Diablo Cody dishes on new film, feminism, body image

14th August 2009

Diablo Cody dishes on new film, feminism, body image

posted in Arts and Music, Body-Affirming, Bulimia, ED-NOS, Feminist Topics, Pop Culture, Purging Disorder |

Diablo Cody on Bust Magazine The incomparable Diablo Cody is on the cover of the Aug./Sept. copy of Bust magazine. The Candy Girl author and Juno screenwriter dished on her new horror film, Jennifer’s Body (named after a Hole song) and why the world needs to see more size-10 women naked. Here’s a few highlights from Jill Soloway’s interview with Cody:

On Jennifer’s Body [For a brief synopsis of the film, read here]:

…I decided instead to write a genre movie that reminded me of The Lost Boys and all the kind of movies that I used to watch when I was growing up, in the ’80s. And that’s what this movie is. What really appealed to me was the idea of working with a female director [Karyn Kusama]. I’m sure somebody will prove me wrong, but I had never heard of a woman director and a woman screenwriter creating a mainstream horror film.

…It’s really about girl-on-girl crime. It’s Mean Girls taken to an extreme. When the alpha girl becomes cannibal-like, nitpicking is no longer enough. Now she has to literally consume flesh… She eats men.

…The movie also references eating disorders. Jennifer’s eating habits revolve around a binge-purge cycle. She actually throws up before she eats. She’s possessed. She vomits disgusting black bile on her victims before she eats them. But in one of my favorite scenes, she’s binge-eating out of her refrigerator. I thought to myself, “Man if we aren’t getting that across…” I was happy about that.

On feminism, nudity and self-image:

I’m a 31-year-old feminist in Ugg boots and a T-shirt, so it’s funny to me when anyone accuses me of trying to be sexy or cute. I couldn’t do that if I fucking tried. I’m full-on rocking this post-feminist-academic-stripper attitude because I’m trying to confront, not titillate.

…I have no shame about nudity and I feel like nudity is confrontational in a way. Maybe the world needs to see a size-10 woman naked. Maybe they need to see my cellulite. I kind of feel that I would love to put that out there. Any time I do a red carpet, I feel vaguely confrontational. I feel like, “All right, now somebody’s going to come onto the carpet who doesn’t have a stylist, who did her own hair and makeup, who’s wearing a $25 dress from H&M. I have cellulite. I have big hips and big thighs. And you have to look at me.” I feel like people have to pay attention to someone who would typically be invisible.

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1 On August 14th, 2009, Mulberry said:

“Maybe the world needs to see a size-10 woman naked.”

That line struck me as very strange. To me, size 10 always seemed like an ideal. Now I know intellectually that size 10 now is not what it was when I was a kid, and it’s now considered at least “Hollywood fat”. Old impressions really do die hard. For the record, maybe the world needs to see many sizes of women naked. As well as many sizes of men.

posted on August 14th, 2009 at 1:52 pm

2 On August 14th, 2009, JupiterPluvius said:

For the record, maybe the world needs to see many sizes of women naked. As well as many sizes of men.

Yes, this. I know that Cody is living in Hollywood, but geez, the idea of self-pathologizing your slimmer-than-average body as if it’s some kind of freak show makes me sad.

posted on August 14th, 2009 at 2:13 pm

3 On August 14th, 2009, Rachel said:

Actually, in Hollywood, a size-10 IS a freak show.

posted on August 14th, 2009 at 3:04 pm

4 On August 14th, 2009, Liza said:

Please excuse my shameless self-promotion, but that issue also contains a review I wrote on Lessons from the Fat-O-Sphere.

I think that saying size-10 in any “regular” setting doesn’t seem odd, but compared to what is normally shown in movies/TV/magazines with any skin hanging out, a 10 is large. Sad, but that’s how the world is right now.

posted on August 14th, 2009 at 3:15 pm

5 On August 14th, 2009, Crimson Wife said:

I would personally like to see a whole lot LESS nudity in the media thankyouverymuch but I agree with the sentiment that Hollywood ought to stop limiting what’s considered attractive to a woman who’s tall & slender with big fake boobs. Beauty comes in ALL shapes and sizes!

posted on August 14th, 2009 at 4:39 pm

6 On August 14th, 2009, Sarah said:

well, it doesn’t really sound like a movie i would want to see, but i applaud Cody’s attitude. particularly the part where she openly defies Hollywood beautiful on the red carpet.

posted on August 14th, 2009 at 6:57 pm

7 On August 15th, 2009, cggirl said:

It’s true that size 10 is something different in hollywood than it is in regular life. But also, it’s one of those things where someone just says the size they ARE, I think, and sees that as an example of something. Which on the one hand I understand, but on the other hand annoys me a bit, cuz it’s often the attitude of women who think “it’s okay to be a little bigger than actresses and models, like i am, but not REALLY fat”. Not saying that’s what she meant, I don’t know what she meant, just my gut response, but i’ve been guilty of that myself too I think – just being self centered and thinking about the acceptability of whatever size i happen to be, instead of thinking about the broader spectrum.

Also, I don’t really buy the whole feminist stripper thing, I think I know what being a stripper is and while I don’t have some ethical problem with people who do it, a feminist statement it is not. Come on.

posted on August 15th, 2009 at 2:17 am

8 On August 15th, 2009, Kate said:

While I can admire her wit, I second you on the stripper thing cgirl. It’s very hard for me to get past how much I feel she misrepresents the industry and how “sickened” she says she is of people like me who feel that strip clubs do a disservice to women everywhere.

posted on August 15th, 2009 at 8:26 pm

9 On August 15th, 2009, rachel with a little "r" said:

I’m a little bothered by this idea of a villain who has an eating disorder and binges and human flesh. I mean…as though people with eating disorders need more negative social stigmata…besides, I should hope that someone struggling with an eating disorder would know what this movie were about beforehand and avoid it and not be pulled into seeing it on the spur of the moment by friends or something only to have her night ruined by it.

posted on August 15th, 2009 at 10:25 pm

10 On August 16th, 2009, Bronwyn said:

“I’m a little bothered by this idea of a villain who has an eating disorder and binges and human flesh. ”

Honestly I think that’s kind of the point. You’re supposed to be bothered by it. I don’t think it is in any way demonizing people with eating disorders, no more than the “mean girl” type movies are demonizing popular girls. I do hope that people with eating disorders are at least aware of it before they decide to see the movie to avoid bad feelings about it, but past that I guess I don’t necessarily think that it’s a strike against the movie.

posted on August 16th, 2009 at 12:55 pm

11 On August 17th, 2009, pg said:

I’m not crazy about her constantly bringing up her stripper past as if it’s something to be proud of. She was slumming, as fodder for her writing career, when she was stripping, and she had the privilege to walk away from it any time she chose. She never seems to talk about the many problematic sides of that business, or about women that work as strippers that can’t just walk away. Her experience didn’t give her any empathy or concern for other women. She just plays it as a “Ain’t I a sexycool postfeminist” card. It’s also a little odd that she calls herself a “post-feminist-academic-stripper” – I am pretty sure she is not currently stripping for cash. Once a stripper, always a stripper? Or is she a post-feminist, post-academic, post-stripper?

posted on August 17th, 2009 at 3:37 pm