"The Self-Manufacture of Megan Fox"

The New York Times has posted a long and interesting article on Megan Fox from interviews with the actress from just after Jennifer's Body failed at the box office, during the week the was prepping for her SNL appearance with a follow-up a month later. The article gets into her attempt to have a provocative (both verbally and physically) public persona while maintaining a private life. She tried to model her after Angelina Jolie (see tats, lip injections, and statements for proof) but the result has been a career that remains on unsteady ground despite the success of Transformers. The article can be found here and worth the read.

I actually like her Megan Fox (and not just for her looks) but then I have a fondness for direct bluntness which is rare nowadays (and often vilified). However, Hollywood stardom is grounded on how the public perceives and wants you. There are many possibilities from the slutty, dumb, sexy and more but the one that has consistently proven to be the most successful is the girl next door (see Nicole Kidman, Sandra Bullock, Julia Roberts, etc). They come across as the perfect girlfriend for the guys and the BFF for the girls. Instead, Fox has essentially become every guys' dream one night stand (looked back with pride but never brought home to meet mom) and someone women would want to hang with for some fun but not want to be friends with. Basically, Fox needs to seem more like a friend rather than a f$#@-friend.

Her best teachers are not just Jolie, but Tom Hanks, Will Smith, Reese Witherspoon, even Shia LaBeouf and really all the members of the $20 million per film club. Notice that the only time we hear about them is when they have their next project or charity to sell. Then they come across as a great person ("like me"), almost a good friend until the pitch is done and then exit the stage until next time. It works for them, there is no reason it can't work for Megan Fox. Just getting written about isn't sufficient (see Lindsay Lohan for that), it’s the quality that matters. She has plenty of time to repair her image thanks to Transformers 3, but she only has this last chance to decide exactly what she wants her public persona to be. She can continue on the Jolie track but that one is clearly not working.