Jennifer’s Body is a 2009 cult horror film about a high school cheerleader possessed by a boy-eating demon. 12 years on, Megan Fox explains that she couldn’t be happier with the LGBTQ+ inspirational role.
Fox is reflecting on Jennifer’s Body’s LGBT+ plot 12 years later, and she couldn’t be happier with its influence. This contemporary pillar of queer cinema explores the relationship between Jennifer (Megan Fox) and Needy (Amanda Seyfried).
The horror-comedy was initially panned as a flop before becoming a feminist cult hit. It’s a film that has prompted a large number of women to come out of the closet.
One of the film’s most memorable moments includes a passionate sleepover makeup session; which has since inspired a generation of young queer girls to come to terms with their own sexual identities.
Fox explains to the New York Post,
“I can’t tell you how many girls, from 30 down into their teens — or, f–k that, my age, too — come up to me and are like, ‘I realized I was gay because of you,’ or ‘I felt comfortable coming out because of you,’ because of ‘Jennifer’s Body’ and the interviews I did about being bisexual before it was cool.”
A Queer Icon
Megan Fox speaks to InStyle about her status as a gay icon. She explains,
“A girl will come up to me and be like, ‘you had a lot to do with me, like, identifying and understanding that I’m gay, or understanding that I’m bisexual’. And that is, of course, by far the most moving or rewarding thing that I have experienced in my life. To be a part of something which helps people figure that out or helps people feel better about that. So, one of my favourite things that I get called is being, like, a bi icon. That’s one of the things I’m most proud of.”
Nine years post-release, Jennifer’s Body now shows up on New York Times’ lists of great horror movies directed by women. The Telegraph refers to it as Cody’s “oddest and most intriguing work.” Syfy Wire declares it as “still socially relevant.”
“I’m sure that if the film opened today, it would be a sleeper hit,” says Horror Geek Life in February.
“As it is, one day they’ll be teaching it at the intersections of cinema studies, film theory, and women’s studies.”
Fox’s career is flourishing right now, with her most recent performance in Netflix’s highly anticipated vampire flick Night Teeth. Benny (Jorge Lendeborg Jr.), a chauffeur, takes Blaire (Debby Ryan) and Zoe (Lucy Fry) to a series of nightclubs in Los Angeles before realising they are vampires. The director is Adam Randall, with a script written by Brent Dillon. The film is now available to watch on Netflix.
Subscribe to FIB’s Weekly Breaking News Report for your weekly dose of music, fashion and pop culture news!
