You Only Hate Jennifer's Body Due to Terrible Marketing Ruining Otherwise Great Feminist Movie

Summary:

• Jennifer's Body is generally considered a bad horror film, but it is actually one of the most important examples of feminist cinema.
• The director and screenwriter explored themes such as female friendship under the influence of the patriarchy, societal pressures on teenage girls, and female sexuality.
• The reason for the failure of Jennifer's Body was a misleading ad campaign aimed at a male audience, although the film itself was aimed at women and full of pro-feminist ideas.

Jennifer's Body, starring Megan Fox and Amanda Seyfried, is generally considered to be a mediocre horror film, and only in narrow circles of film buffs is the project recognized as an example of feminist cinema.

Jennifer’s Body Is The Ultimate Feminist Horror

Made by women for women, Jennifer's Body follows the legacy of female-led horror films such as Rosemary's Baby and Carrie. Oscar-winning screenwriter Diablo Cody deliberately chose to explore female relationships that turn to hate, and female sexuality.

The movie is dedicated to the problem of misogyny and what it is like to be a teenage girl in modern society. It's about how schoolgirls interact with each other, the expectations placed on them from the outside, the images and ideals of appearance promoted by the media.

Jennifer’s Body Explores Female Friendship

Another topic that runs throughout the film is female friendship – the authors show how patriarchy undermines and destroys it. The viewer sees girls playing social roles typical of movies about schoolgirls, but at the same time finding a strong friendship. However, the patriarchy and the men around Jennifer and Needy undermine their relationship.

Jennifer even kills the first guy only because Needy liked him, and then gets to her boyfriend. In the end, it is Needy who is forced to stop Jennifer and kill her. But after picking up a piece of the "demonic virus" from her, Needy goes in search of the rock band and takes brutal revenge on the rapists for her best friend – the confrontation with the transformed Jennifer did not kill the friendship they had.

Misleading Ad Campaign Made Jennifer’s Body a Flop

Jennifer's Body flopped immediately upon its release, largely due to marketing. The advertising campaign for the film, which was full of pro-feminist ideas and was aimed primarily at women, targeted young male audiences and emphasized the sexualization of Megan Fox.

This completely contradicted the screenwriter's and director's ideas, and as a result, the target audience did not go to see the actual Jennifer’s Body, and those the advertisers were targeting did not appreciate the movie.

As a result, Jennifer's Body became Megan Fox's sexualized body, although the creators gave the title a completely different meaning.