Juno
Juno is one of the most exciting female movie characters of the decade. Bold, unapologetic, fierce, clever; she takes herself seriously, and everyone else can’t help but take this bizarre teenager seriously, too.
Juno is actually one of the decade’s most interesting movie characters of any gender: both self-reliant AND communal, creative, unashamedly weird, loyal and loving. The “being weird in high school” story line invokes Napoleon Dynamite, but with far fewer cheap shots at the characters; instead the audience can relate to and care for Juno.
Unfortunately, the movie doesn’t do Juno justice. Moreover, it sends a dangerous message to teenage girls about pregnancy.
Juno is primarily a love story - pregnancy is a subplot. This hierarchy implies that 16-year-olds getting pregnant is not as significant as 16-year-olds falling in love. Juno deals with getting pregnant, but most importantly, she ends up with the guy. How realistic is this storyline? How many 16-year-old girls in this culture will get a boyfriend out of an unplanned pregnancy?
Since the film has been praised as a realistic look at teenage pregnancy and tackling a serious subject with sensitivity, we need to have high standards for the film’s portrayal of pregnancy. Instead, Juno’s decision not to have an abortion is barely covered. The only repercussions she faces at school are a couple of strange looks. Her family supports her in a detached and unbelievably relaxed manner. The film ends with her living a picture-perfect teenage life with caring (and even sacrificing!) boyfriend, creating music that she cares about. Inevitable confusion, anxiety, doubt and pain after giving birth and giving a baby away are not shown.
Kimya Dawson’s contributions to the soundtrack are fantastic. I hope fans of the movie will check her out, because her lyrics carry poignant messages for young women.
Filed under: movies on July 25th, 2008 by Anna Lisa
I thought Juno’s decision about her pregnancy seemed precisely consistent with her character. She is brash and decisive, and chooses the option which she deems will be most interesting and difficult. The next section of the film gives her a thrilling project which she tackles with tenacity.
I felt the point of the film was that a pregnancy is a challenge for any young woman—even one who is brilliant, witty, mature and capable. Juno is not immune to the emotional content of this experience, and neither are any of us.
Many parts of this story are not shown on film, such as the birthing experience and the physical and emotional recovery. I believe this is omitted because we’ve seen it before. This is a movie about an amazing character dealing with a life-changing event, and we see the critical components of Juno’s experience.
Thanks for the review and great meeting you at Blog Indiana 2008!