Analyzing The Cultural Impact of Jennifer’s Body More Than A Decade Later
Since Jennifer’s Body was released in 2009 when I was only thirteen, I still rewatch it every now and then in my twenties. It’s one of my favorite cult movies, besides Mean Girls and White Chicks.
Not only does Megan Fox look incredibly hot in the film (fyi I’ve looked everywhere for her signature pink heart earrings and still can’t find them), but everything in that movie is simply iconic: the plot, the acting and the unforgettable lines — there’s just so much in the film to love, even though it wasn’t well received by critics and audiences it was marketed to when it was released.
Jennifer’s Body is the ultimate comedic-horror revenge movie against men, especially following the #MeToo movement. Watching Jennifer in the film take revenge on the symbol of culture of violence against women, and literally eat young boys, feels way too satisfying, especially as a victim of sexual assault.
In fact, the film allows us to release the repressed anger that we feel as women and as victims of sexual abuse. That’s why the film feels surprisingly cathartic, and why it’s addictive to watch.
The female gaze
While the majority of Hollywood films aim to subject viewers to the perspective of the male gaze, Jennifer’s Body breaks out of this norm as the ultimate revenge movie. Taking on the female gaze with a desexualized angle instead of a male one that displays women as sexual props, it seeks to provoke empathy for its protagonists. Female characters in the film are not just objects of desire but agents of their own will navigating within the story. It feels empowering to watch, and that’s why the film has had such an impact on female audiences.
Another reason why this film feels oddly satisfying to watch, is because there are no hints of voyeurism in Jennifer’s Body unlike many other horror movies. Instead, Jennifer demands attention from the camera, and is placed at the center of her own story. Meanwhile Needy also has her privacy in front of the camera, because we never see her get undressed or show sensual parts of her body unnecessarily, like many horror films do when their conventional female archetypes play out their deaths or escapes on-screen.
I love how there are no meaningless female characters in the movie that are there just to take their clothes off to satisfy a male audience.
Portraying female pain
When Jennifer gets sacrificed by the members of the band ‘Low Shoulder’, the main singer interrupts the spooky ritual with his knife by singing the lyrics to Tommy Tutone’s “Jenny” before slaughtering Jennifer like a hog while his bandmates excitedly join him with the song.
Carrying out a murder of a woman with twisted humor represents that the violence against women has become a mundane part of our media consumption. Unfortunately, because we hear it so often, the news of sexual assault almost falls deaf on our ears.
Megan Fox in an interview from three years ago describes the scene as reflective of how her body was being sacrificed to the male directors and movie studios at that time. She said, “that’s what they were willing to do, to literally bleed me dry and didn’t care about my health, wellbeing, mentally and emotionally, physically… As long as they got what they wanted.”
Fox’s body was exploited by the movie studios for their own benefit: more sales, more male viewers, more profits. Nobody was listening to her or providing support.
Standing up against the Patriarchy
Living in a patriarchal world made me realize how important it is to have a female voice, and to be main characters in our own story.
According to the WHO, 1 in 3 women get sexually assaulted. It’s a scaringly devastating statistic, and as a victim myself, I am weary and constantly cautious of the spaces that I navigate.
The Patriarchal system won’t go away, unfortunately, but it’s our job to protect other women, and not shame them for using their voices or their bodies to liberate themselves from the male gaze.
I’m looking forward to seeing more movies that are as empowering and catharthic like Jennifer’s Body, and I hope we continue prioritize the female gaze instead of the male one.
