Jennifer's Body depresses me. It doesn't depress me because of its more tragic aspects, as the film has plenty of levity. It certainly doesn't depress me because of a supposed lack of quality, as I consider the film easily one of the best Horror movies of the 2000s. Jennifer's Body depresses me because of how people reacted to it. How the marketing framed an LGBT Horror film directly for the consumption of men. How geek culture pre-emptively trashed the film solely for its leading actress, the notoriously angry, non-conformist, anti-Conservative and non-compliant Megan Fox. How male "feminists" sl*t shamed Megan Fox in reviews and trashed the film's fans as nothing but horny morons. That stuff gets under my skin. That stuff pisses me off. And for good reason, as the film we ended up getting is absolutely fantastic.
For all the disgusting hate that Megan Fox got thrown at her from insecure geek-bros, her performance as Jennifer Check is nothing short of extraordinary. She displays a surprising amount of self awareness that her critics never gave her credit for and pitch perfect comedic timing. Even more unexpected is just how convincing she is as a villain. Fox's all-too-knowing facial expressions and toying line delivery create a character that's convincingly manipulative, cunning, sadistic, ruthless and even scary. She has an evil smile that I swear rivals Tim Curry's. Fox also does a wonderful job playing to the more human side of her character in moments while still keeping the character in an overall unsympathetic light. If the film wasn't as impressive as it was, I'd say she carried the show.
Amanda Seyfried does excellent work in her own right as Needy Lesnicki. She's a charming, likable, funny, adorkable, an upbeat presence and a very convincing heroine and Seyfried does a wonderful job conveying her power, stubbornness and intellect. She's a very worthy final girl if ever I've seen one and the incredible screen presence she captures makes me wonder why she hasn't done more Horror films. It's also worth mentioning that her post-incarceration switch from High School sweetheart to violent harpy was hilarious, satisfying and beyond credible, and her chemistry with Megan Fox is off the charts.
I can't think of a single bad performance in this film, come to mention it. Adam Brody is arguably the most effective comedic presence in the movie, retaining an odd sense of likability despite being totally irredeemable as a character in every way. Kyle Gallner is a dorky, adorable and lovable delight in his minor role, he does a wonderful job portraying Chip's innocence and makes for a character we genuinely don't want to see bite the dust. J.K Simmons, while admittedly underused, works magic as quirky, Midwestern teacher Mr. Wroblewski. I wasn't a fan of Johnny Simmons' Colin at first (Though that may have been the filmmaker's intent. He's written as somewhat emotionally neglectful to his girlfriend, Needy, who shares far more chemistry with Jennifer. Their "sandbox love" holds a sincerity, honesty and, above all, passion to it that the dynamic of Chip and Needy sorely lacks.), but he really steps up his game near the end to help redeem his previously unsympathetic character with a rather heroic sacrifice. This is an extremely well acted movie.
Critics of the film like to dismiss the idea that this is a "feminist movie" based on Megan Fox's character taking the role of The Seductress', but they seem to miss one very important detail; Jennifer is not the symbol of female empowerment in the film. Needy is. Jennifer Check embodies what a patriarchal society superficially tells us a strong woman is. She's sexual (For the purposes of attracting males), she's callous, she's destroys men. However, these behaviors are all done out of insecurity. Out of Jennifer's desire to be embraced. She doesn't act the way she does to be empowered, she acts the way she does because this is how she's told to act. Needy Lesnicki, on the other hand, is what an actual empowered woman is in ways that are meaningful; she's proactive, she's highly intelligent, she's emotionally strong, she's confident in her own sexuality without being pressured into one direction or the other, she's stubborn and a non-conformist to the values of others. Finally, unlike Jennifer, she is not dependent on others. She is entirely her own person. The entire film is surrounded upon the discarding of masks, the revelation that it is in fact Jennifer, the sexy and all-powerful man eater, who is the weak one, and Needy, the awkward and seemingly shrinking violet, who is the strong one. If there's one thing I don't hate about the marketing in this film, it's that it helps to subvert your expectations on the true strong, independent, female character of the film.
Everything about the aesthetic of this film is glorious. It's bright, neon color scheme is beautiful and gives a very stark femininity to the atmosphere, while also feeling like a stylistic callback to the teen Horror films of the 90s that the film wishes to embody. The musical score sets a truly eerie and unsettling feeling to the film, while still feeling confidently modern and, again, deeply feminine. The cinematography is both frightening and gorgeous, some of the imagery feeling almost reminiscent of Gothic horror. (Particularly memorable is a scene of an unfocused Jennifer stalking Chip, her white dress flowing in the howling wind, as if she were a Bride of Dracula.)
Yes, in conclusion, Jennifer's Body depresses me. However, with the film's cult fanbase sprouting around a year ago and only growing with age, there is certainly hope. This is a movie with a lot of merit in multiple fields and much to say on femininity, celebrity worship, media exploitation of tragedies and sexuality and there's too much to unpackage here for it to remain a black sheep. I doubt I'll be depressed thinking about Kusama and Cody's feminist masterpiece in the near future.
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