By Anna Ornelas (Staff Writer)
Anna Ornelas, Media Arts student
It seems as though every horror movie begins with an attractive girl looking into a mirror before a scary man attacks and kills her.
Jennifer’s Body writer Diablo Cody, however, turns that cliché around.
The story centers on Anita “Needy” Lesnicki, played by Amanda Seyfried (Mean Girls, Mama Mia).
Needy is a typical nerd, sitting on the bleachers during a pep rally, wearing glasses and dating a geeky boyfriend.
Jennifer Check, played by Megan Fox (Transformers), is the complete opposite; a beautiful cheerleader that all the guys want to be with. Somehow, the two polar opposites are best friends.
Jennifer becomes possessed by demons thanks to Low Shoulder, a sleazy indie band that comes to play at Jennifer’s hometown, Devil’s Kettle.
After a fire starts at the local bar where they are performing, Jennifer leaves with the band, only to return later that night thirsting for the blood of young men.
However, Jennifer’s Body is actually a story of teenage hell.
Jennifer is a blood-sucking beauty queen who kills boys in order to look beautiful. Jennifer does whatever possible to win young men in order to maintain a vibrant glow and beautiful hair. She cons boys into sleeping with her so that she can kill them.
It’s the film’s metaphor for the popular young girls who sleep with boys in order to feel beautiful.
How many of those girls did we know growing up?
And how many of those girls do we still know?
A typical “man-eater,†Jennifer’s problem isn’t her strange new diet. It’s the insecurities she harbors inside and the jealousy she has towards Needy because of how well-respected and kind Needy is.
Despite the trite dialog, Cody adds her signature style to it, similar to what she did in Juno, adding a strange mix of slang that is easy to understand but not often spoken outside of her films.
Numerous times the phrase, “I feel empty,” reveals the underlying message of the film.
Although it’s a typical line for teenage girls, Jennifer means the line literally as her physical appearance noticeably deteriorates when she doesn’t eat a young man.
It serves as a metaphor for the way teenage girls react when they don’t have boyfriends to make them feel attractive.
Anita was the average girl that was extremely needy and revolved her life around her beautiful friend. She serves as an unlikely hero that ends up finding her inner strength and manages to become more than simply a goody-two-shoes.
Anita’s character ultimately represents more than a nerd, it represents the real girl with true beauty that comes to be truly envied because of the love people have for her.
Music plays a big role in the film, as director Karyn Kusama set up each scene with the song “Through the Trees,” performed by the fictional band Low Shoulder, which ties the film together from beginning to end.
Aside from its gory nature and scary antagonist, the movie has a great deal of comedy. Although Megan Fox’s portrayal of Jennifer can be over-the-top, she ultimately acts in the way we stereotype self-centered girls.
If Diablo Cody is on your list of favorite writers, this movie is worth watching. But if you’re interested in a film with stronger acting and more intense gore, Halloween 2 is a better choice.
