A complete draft of my dissertation is now complete (mini-yay!) and though I still have a bit of tweaking and streamlining to do, I think I can safely say that I'm allowed to have a life again for at least a little while. So, I've been thinking about movies, especially movies I'd like to see, and trying to make sense of my recent interest in one particular horror film even though I do no--I repeat, do not--generally like horror films. Now, I can do a psychological thriller or an over-the-top werewolf/vampire blood-fest like Underworld, but I don't generally do strict horror of the slasher variety (and never of the unfortunately-but-probably-aptly-named "torture porn" variety). Thing is, I'm an absolute scaredy-cat when it comes to graphically-violent visual imagery, and I just have no interest in subjecting myself to stuff like that voluntarily. Of course, none of that explains why I want to see this:
What is it about this film that intrigues me? There are many aspects of it--like the exploitative faux-lesbian vibe and the power-hungry vampire girl trope--that are trite and cliched. And yet... Maybe it's because it's written by Diablo Cody (Juno, United States of Tara) and directed by Karyn Kusama (Aeon Flux, Girlfight). Or maybe it's just that I like that it has two female leads (even though one of them is evil). Or maybe it's that amidst the pandering through eroticized violence and typical slasher/revenge plot there's hint of a feminist resonance in there. Maybe just a little...?
What do you all think? Anyone else interested in seeing Jennifer's Body (no pun intended)? I'll let you all know what I think once I see it.
In the same vein, I've been wanting to see this film for ages...
...and, if I had to choose a favorite horror film, this would be it:
Friday, September 11, 2009
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
2 comments:
Congrats on the dissertation (draft)!
Personally, I'll be upset if "Pieces of Jennifer's Body" by Hole isn't on the soundtrack of that movie...nonetheless, I love the line "real evil, not high school evil."
Word verification is "hazess"...which is exactly how I feel this morning...
So, I've seen Teeth a few times and definitely love it. It's very funny and has a strange female-empowerment vibe which, granted, is at the expense of some men. That, however, is a nice flop-around from the usual horror story. I think you'd definitely like the movie, though.
I too want to see Jennifer's Body despite its horror movie-ness (I don't usually like them either) and because of all the reasons you listed. Diablo Cody's been going around talking about how the movie is a Trojan horse for her feminist values, so I'll be interested to see how that plays out. It's worth a viewing anyway, I think.
Post a Comment