Jennifer's Body

Let’s kick off pride month by discussing one of the gayest movies of all time, Jennifer’s Body. Now this was once a widely hated movie, it was shat on pretty universally. But since its release it has developed a cult following that truly understands it for what it is, satire. Diablo Cody wrote a brilliant and beautiful piece of campy satire and it is perfect. I have talked before about how the initial rejection of this movie was fully due to the marketing. First of all the movie was never marketed as a satire, and second of all it was marketed to men when the actual film was clearly made for the she’s and the gays.

This story turns the tides in the horror genre. Generally speaking horror movies consist of hot girls being hunted, terrorized through the woods, chased through a house. Women in horror movies are the victims. Having a film that centers around the hot girl being the demon was genius in of itself. Having her then literally feed on men just added to the turning of the trope.

First of all “Hell is a teenage girl” is a kickass opening line. The first thing I want to note here is Needy narrating. The narration alone does a great job of mimicking about a million other teen rom-coms and dramas. It’s a very common storytelling device, and a very campy one.

Now we look at Jennifer and Needy’s relationship: Jennifer calling the shots, Needy wanting to please her. This is a very common dynamic among teenage girls. Being friends since they were young really adds to why they are still friends. If these two women met in high school they would probably not have this relationship but as the plot and their relationship unfolds it's very clear that they were probably each other's first crushes.

“He thinks he’s cute enough for me, and that’s why he’s in retard math”...I’m sorry but the dialogue in this movie is just so fucking funny.

Jennifer and Needy are totally in love with each other; Jennifer reaches for Needy’s hand at the concert, Needy is hurt that Jennifer was staring at the band and drops her hand. This is our first obvious clue that Needy is clearly in love with Jennifer.

Our first evidence as to Jennifer being in love with Needy is their first encounter after Jennifer escapes the band. Jennifer is starving and yet she still doesn’t attack Needy, she runs off to eat a boy. Because men to her are disposable and she would never hurt Needy.

Further proof of their connection is Needy seeming to have some kind of telepathic connection with Jennifer. As Jennifer is attacking boys, Needy can kind of see and to an extent experience what it is that Jennifer is doing. That is so obviously meant to be more than just a best friend connection.

And then of course we have the scene that made me and many others realize that they were bisexual/gay…the kiss scene. Now this is a scene that could have very easily been catered to men. A girl on girl scene could have very easily been oversexualized, but really it was an awakening moment because it was sweet. It was tender and their kiss showed their connection.

The ending really showcases a feminist spin on a tired trope. Normally in a story like this you have a hero and a villain. The evil girl that’s hot and slutty, vs the good girl. But with Needy breaking out of the mental institution and being the one to kill the band strips the story of those labels. It also shows that these women can’t be forced into such specific boxes. We are more complicated than that.

My favorite piece of satire in this movie is that women are so often categorized by their sexual status. Virgins, or sluts and there really isn’t an in between for us. But as the band tries to sacrifice a virgin Jennifer’s sexuality is what saves her life.

This movie will always be a brilliant piece of media. Jennifer’s Body will always be a feminist horror movie that should really be taught in film classes to show how to subvert expectations and take tired tropes and turn them into something new, interesting and entertaining.