Rumpus contributor Michelle Orange just posted a scream of an article in The New York Times about women in horror films. Specifically focusing on the upcoming Jennifer’s Body, the article “Taking Back the Knife—Girls Gone Gory” details the complex role of women in horror films, and the efforts of the Diablo Cody penned gore-fest to subvert the trope of the genre.
First off, I had no idea that Diablo Cody, of Juno fame, had written Jennifer’s Body. From the previews, the film appears to be little more than a sex-and-blood vehicle for America’s current wet dream infatuation, star Megan Fox. But reading Orange’s article—which cites feminist readings of horror films and the perplexing revelation that “recent box office receipts show that women have an even bigger appetite for these [horror] films than men” to engage in a fascinating investigation of the role of women in horror—the new movie seems much more interesting than its base preview would imply.
Viewed as a sort of “Trojan horse” for feminist ideas and beliefs by Cody, Jennifer’s Body is further described by Orange as presenting a multi-layered “portrait of female identity in flux.” Heavy, intellectual stuff. And you pigs were only going to go see it to catch an eyeful of Fox eating some guy’s intestines and then making out with Amanda Seyfried. Sheesh. Men.
