Oshin Gurung

Conduct a feminist analysis of a horror movie.

In the movie Jennifer’s Body, the story is based on a popular cheerleader who is possessed by a demon where she later turns into a man-killer. Throughout the movie it shows how the lead female’s role changes after she has been possessed by the demon for example, in the beginning Jennifer is taken advantages of by the group of boys from Low Shoulder where they tell her to sacrifice her virginity to the Satan in exchange for fame and fortune. However, later in the movie we find out how the roles of gender switches as the lead female is shown as more powerful character compare to all the males.

This is a paradigm shift as in the movie when Jennifer approaches to a guy out of nowhere he is seen shocked and by switching the power of the male and female the movie helps to break down the stereotypical thought of the sexism which is created by the society as only male are strong and powerful. In the beginning of the film, Jennifer’s character was vain, slightly mean and airhead however, when she turns into an evil man eater her character became even more vain and cruel.

Usually in a slasher horror film, the killer is always a male and the victim is a female whereas in Jennifer’s Body, the female plays both the victim and the villain character. Like the name of the movie, the story highly centres around Jennifer’s body for example all through the movie the female is seen wearing revealing clothes where her chest is exposed and the clothing she is wearing causes her to stand out which emphasises she is important yet again, linking to the idea of females independence and power.

In the movie through Jennifer’s eyes, boys are seen as an objects where she seduces them and only to end up killing them at end. This can be seen as ‘The Female Gaze’ since instead of woman being displayed as an object, the man are being viewed this way by the character. Also, in the movie it portrays as how man becomes weaker when there is an overly attractive female and how they can be easily manipulated. As well as, Jennifer’s Body portrays the opposite of ‘The Male Gaze’ as after Jennifer has been possessed by the demon, Jennifer views all the boys are at school as not human and that to her they are only objects.

At the end of the film Neddy who was best friend of Jennifer, she is shown as the final girl who defeats the evil who was Jennifer as she kills her to try to stop her from continuing the evil act. However, while doing that Jennifer’s power is passed on to Neddy which later shows how she goes off to kill all of the male band members who convinced Jennifer to sacrifice her virginity.

The film portrays a friendship between two girls for example after Jennifer dies; Neddy goes off to get a revenge for her best friend. We can see how Neddy’s appearance is changed more dramatic for example at first she was seen as a quiet, geeky girl. However during a scene where she escapes from the mental facility she hitchhikes a ride and this shows how her appearance is changed through a feminist lens and it shows how through this new

Oshin Gurung

physical strength and power she is able to use this beauty to her advantages like Jennifer could.