Now almost a decade old, "Jennifer's Body" is still delighting the cult following it gained in the years after it's release and this fan—me, for clarification—in particular has gathered some notes after a re-watch. For anyone who needs an introduction or a quick rundown, "Jennifer's Body" revolves around two teenage girls, Jennifer Check (Megan Fox) and Needy Lesnicki (Amanda Seyfried). The plot of story is that Jennifer becomes possessed by a demon, after her gruesome murder, and Needy has to deal with the aftermath by stopping Jennifer (killing her, obviously). The film at its surface is a teenage horror with a bunch of great and fun dialogue, but what might be the most interesting aspect of it is the relationship between Needy and Jennifer.
They are introduced as childhood best friends who are stuck with an uneven power structure. Jennifer being the "hot and mean one" and Needy being the "nerdy, pushover one." The realm of happy friendships is not one they would qualify for and due to the elements of the story, their falling out doesn't mimic the stereotype of many other teen dramas. Yes, that can be pinned on the demonic presence, but it's not the only thing that differs it.
The other thing, is that Jennifer Check loves Needy Lesnicky. Let it be clarified that no, this is not confirmed, but in the world of theoretical analysis, there's quite a lot ot back it up. And no, I won't be going back and forth to prove the sexualities of these two character (which are definitely somewhere in the realm of not straight), but that's only because I'd like to focus on a very specific part of the film. That part being Jennifer, her personality, and the her death scene.
Jennifer is mean and egotistical, but she's a character that acts a certain way in order to hide their real emotions; not a great way to do deal with things, but it happens. She's mean to Needy, to Needy's boyfriend Chip, and she chooses to do things that might irritate Needy, like asking out Colin after Needy claims he's cool. She is very much someone who needs attention and Needy is the person who gives that to her. Needy is almost like a lifeline (hold on to that thought, we'll need it soon).
After Jennifer's possession, in order to live, she must devour boys. From her statement during the pool scene, she states "I go both ways," which shows she is able to eat girls as well. Luckily for Needy, Jennifer also states at one point during the film, that she couldn't bring herself to hurt Needy the first night she was possessed. In fact, that moment happens during the sleepover scene in which Jennifer explains what happened to her and Needy rebukes her nonchalant attitude. This scene is important. During it, Needy actually gets angry with Jennifer and for the first time, Jennifer notices a further imbalance in their once unequal friendship. Here it's clear that Needy's unconditional love for Jennifer and her borderline ignorance towards Jennifer's actions stops. This causes a rift between them and Jennifer no longer has access to Needy or her attention or her love.
During Needy's occult montage, it is revealed that demons are weakest when they're hungry and sure-fire way to kill them, is stabbing them in the heart. In the pool scene, Chip stabs Jennifer through the abdomen with a sharp, rusty pool net. It's not in the heart and therefore, Jennifer didn't die, but that's where my notes started during the re-watch.
Something connects the two teenagers throughout this entire film that is much more solid than their friendship. It is the "BFF" necklace. Although Needy has already taken her love away from Jennifer, she is still wearing the necklace where Jennifer can see it during the pool scene. Early in the movie, before after thing turns to chaos, Needy holds it up to Chip while explaining that Jennifer and her are "BFF's" (pronounced biff, not b-f-f), so it's not insignificant. The necklace holds a certain level of importance.
At the end, during the fight scene in Jennifer's bedroom, Needy rips Jennifer's necklace off of her neck mid-fight, which causes Jennifer to freeze and allows Needy time to kill her. This is the moment all of the notes I had been mentally writing down reached their peak. Theoretically, even though Needy stabbed Jennifer in the heart, I don't think that's what actually killed her.
Jennifer is mean and wants to isolate Needy for herself because she loves her, which is not healthy nor an appropriate express of love, but it's necessary for this horror equation. During the sleepover scene, Needy expresses anger, but not enough for Jennifer to think Needy no longer wants to provide attention and love to her. That's why the pool net does not kill Jennifer (seriously, a pole through the abdomen? that should have done her in). She sees the necklace and assumes some semblance of their relationship still remains. During the final fight between them, Needy rips the necklace off, which is Jennifer's confirmation that she no longer has any ounce of Needy's love. Therefore, Needy is stabbing Jennifer's heart, which is actually Needy herself and the necklace clattering against the floor is a representation of that.
Obviously, the physical heart-stabbing happens only moments later, connecting all three of these hearts into one moment. This idea isn't airtight, it's quite honestly a what-if scenario, but in the long line of best-friend break-ups, there is something different about Jennifer Check and Needy Lesnicki. The classic narcissistic character's don't have to love someone to be a narcissist, they just need to be loved. Jennifer could have seeked out love and attention from anyone, but it seems that no longer having Needy's love is what killed her. And if Needy's love was that important to Jennifer, it's safe to say not having it would break her heart.
If you made it this far, I commend you. Thanks for reading.
