. The ads I’ve seen are basically a blinking sign to many viewers who care about the issues you’ve brought up here to stay the hell away from this movie.
I was a big fan of Juno and thought that Diablo Cody had knack for funny, unique dialogue. However, the slangs in Jennifer’s Body was just too much for me. It had reached the point of being ridiculous. Cody is now changing the meaning of preexisting slangs such as salty, which is used to describe someone with a bad attitude — not beautiful. Slangs can only come from words that aren’t already slangs. Like “bad” meaning “good.” Otherwise, audiences will think it’s stupid. It most definitely will not catch on.
I’m reminded of that girl in Mean Girls who kept trying to make “clutch” a catch phrase until Regina calls her out on it. Someone needs to call Cody out and tell her to stop it.
The reviews for the film have been split down the middle. Some don’t care for the film, while others like it and even Fox has been given praise for her portrayal of the main character.
However, WHY it failed probably had less to do with the misunderstood female slant. Worse films have done alot better at the box office, and Cloudy was a G rated film while this is an R-rated film. Not exactly after the same audiences… however, WHY the film failed so far is still up in the air IMO. Im writing an article about that now.
I havent read your entire review, as I have yet to see the film, but I will keep my eyes open for a feminist slant and come back after watching the film.
Great review.
My wife and I went to see it. While I do think that the movie flowed a bit awkwardly at times – like a comedian that doesn’t quite have perfect timing, I think it deserves to become a cult classic.
It really felt like the comedy was lost on many people. Like they really thought it was just supposed to be a horror flick. I thought it had a great sharp wit, and I’m glad to hear the reviewer mention “Heathers,” because that’s exactly the movie that “Jennifer’s Body” reminded me of in terms of the dialogue and demeanor of the main character.
The movie also had the structure, look, and feel of a bunch of horror flicks I saw in the ’80s. It sure felt like it was intended to be something of an homage (and a parody of sorts) of those films.
So – I liked it (and obviously, I’m a guy) though I really hadn’t deeply thought of its commentary on female-female relationships. After reading this review, I do think there’s some merit to that too.
Great review!!!– I think you meant to use “exacerbated” rather than “exasperated”, though!!
great fucking piece, girlfriend.
Thanks for writing this! It’s good to know that I’m not alone in my sentiments about Jennifer’s Body. It’s a fun film! Diablo Cody has given us an enjoyable female buddy comedy/horror film and those are exactly the kind of ventures that female filmmakers need to be creating.
Found your blog through Cinematical. Thank you so much for this extremely well-written and perceptive take. I’m a guy who came in skeptical and left with his head spinning. In a good way. A very good way. Thanks to peeps like you, this movie will live and live live long.
Thanks to everyone who commented and I’m glad several of you share my thoughts on “Jennifer’s Body”!
I’m also cheered by that fact that more than a few have said that you’re male and love the film. With the divide amongst critics seemingly pointing to more males hating the film (about 70:30 for men versus 50:50 amongst women) it’s great to know that male audience members aren’t writing off the film without seeing it.
That was my entire intent behind writing this post; to put some of the negative preconceived notions to bed and encourage people to see the film for what is and what it intended to be: an allegory for female friendship told through a stylized horror-comedy.
I haven’t seen Jennifer’s Body yet, but you brought up an important point: understanding. Too many critics just write-off something because they don’t understand why a character acts a certain way or says a certain line. Just because someone doesn’t understand something does it make it worthless. Maybe a better approach is to try to understand.
Thanks, was wondering whether to go or avoid this.. Anyways now I’m gonna watch this, and will let you know after watching..
Keep rockin’, awesome review!
I love your take on the film. It is extremely smart and very outside the Hollywood box. Congrats.
I really enjoyed this movie, despite the negative reviews. I felt it was funny, I loved the new words, and felt that the sisterly relationship worked much to its advantage.
If you ask me, this is one of the differences between men and “guys”.
I went to Jennifer’s Body in the company of men, and to a man, we all walked out of the theater thrilled to have seen something so honest – and yet so fun.
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