Jennifer's Body

i saw Jennifer's Body last night.

i was told to go in without expectations.

it wasn't difficult, as i was secretly worried because i'd read quite a few negative reviews of the film.

my own reaction? epic.

why can't movies like this be advertised and produced more often?

All Woman Movies.

the kind where, in feminist speak, women take back their name and write (and attempt to re-draft) their own identity.

seriously.

this movie starred and was written and directed by nothing but women.

and it had a positive message about relationships and body image.

it's the kind of movie that gives me hope. the industry is finally expanding, and it's finally becoming cool to be different, in a way.

who knows what started it, but now, sometimes, PC is becoming as marketable as sex.

"good girls" like Taylor Swift and awkward but lovable dorks like Michael Cera are taking the entertainment industry by storm.

it's a sad fact that individuality is becoming commodified, but, at the same time, you gotta love the fact that movies like Jennifer's Body are finally seeing the light of day.

it's all inevitable, really, what with things like YouTube that give people the power to choose and craft their own work and have a ready and willing audience.

and blogging paves the way for good writers, like Cody, to develop their own voice and build a fan base and get their work published and produced - unique voices laden with original thoughts and humor that previously went unheard.

granted, i can see why someone might give the movie a negative review.

people've started to pick on Cody's chosen vernacular and therefore completely disregard the real meat of what her characters say and how they behave.

i suppose they think Cody's trying too hard to be clever and hip, when, really, it's all just a discourse about the inherent absurdity of adolescence.

no, we might not be THAT ridiculous at that age, but there's no harm in poking fun and laughing at ourselves or our pasts.

and, honestly, sometimes Cody really isn't that far off, anyhow.

also, sugarcoating the pill's been a part of the film industry since practically its inception - it's Cody's way of saying, "This is serious stuff - real emotions - but let's not forget that there can be some humor and fun in this, too."

it's pitch-perfect.

Cody's fascination with the female body is also really interesting and awesome.

with Juno, the main character, a teenage girl in the throes of hormones and young love, copes with emotional needs with the most intimate physical action.

the result? 9 months of endless bodily changes that directly corresponds to profound emotional and mental growth.

more than that, the way Juno always subtly and not-so-subtly dealt with her own insecurities - especially those tied to her own image/body (i.e. when she adjusts her hipster skirt before seeing Mark and Paulie, and the way her classmates react to her body as she walks down the hall in school) - was always so spot-on that there were times when i might've gotten a little weepy and nostalgic.

in her latest flick, Cody again emphasizes the importance of Body in girl culture and ideology.

the way Jennifer purges after she eats a boy, and it is later revealed that she uses laxatives to stay skinny, all point to this Hott Girl's secret insecurities - the kind that most high school Hott Girls probably feel and are completely aware of.

the title itself is a big reminder to the audience about what the film is actually about.

this girl who has this body - that she knows to use like a weapon - and needs boys to strengthen it.

she needs boys, literally, to revitalize her body: a metaphor for the real reason why girls strive and starve stay skinny and attractive (that is, it isn't for their own health).

it's why Jennifer's biggest prize is Chip, who's the one boy in school who, even with all of her efforts to be the most desirable girl in school, prefers her best friend Needy.

(but this all also presents a really interesting dilemma because it can be read a different way: the fact that when she manages to successfully lure her prey into her trap by using her sexuality only to tell Colin that she needs him to be terrified so that she can consume him might suggest that Jennifer is, in fact, some form of an extremist feminist maneater (pun intended!).

though, maybe not quite a feminist.

maybe one of those faux-feminists, like Samantha on Sex and the City, who's actually a female chauvinist pig.)

and then comes Needy, the archetypal best friend character who idolizes the hott girl but remains in the shadows of everyone's minds when Jennifer enters the room.

her name is loosely veiled symbolism in the beginning, but, in the end, becomes ironic.

she's the one with the steady boyfriend even though she wears glasses and dorky clothes.

she only becomes self-conscious about her looks when Jennifer's involved.

and she never needs to alter her own self-representation in order to be happy or snag a boyfriend.

unlike so many other teen movies nowadays, where the positive message allegedly lies in the fact that any girl can be beautiful, or that girls can and should reflect their inner beauty in their outer beauty, Chip, like Paulie Bleaker, accepts his girl just the way she is.

even when she's wearing what's supposed to be a totally heinous prom dress.

and it's this security that drives Jennifer over the edge and motivates her to go after Chip.

she needs to know that she somehow holds some kind of power of Needy - that Chip prefers her just because she's invested so much time and energy and starvation into being hott.

but, bless him, Chip refuses.

granted, he ultimately dies for it, but it's a hero's death at least.

::sigh::

someday, Tina Fey and Diablo Cody will merge to form one super human who will forever alter the female image.

and, well, kick ass.

...someday.