Movie: Juno

Saw this movie over Christmas with my sister Ruth and SIL Kate. I think we left with different impressions, although Really, I DID like the move, girls! Enough to NOT like this lady in our local paper who wrote these odd things in an opinion article titled ‘Juno’ more comedic fairytale than coming-of-age narrative :

Discount her pregnancy and the movie character, Juno MacGuff is the girl every teenager wants to be. A junior in high school who is pretty and precocious, sardonic and superior, clever and oh-so-cutely crude, she is one kid who not only knows the score but also knows herself.

Let me add also that she dresses in a very cute thrift-store style, wears a ponytail throughout the ENTIRE movie, no makeup, and has apparently exactly two friends, one of which impregnated her. Sounds like exactly the kind of life every girl wants...oh wait, what's that you say? Princesses are still the thing? Yes, she is everything quoted above also...so terrible, I'm sure.

With Juno’s experience as a bench mark, teenage girls could be excused for thinking that pregnancy is a little tough, but everyone important in your life – dad, step mom, best friend, boyfriend – loves you all the more because of it. They are there for you every step of the way, and if they fall short once or twice, they feel doggone bad about it.

Um, is this really THAT unrealistic? And is this supposedly conservative writer trying to DISSUADE girls from maintaining their pregnancies? Yes, yes, not every pregnant teen has a support system- but surely some of them might.

Unlike most pregnant teenagers, Juno’s the one in the driver’s seat. She even picks the adoptive parents for her baby from a “penny-saver ad” and her parents seem to think that’s fine.

I think the point of movies is to present characters that aren't necessarily average. Also, maybe that's one of the points of the movie, that she did take control, and that's what helps her deal with it. AND, her folks did go with and make sure everything was legit!

Her boyfriend... Michael Cera who manages to give personality to the role of a darned-near perfect teenage boy. (He’s a great student, a track star, and the only one who thinks sex was his idea. Oh, and he loves her through it all.)

As a fan of adolescents, I don't think this is shocking description.

Adoption takes care of the baby, and back to normal again, Juno puts her guitar over her shoulder, jumps on her bike, and rides over to Paulie’s house where the two of them jam the day away, just like before. (Fade to the credits.)

Isn't this the selling point of adoption - that afterwards you can "get back to normal"? The movie doesn't exactly show every minute of that summer, and I thought the point of that scene was their relationship, not the adoption.


Here's the rest of the article if you want your own rant.