Jennifer’s Bodyis a delicious ode to female friendships, turbulent teenage hormones, and revenge in the form ofdemonic possession. Although it was released in 2009,Jennifer’s Bodyhas only been receiving horror cult status over the last few years, rightfully securing Jennifer Check’s spot as a feminist and LGBTQ icon. Achieving that cult status now is great, but ultimately,the movie had the potential to be a hit immediately upon release, had it been marketed appropriately. The film’s director,Karyn Kusama, and writer,Diablo Cody, were disappointed that their beloved feminist film was being watered down to another sexy horror film.
StarringMegan Foxas Jennifer andAmanda Seyfriedas Needy,Jennifer’s Bodytakes place in 2009 and follows teenage girls as they navigate the hellscape that is high school. Jennifer and Needy couldn’t be more opposite, but they have been best friends since the sandbox, and it’s hard to kill that kind of love. Jennifer is popular and has the attention of all the surrounding boys, and Needy is shy, meek, and follows the rules. When Jennifer becomes possessed by a demon after a pop-punk band tries to use her as a sacrifice,she suddenly starts to have an appetite for human flesh —specifically the flesh of men.Jennifer’s Bodycould have been marketed brilliantly and been a one-of-a-kind type film back in 2009, but the marketing team had its sights set on something much more narrow-minded than feminism, rage, and revenge.
Jennifer’s Body
A newly-possessed high-school cheerleader turns into a succubus who specializes in killing her male classmates. Can her best friend put an end to the horror?
What Did the ‘Jennifer’s Body’ Marketing Team Focus On?
Jennifer’s Body’sinitial marketing basically just focused on Megan Fox. Amanda Seyfried had just come off the successes ofMamma Mia!andMean Girls, andFox was a household name thanks toTransformers.Audiences were quickly falling in love with the two actresses. However, Fox was receiving more attention at the time from a “sex symbol” type status, and the marketing team forJennifer’s Bodyhoned in on that. Seyfried’s character, Needy, is the actual main character of the movie, but if you had seen any trailers or clips fromJennifer’s Body, you would have no idea that was the case.Many of the initial trailers focused on Jennifer as being a hot, sultry woman,who was targeted entirely towards a male demographic.
Diablo Cody Wants to Make a ‘Jennifer’s Body’ Sequel
Cody is hoping that a follow-up to the classic 2009 Megan Fox-led horror flick will rise from the grave.
There’s a scene inJennifer’s Bodywhere Jennifer and Needy share a pretty passionate kiss, but taken out of context, that scene makes the movie appear to be full of girl-on-girl content. Karyn Kusama and Diablo Codyrevealed in a Buzzfeed News interviewthat the marketing team for the film suggested that Fox would host an amateur porn site to promote the film. Just when you think the marketing team couldn’t miss the feminist mark any heavier, here comes likening the film to amateur porn. Kusama and Cody also mentioned that when they questioned the marketing team about why they were so fixated on Jennifer’s looks instead ofthe important feminist themes of the film, they were met with a caveman-like response, “Jennifer sexy, she steal your boyfriend.”
Would ‘Jennifer’s Body’ Have Been More Popular With Different Marketing?
Horror movies have always fought an uphill battle, especially in 2009 when the genre was going through a less-than-stellar era. However, hadJennifer’s Bodybeen marketed appropriately, it could’ve garnered much more attention during the emergence of a more feminist movement. Kusama and Cody spoke more regarding theirfeelings about the film’s marketing to IndieWire, which they felt cheapened the actual themes of the film. The two stated that the film was to target young women around the same age as Jennifer and Needy, not boys who had the hots for Megan Fox.The film exploresfemale friendships, rejection, queerness, and all the awkward stages we go throughas high school students, all in a horror setting. In 2024, audiences are more open to somewhat taboo topics and horror lovers embrace their identity and the dark desires that fester in the back of their brains. Too often in horror movies, women are victimized and sexualized by men over and over again, to the point where they’re diminished to just an object in a film.
Jennifer’s Bodyflips that role andgives power to women who have otherwise felt powerless and unable to be bold, scary, or intimidating. Do I think if marketing had gone entirely differently for that film, it would’ve been a box office hit? Maybe not, as it was still a little too early for its time, but viewers' reception in the theaters may have been a little more positive. At that time, horror was still direct and surface-level.Jennifer’s Bodyis a horror-comedy, but it is also incredibly clever and uses social commentary to deliver subtle jokes. The “I go both ways” one-liner by Jennifer is perfectly placed now, but in 2009 that wasn’t quite what audiences were looking for. Upon its release,Jennifer’s Bodyonly grossed $31.6 millionwith tons of mixed reviews. Honestly, there were probably a lot of men disappointed that there were very few sex scenes and more than a few men who got killed and eaten
One star ofJennifer’s Bodywas particularly peeved by how the film was marketed.Adam Brodyplayed Nikolai Wolf, the lead singer of Low Shoulder, who attempts to sacrifice Jennifer for their eternal fame. Brodyspoke withThe Independentand told them the marketing team couldn’t have missed the mark harder for what the film was meant to be. He refers to the palette of the film as neon and goth but then saidthe marketing team disfigured it into something that resemblesGoosebumpsfor Maxim magazine.After reflecting on the marketing material for the film, Brody’s description is spot on.Megan Fox spoke with ETabout how, during the time of the film’s release, she was hitting a breaking point. Fox was tired of being sexualized by the public and the way the marketing ofJennifer’s Bodywas portraying her.It all felt entirely misogynistic to Fox, and truthfully, it was. Karyn Kusama, Diablo Cody, and Megan Fox are all getting their flowers now thatJennifer’s Bodyhas been cemented asa horror cult classic, but it shouldn’t have taken as long as it did to get there.
