Jennifer's Body

I have noticed that often such stories use sexual fluidity among young women to signify rebellion against hegemonic institutions. In stories ostensibly about conflict between women and their families and women and male lovers, hints of bisexuality are present as indications of the larger ways in which the women in question are opposing oppression.

This movie should have been awesome!
Like many feminist blog readers and pop-culture junkies, Kelsey and I have been following the hype on Jennifer's Body , starring Megan Fox as a cheerleader-turned-flesh-eating-demon and Amanda Seyfried as her loyal but mousier (Hollywood mousier) BFF, since we watched the preview way back in July. We finally got a chance to see it this Monday, and while hate is a strong word, there was one too many WTF? moments ("867-5309"?!) for us to get a feminist buzz off this flick (especially after being surprisingly touched by Whip It preview). So like the vlogging pioneers we strive to be (did you know we have a video page?) we sat down moments after the credits rolled to give our impressions, which include a primer on Diablo Cody's latest vernacular additions (:30), why we were disappointed (1:13), and of course its redeeming qualities (What? Unlike some people--JENNIFER!--we're not all filled with black bile and bloodlust. 4:19)! Check 'er out and share your own spoiler-filled thoughts on the movie! Transcript after the jump.
no seriously, spoilers

This morning’s Entertainment Weekly PopWatch blog featured a "Made Us Think" comment that provides us a choice topic for discussion over here at Bitch; particularly considering our recent discussions about women directors.

"Today’s Made Us Think comment comes from "Elly," who writes in response to Missy Schwartz’s interview with Jane Campion,

 

I suspect a large reason there are so few well-known female filmmakers may be that so many female writers, directors etc. are too focused on the lack of "just for women" entertainment, and so tend to turn out stuff with distinct agendas for distinct female audiences — i.e. the ‘empowerment’ Campion spoke of — instead of just focusing on making a good product. I see it all the time in books – I rarely read sci-fi or fantasy by female authors, because the story is usually just there as a weak afterthought to help move the rant along, the real point of the book being to obsess over what patriarchal pigs men can be. Case in point: Margaret Atwood.

That’s one theory, and it certainly got us thinking. What about you?"

As to be expected, responses in the comments section ranged from ignorant to sound:

 

In Monday’s post I asked if you could name five women directors off the top of your head and encouraged you to share some favorite females behind the lens. And WOW, between us we came up with nearly 70!

Since there are few things I enjoy more than compiling research and sharing information (Heck, it’s one of the reasons why I’m a writer) I’ve put together a list of all the women directors you posted in the comments section, along with the title of one or two of their movies. I hope it will serve as a good reference resource for sister (and fellow) feminist film geeks.

I also wanted to re-raise a question I asked in that post that wasn’t addressed: Do you think women directors (and by extension women screenwriters) reflect women’s lives and handle women’s issues more authentically than men? More responsibly?

 

So Variety has reported that Diablo Cody (Juno, The United States of Tara) is joining forces with Fox Searchlight to develop a film adapation of the upcoming zombie romance novel Breathers: A Zombie's Lament, about a recently undead man who finds love at a zombie support group. Cody won't be writing or directing the film, but she will be producing.

This is the second horror project that Diablo Cody has recently taken on and it makes me wonder: will she make more room for women in the genre?

More after the jump...