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Since Diablo Cody won an Oscar for Juno in 2007, she wrote a series of memorable films with fragile but tough characters, both funny and flawed – and relatable but larger than life. His screenplay for Coming Lisa Frankenstein is set to hit screens in the summer of 2023, and buzz is already building around this ’80s take on the classic monster tale – featuring an unpopular high school girl in place of the mad doctor.
Over the years, Cody’s film and TV screenplays have shown his ability to shift seamlessly between dark humor and emotional devastation without missing a beat. From self-realization to slow motion by Charlize Theron young adult to the tragic turn and reveal at the end of tulyCody has never shied away from being brutally honest as she explores and confronts topics others would struggle to address.
By any measure, Cody’s career as a screenwriter has been a huge success. And yet, his bold work is often overlooked or undervalued when critics and fans debate the best screenwriters of the past decades. But the thing is, Diablo Cody has clearly become one of the most versatile and cutting-edge screenwriters of his generation. And for proof, just start where Cody did: with a smart 16-year-old girl facing huge decisions with a sarcastic wit and disarming confidence.
Juno (2007)
Elliot Page gave the performance of his young career in Juno, bringing superb comedic timing and understated cool to the role. Cody’s storyline follows Juno, a teenage girl navigating an unplanned pregnancy and making real-time decisions as her situation unfolds. Juno’s path leads her to an upscale adoptive couple who seem to have completely figured out her life, when in truth, they’re struggling to find their way like Juno. With a cast including Michael Cera, Allison Janney, JK Simmons, Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner, everyone in Juno seems to invent their life as they go along.
And it’s Cody’s script that gives each character a distinctive and memorable voice, especially the lead role. As Cody explained to Entertainment Weekly, “I saw writing this screenplay as an opportunity to create an iconic woman.” Funny, touching, sad and hopeful, Cody’s screenplay not only won him the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay, but it also opened the door to a bloody feminist satire about a thirsty demon-possessed teenage girl. of human flesh.
Jennifer’s Body (2009)
On his first outing, Jennifer’s body was met with mixed reviews and audiences unsure what to make of it. Was it a comedy? Horror? In fact, Cody’s inspiration for Jennifer’s body was quite simple. As she explained to Voice, “I love horror. I always wanted to do something like this – a horror movie with a female protagonist and a female villain. And that’s what I wrote.” With its feminist twist on conventional horror tropes, Jennifer’s body is truly a story of friendship between women and the development of one’s own identity and sense of self.
Early in the film, a deadly fire breaks out when best friends Needy (Amanda Seyfried) and Jennifer (Megan Fox) go see a band at a local bar. They both survive, but Jennifer ends up being ritually sacrificed by the group at the bar in exchange for fame. As a result, a demon possesses Jennifer’s body as a vessel to consume the living. Although it’s not exactly an episode of saved by the bell, Cody’s story follows Needy as she tries to stop her best friend from killing all the boys in their school. And while it’s certainly the goriest movie Cody has written, it can also be the funniest – as his self-aware, sarcastic, and tongue-in-cheek dialogue fuels each scene with memorably funny lines. Admittedly, the negative reviews and confused public that greeted Jennifer’s body disappearedand the film has now achieved bonafide cult classic status.
Young Adult (2011)
young adult tells the story of Mavis, a troubled writer on an ill-fated journey to try to reconnect with a high school flame and rebuild her crumbling life. Starring Charlize Theron, Cody’s story is about owning the consequences of his actions and how misguided confidence can mask deeper insecurities – ultimately delaying his ability to mature into adulthood. As Mavis’ comeback tour to break up her former boyfriend’s marriage goes from bad to worse, Cody’s storyline evolves the character from assured to clumsy to grumpy to emotionally broken before a series of confessions and of epiphanies puts Mavis in a position to own her life’s path and move on.
“I feel like I’m part of a generation of people who are stuck in the past and really self-centered,” Cody said. NPR while discussing young adult“I mean, we actually take pictures of ourselves and post them on Facebook, and keep in touch with people who should have been out of our lives 15 years ago. Obsessed with who’s getting married, who has kids, which is the most successful. It’s like we’re recreating high school every day using social media. And that’s weird.”
United States of Tara (2009-2011)
Toni Collette won a Primetime Emmy and a Golden Globe Award for her portrayal of Tara, a suburban housewife with dissociative identity disorder, in United States of Tara. For three seasons, writer and series creator Cody has walked a tightrope between humor and sensibility, presenting a choral comedy centered around a character with a serious mental illness. And although she claimed to have been shocked when the United States of Tara pilot was originally picked up by Showtime as a series, Cody conveyed a sense of accomplishment to Vulture, saying “We made an innovative and interesting show.”
But Tara wasn’t Cody’s only foray into the small screen. She was co-creator of Tig Notaro’s acclaimed semi-autobiographical comedy A Mississippiand wrote several episodes of Rob Corddry’s weird late-night cult hit children’s hospital.
Tuly (2018)
In tuly, Theron delivers a powerful and complex performance as Marlo, a mother pushed beyond her limits. It tells the story of an overwhelmed mother of three who develops a close relationship with her nighttime nanny Tully. The bond between the women deepens as Tully helps Marlo get through his nights. But as the film reaches its climax and Marlo survives a car accident, it is revealed that Tully only existed in Marlo’s mind and that the mother is actually suffering from severe exhaustion and sleep deprivation.
To create tuly when she herself was a new mother, Cody wrote in the Los Angeles Times that “Writing this script saved me. tuly became my Tully, my assistant, a radiant, calming presence I could return to whenever I felt overwhelmed.” It was Cody’s third film teaming up with director Jason Reitman, and she comments further down the line. Los Angeles Times article how Reitman “pointed out, astutely, that tuly would be the last logical part of our (unexpected) trilogy — Juno is to be prematurely propelled into adulthood, young adult is to withstand adulthood, and tuly is to find grace and acceptance in your 40s.”
From dark humor to emotional depth, few screenwriters have shown the scope and bravery of Diablo Cody. His complex character studies demonstrate Cody’s ability to handle sensitive issues with compassion and unflinching truth while exposing the absurdity of their situations. When the subject of the best screenwriters of his generation comes up, Cody’s work speaks for itself and his name should be among the last after the debate.