The Sexualization of Megan Fox’s Body
Some films are flat out terrible. They have low ratings on popular review sites, embarrassingly low critical acclaim, are destined to be forgotten on purpose, and, frankly, deserve this. However, some movies have been abused for years for all the wrong reasons. They deserve much better than they got. Examples of some films that fall on two sides of this same coin are the 2007 Transformers, directed by Michael Bay, and the 2009 Jennifer’s Body, directed by Karyn Kusama and written by Diablo Cody. It might seem that a big-budget action film marketed to the "bros" of the world would have nothing in common with a female revenge horror flick, besides the low ratings. However, the most important common denominator between them both is the treatment of the female body. One female body, in particular, Megan Fox’s. Each film takes the traditional western style beauty of Megan Fox and uses it to their advantage. So, why is it that when Cody and Kusama make Fox look sexy, it is empowering to women, whereas when Bay does it, there is not a woman in the audience who is not uncomfortable? It all comes down to the choices the filmmakers use in their techniques that transform the movies into feminist texts that are critical of the male gaze, or simply, the male gaze personified.
There are choices in the films that are of particular interest for the concept of an empowering sexualization versus a demeaning one. If the film is viewed through the lens of the narrative structure then the viewer can take a critical look at the choices each director makes and why they have such a large impact on how Megan Fox is objectified, or not. There is either the presence of absence of self aware subtext behind the sexy and sexualizing shots and characterization of Fox’s roles. Both Transformers and Jennifer’s Body were aware of the impact of the male gaze on the audience, and how certain expectations came along with casting a woman like Megan Fox who had been objectified by the media for her entire career. Transformers had no qualms with continuing this objectification and using Fox as simply a tool for the male protagonist development and making her character a one-dimensional male fantasy.
Shia LaBeouf plays the protagonist Sam, and Megan Fox plays Mikaela who is the object of Sam’s affection despite having no idea he exists. Throughout the film, she somehow gets dragged into his world-saving adventure while looking hot and contributing virtually nothing. In one of the most recognizable scenes of the film, Sam offers to drive Mikaela home, and many of the recurring motifs of how Megan Fox is characterized throughout the film present themselves. Everything about her character is fabricated to make the audience feel as though they can possess her and desire her as Sam does. The fact that she is wearing revealing clothes is interpreted as not just a fashion choice, but an opportunity to comfortably ogle her body, and give the impression that she is, for lack of a better term, easy. As she walks home alone it is not simply Mikaela walking on the side of the road, but an invitation for Sam to pick her up and play the hero. The knowledge of cars that she shows to Sam carries the connotation of being more than information, but a signal that she is “not like other girls”, and is capable of sharing typically male interests while remaining desirable, and not threatening Sam’s masculinity. Her comment about usually falling for the more traditionally masculine guys makes it all the more satisfying when she ends up with Sam, giving hope to all the young men in the audience that Megan Fox could love them. All of these choices indicate to the viewer the value that Mikaela has within the narrative. Besides being attractive and giving Sam some motivation, the film could carry on just fine without her. This shows the young women watching that a woman exists to be an object of desire and has no agency. So, how can these choices be flipped around to empower women, and use the trope against itself?
Enter Jennifer’s Body. Diablo Cody and Karyn Kusama were aware of the reputation that Megan Fox had garnered in Hollywood. They cast her as Jennifer, the title character, for this very reason. She was the perfect popular girl to present as a male fantasy and then turn into their worst nightmare. As opposed to Mikaela, Jennifer’s appeals to male fantasy have an ulterior motive. While Mikaela is just a pretty prop, Jennifer is a beautiful girl turned demon when a group of men tries to sacrifice her to the devil, and she must eat men to sustain herself. As a motif, her clothes are revealing, but this is meant as a trap to lure men in so she can kill them. In a similar moment to the Transformers car scene, Jennifer approaches the lead singer of the band that will later try to kill her and plays the part of the dumb groupie to get their attention. Before this interaction, she even tells her best friend Needy, played by Amanda Seyfried, “we have all the power” because she knows exactly what men expect and want from her. She smiles, acts stupid, and feigns interest in their band not because she is a substanceless male ideal, but because she knows how to use her power. This demonstrates to the audience that unlike Mikaela, Jennifer is self-aware and has figured out how to use the male-dominated society to her advantage. When Jennifer becomes a demon, and the audience sees her become the predator of the men in her life the power dynamic shifts. Suddenly, her walking down the street at night or swimming in the lake alone does not have the connotation of a vulnerable woman in need of protection. The audience is fearful of her instead of for her. Even before she became a monster she was using her femininity as her power, and this just takes it to the next level. She begins to weaponize her sexuality, but not in a misogynistic way popularized by the femme fatale in a film noir. Jennifer’s use of her body is not meant to be viewed as a warning about the dangers of female sexual liberation, but as revenge against the people who used her, and made her feel her only worth came from her body when she was a human. Megan Fox still looks gorgeous and attracts the attention of the men both within the film and in the audience, but the implications change completely.
Throughout both of the films, but the two mentioned scenes, in particular, the directorial choices mirror each other by using the same types of motifs, but giving them completely different meanings within the narrative structure. When Megan Fox put on a crop top and was interested in male activities in Jennifer’s Body she was using male expectations against them for her use and empowerment. In Transformers Megan Fox leaning seductively over a shiny engine goes no deeper than making Shia LaBeouf sweat with no hidden meaning, or awareness of the trope of the hot vapid romantic interest. Each decision in the characterization of Megan Fox that Bay and Kusama made determined whether she was going to be seen as a sex symbol for men, or someone for young girls to identify with. While women continue to be sexualized for male enjoyment on screen, Jennifer’s Body gives hope to the young women growing up being told they only offer the world one thing. It is possible to use the same techniques of taking away female power to take it back, and maybe eat a few men while they are at it.
