Megan Fox, a diabolic indie rock band, toxic friendship, fluid sexuality, feminist reckoning, and a literal man-eater in the body of a high school cheerleader: Jennifer’s Body has it all

Featuring an original interview with director Karyn Kusama

What would be an easy sell in 2021 — women at the helm (screenwriter Diablo Cody, director Karyn Kusama), a bankable cast (Megan Fox, Amanda Seyfried), and a deceptively complex skewering of gender politics — was a box office flop in 2009. In Extra Salty, Frederick Blichert flips the script on how Jennifer’s Body was labeled a failure to celebrate all that is scrumptious (as Jennifer would say) about it: supernatural horror, dark comedy, queer love, and a nuanced handling of gendered violence. The movie could have been to the aughts what Heathers was to the eighties, and it’s finally getting its due — whether in the flood of tenth-anniversary praise, the parade of Jennifer Halloween costumes, or Halsey’s nod to it (“Killing Boys”) on her platinum-selling album.

With insight into the genre’s cinematic tropes, our current cultural reckoning with misogyny, and an original interview with director Karyn Kusama, Extra Salty solidifies the status of Jennifer’s Body as a cult classic.

About the Pop Classics Series

Short books that pack a big punch, Pop Classics offer intelligent, fun, and accessible arguments about why a particular pop phenomenon matters.

Frederick Blichert's profile page

Frederick Blichert is a communications specialist and freelance entertainment writer. His writing has appeared in VICE, Paste, Xtra, Senses of Cinema, The Tyee, and more. His first book, a monograph on Joss Whedon’s Serenity, was published by Columbia University Press in 2017. He lives in Vancouver, British Columbia.

“Extra Salty is a smart and redemptive celebration of one of my favorite films of all time. Blichert breaks down every aspect of the film, from its portrayal of the 2000s pop-punk craze to its harrowing depiction of bodily trauma, in a way that is captivating, incisive, and deeply moving.” — Isa Mazzei, screenwriter and producer of Cam

“Blichert’s breezy but insightful writing style makes for a quick read.” — Library Journal

“Frederick Blichert’s Extra Salty: Jennifer’s Body seeks to right the wrongs inflicted upon Jennifer’s Body by clueless studio executives and a wildly sexist society, and offers a cogent, well-researched, and passionate argument that proves that Jennifer’s Body should not be, in the words of the boy-eating cheerleader herself, ‘crossed out’ … Accessibly written, whip-smart, and sympathetic, Extra Salty is a book about film and pop culture that will satisfy both cinéastes and casual viewers alike.” — Anatomy of a Scream

“This is a brilliant book for both fans of the film and fans of movie analysis.” — What everyone else is reading blog