'Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle'—The Surprisingly Awesome Character That Was Bethany

Now I have to say, as films go, I thoroughly enjoyed this one. I was gratefully surprised. Not being a computer game fan or even fan of the first film, I went along purely for my brother’s sake. It is one of those occasions where I’m pleased I decided to go with company over seeing Pitch Perfect 3 on my own (a film that I am yet to see).

The best way to describe it is: you get what comes on the label; a good laugh. Dwayne (the Rock) Johnson was great—playing a nerdy teenage boy stuck in a body he has only ever seen on the opposite side of the game screen; fabulously funny Kevin Hart, the footballer struggling through his identity as the small weakling (why am I so slow?), and the gloriously sexy Karen Gillen playing the body conscious, shy, I-hate-sports girl. All three were brilliant, even Karen Gillen, who I was worried would conform to the "smurfette principal"(a subject for another time).

But I have to save the best for last; Jack Black’s super-hot Instagram teenage girl, more interested in image than personality. This was another character I was concerned about from the trailer. I was genuinely worried that the chance for a comedian to play a self-absorbed teenage girl would be too tempting an opportunity to waste. While there were many gags about the girl in a boy’s body, I found I was chiding myself at the end. I should have had more faith in Jack Black’s integrity as an actor.

I also have to lay part of the credit to Madison Iseman’s contribution to the character at the beginning and the end of the film. Although her contribution towards our getting to know Bethany was small, her continuity of the character was essential for Bethany to be believable. Of all the characters in the film, I believe Bethany’s had the most profound and satisfying story arc.

We meet Bethany, this self-indulged, Instagram junkie, popular girl. She is exactly the sort of girl that makes every teacher’s eyes roll; obsessed with herself, yet identical to every fashion/beauty-crazed teen around her.

Of all four, including Blain, she probably had the most extreme case of the body-swap to deal with, yet this is where we see the true character of Bethany come through. After the first (understandable) freak out, ending in lunch for an enormous carnivorous hippo, who wouldn’t freak out going from gorgeous young girl to an "overweight middle-aged man?" She deals with the situation far more admirably than any of the others. Martha clings to hiding herself under a coat most of the way through, Spencer is constantly having to remind himself he is the big, brave, indestructible hero, and Blain never lets what he has lost go.

Bethany, on the other hand, soon discovers her character is the only one that can read maps—she then instantly takes on the role of guide. The fact that she has never even come across the word for a map expert before doesn’t stop her; in fact, she owns it. I believe she even refers to herself as "the map doctor," and she sure becomes the map expert.

She discovers the intriguing differences of her new body and not only comes to accept them, she comes to feel rather attached to them, saying goodbye to her new friend before leaving the game (I have never laughed so much as in that scene with the boys teaching her how her new friend works).

I would even argue that she becomes the most selfless character by the end. If that was the intention writers—well done. However, I would not say this is all through her sacrifice of one of her lives for Alex. I would say this is evident in her willingness to outstare the snake; when Spencer was bullied into touching it; in the conversation she has with Martha where she recognises Martha’s hang ups and adopts the shy loner as a friend, both in their frank conversation and the flirting lesson. Did you also notice that, by the end, there was no question that she would go into the woods alone to lead the jaguars away from Spencer? Bear in mind here the bravery this shows in her character. Her character, besides Moose/Mouse, is probably one of the most useless, physically. She cannot run or fight off anything wanting to attack her and, at this point, she is also down to one life; yet she goes. She fights at the end, for herself and her team.

The Team!

Her team here, I believe, is key. She becomes the glue, the personality, that holds and brings them together. She approaches Blain for help in regards to peeing; she reaches out to Martha for friendship; she supports Spencer in getting the tasks of the game done (the map and snake), and she is the one who fights hardest to get Alex home, even if she does have the ulterior motive of fancying him.

She is one hell of a woman, and I have to give it to Jack Black—he gave her that power! By the end of the film, I have to say I found her the character I connected with the most, largely due to how she dealt with what she was given in the game and ultimately what it turned her into at the end. I genuinely thought of Jack Black’s character as Bethany, even when he was preening around explaining how to flirt.

The film would have been a flop without her character and there was nothing more gratifying than seeing the new Bethany, at the end, talk to everyone with genuine smiles, hanging out with her new friends without the slightest hint of shame. She even voices a desire to go backpacking, where she would get the chance to reach out to her character again. She was the character who learned and progressed the most, and she is the character I would love young girls to aspire to be like.

Jack Black, you did wonders for the progress of women. Although Bethany, onscreen, was in a man’s body, it cannot be forgotten that all the fabulous achievement’s Jack Black’s character gained in that film were ultimately won by the resolve of a teenage girl.

Well done, Jumanji 2, I will be seeing you again.