#PopCultureResolution - Jennifer's Body

Jennifer's Body

Director: Karyn Kusama

Length: 103 minutes

Cast: Megan Fox, Amanda Seyfried, Johnny Simmons

Release Date: September 18, 2009

Synopsis: When a demon takes possession of her, high-school hottie Jennifer (Megan Fox) turns a hungry eye on guys who never stood a chance with her before. While evil Jennifer satisfies her appetite for human flesh with the school's male population, her nerdy friend, Needy (Amanda Seyfried), learns what's happening and vows to put an end to the carnage.

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Jennifer's Body surprised me by being feminist, razor sharp, and much better than I was expecting. Diablo Cody's quip filled, darkly funny script was something that stood out to me. It feels both of its time and something that will still be enjoyable after multiple viewings. 

This 'review' really could be called 'Society Owes Megan Fox An Apology' because my main take away was how good she was in this and how quickly people turned her into a joke right after. She's actually pretty talented and people either made it all about her looks or her personal life. It makes me angry at myself that I even bought into it and never really sought out her work to judge for myself. 

I went in knowing this was very loosely inspired by the murder of Elyse Pahler. Jennifer's murder closely resembles that of Elyse (the reasons are the exact same) and this made that scene a little hard to watch. I found myself, while watching, feeling the same rage that I had when I first heard about Elyse's murder.

Jennifer's death made it a little hard for me to consider her the villain of the story because all of her actions are because of something that was done to her. It would have made it easier to root for her if she had made some different choices with who she was hunting but I still do not fully consider her the villain.

The friendship between Needy and Jennifer really is the heart of the story. Some could even say it is the love story underneath the horror. We know, of course, that there are only so many ways this can end (Jennifer is dead after all) but their connection is what carries the movie and gives it some emotional stakes.

I will end each of these 'reviews' with the question of whether or not I personally found the movie scary. It seems an apt way to end something that will feature horror movies. So, was Jennifer's Body scary? The answer, for me at least, was no. I, did however, find it darkly humourous, sharply written, and definitely quotable. It makes sense to me that this became the cult classic that it did.