Hell is a teenage girl!
Once (unfairly!) critically panned, the now cult-classic feminist horror movie Jennifer’s Body turns 15 today, and it also just so happens to be Bisexual Awareness Week. This feels like kismet, considering the film acted as a bisexual awakening for the main character and audience members alike.
For those who have never seen Jennifer’s Body, the horror flick — directed by Karyn Kusama and written by Lisa Frankenstein’s Diablo Cody — is about popular girl Jennifer (Megan Fox) and her nerdy best friend, Needy (Amanda Seyfried). While out at a local bar, Jennifer is kidnapped by an indie pop-rock band who try to sacrifice her to the devil, but it goes wrong because Jennifer isn’t a virgin. Instead of getting the fame and fortune they were promised, Jennifer is turned into a succubus who spends the rest of the film devouring young men.
Although it’s been reevaluated in recent years, when the film first premiered it was a called a flop, in large part because movie reviewers didn’t understand its feminist take on horror and because it was marketed to horny straight men who were hoping to see scantily-clad Megan Fox — hot off of Transformers fame — making out with a girl. So when they actually saw the movie and got whip-smart dialogue, a kiss shot from the female gaze, and a sexually active teen girl killing men, they were loudly disappointed.
But the film is deeply feminist and a potent exploration of bisexual attraction. While many horror movies from earlier decades punished women for being sexually active, Jennifer’s sexuality becomes the source of her power. How the fact that this was a feminist horror film went over people’s heads at the time is baffling. And there is no mistaking the bisexual themes. Throughout the film, Needy struggles with her attraction to her best friend — an almost universal experience for queer people — and the bloody horror and her battle with Jennifer becomes a metaphor for all of the unrequited feelings.
Thankfully people are finally recognizing Jennifer’s Body for the smart, feminist, and bisexual-coded film that it has always been!
20th Century Fox
When Needy waves at Jennifer while she's performing her color guard flag routine, Jennifer stops and waves back. The sweet moment introduces the pair's dynamic, and got us thinking about them being more than friends.
20th Century Fox
We were attracted to Jennifer and Kyle Gallner's emo character Colin and his guyliner!
20th Century Fox
Jennifer's Body does a great job of showing that moment in a female friendship where you'e not sure if you wish you could be just like your best friend or you desperately want to kiss them. Casual touches like this moment at school when Jennifer strokes Needy's hair are a perfect encapsulation of that familiar feeling.
20th Century Fox
While this kiss was used to attract young straight men to a movie that wasn't for them, it is a peak bi-awakening moment!
Screenshot via 20th Century Fox
At the end of the film (spoilers!), Needy and Jennifer fight while flying through air clutched together. Then, when they land back on the bed, Needy straddles Jennifer and stabs her through the heart. I mean, C'mon. You definitely don't need a degree in film studies to know what the movie was trying to say!
