By: Judymarie Gaps, Poetry Reviewer
Celebrity poetry has become a common way for society’s “deep” artists to bare their souls to an audience of active and avid readers. Well-known socialites such as Lana Del Rey, Lili Reinhart, and Gabbie Hanna have all thrown their hat in the ring of literary opinion, some gaining critical acclaim and others meeting heavy criticism. Another addition to this small group of celebrity poets is Megan Fox. She is best known for her roles as Jennifer in Jennifer’s Body, Mikaela Banes in the Transformers series, and April O’Neil in the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies.
Fox has had two serious partners: first, her former husband, Brian Austin Green, and then her former fiancé, Machine Gun Kelly. Her career and relationships have clearly shaped the way she sees the world, and so she released a book of poetry with a powerful title, Pretty Boys Are Poisonous.
Upon opening the book, readers can understand exactly what type of poetry this is going to be: modern and short. Fox spends a majority of the book writing 1-2 sentence poems that could have just as easily been statements spoken aloud or in the caption of an Instagram post. They hold no substance other than to be a “gotcha” for her former lovers and the general media. This book was a hard read, not due to its length or vocabulary, but due to its monotony. The book lacked substance and passion, clearly holding the audience at arm’s length in a way that made the book inaccessible to anyone but Fox herself. A majority of the book is unrelatable to a general audience, because Fox reads as having a “rich girl victim” complex.
However, there were some redeemable moments from the collection of poetry: “At this point you will remind me that my / silence is in equal proportion to my love / and so under the watchful gaze of your / management / i dutifully set out on my hero’s journey / to prove my loyalty by taking your secrets / to my grave.” This moment is one of a few clear pictures into Fox’s life, giving the audience a sentence that is relatable and easy to empathize with.
Another poignant moment was when Fox said, “Maybe the original sin / was a man / taking a woman / for granted.” It is clear that Megan Fox has lived and learned, and it is undeniable that her relationships have been strewn with pain and abuse. While not many can relate to her class, all women can relate to the idea of a man letting them down in some way.
Additionally, Fox irregularly uses the pages, often choosing to keep pages blank for seemingly no reason. This could have been to make the book appear larger than it actually is, but it is simply a waste of paper and shows a lack of care on Fox and the publisher’s part. Upon finishing the book, there is a desire for more from the reader. There is much more that the author could have said about her life and experiences, but it seems as if this collection of poetry was made hastily. The biggest tragedy is the empty pages that yearn to be written on. If only Fox had bestowed them with that gift, the collection might be complete.
One of the saving graces of this book is its illustration. Audrey Kawasaki illustrated this book and did an amazing job. She created some amazing work that fit right into Megan Fox’s depictions of herself as the scorned woman. Kawasaki provided us with pictures of women in their purest form, surrounded by the plights of the world. The illustrator also gave us intimate scenes that demonstrate the exterior moments of Megan Fox’s internal musings. Using an illustrator was a great choice on the part of Fox and her publisher, as these images served to break the tension a bit and lengthened the short book enough to be feasible as a collection.
Overall, this book of poetry was simply okay. Not amazing, not terrible— just okay. It gave the world a peephole into Fox’s life, no more and no less. There is much to be desired when it comes to the length of Fox’s poems and to her descriptions. The opportunity was apparent for Fox to create a work that women of all ages could relate to, yet she fell short. Her book read as the diary of a rich girl who stayed in some awful relationships, instead of endeavoring to explain how she found it in herself to stand up and leave.
Hopefully, Fox chooses to write more in-depth poetry, as there is much wisdom she could impart if she put her mind to it.