Juno
By: Raeven Maddox
Jason Reitman, the director of the 2007 charming but completely realistic film Juno stars a 16 year old witty yet smart and mature beyond her years, high school girl named Juno who finds herself dealing with an unplanned with her best friend Paulie Bleeker. With the support of her father and no-nonsense step mother, Bren MacGuff, played by Allison Janney who also starred in the 1999 hit movie American Beauty, Juno searches for a family that is willing to raise the child in a suitable and safe home. The film draws attention to the main themes that the movie projects are that of love, relationships, the meaning of what life is, and pro-adulthood.
At first, Juno’s thought to abort the baby becomes vital because she knows that she is not capable of raising a child while still being in high school. While on her way to the clinic, she becomes creeped out and then comes to the realization that the baby “has fingernails.” As a result, she decides to opt out of going and with the help of her best friend, Leah, together they come up with an idea to put the baby up for adoption. She looks for ads in the newspaper for families who wouldn’t mind raising a child. We see throughout the movie that behind the humor and the silliness that Juno finds in being pregnant, she learns the meaning of life.
There are scenes in movie that shows Juno as she begins to take a fragile and emotional depth. We see Juno by herself in the car crying because Mark, the husband of Vanessa told her that he was planning on leaving her because of the feelings that he had for Juno. This certainly shows how lonely and isolated Juno feels because her expectation of what an “American family” was not what it ended up to be. Also, the scene when Juno is in the delivery room, we see the camera’s angle on Juno indicating that she begins to Subliminally, she begins to learn the meaning of life, especially when it boils down to carrying life within her. Not only do we see camera angles representing the loneliness of Juno, we also see scenes in the movie with her surrounding other characters that show the support that she has - family and friends.
With the movie focusing only on the two main characters, Juno and Bleeker, the movie has supportive characters and well known actresses playing roles that help make the movie as realistic and fun to watch. Allison Janney is a well known actress who is very well experienced in the acting industry. In an interview that she was in, Janney stated, “I always get offered roles of strong capable women, so I just wanted to try something a little different....” “My character in Juno is also kind of unconventional.” This shows that she is capable of performing different characters that have different personalities.
After the news was broken to her parents, Juno and her father have a talk where Juno looks for advice in her father searching for confirmation that love will last forever in relationships. There’s a lot of unspoken feelings and emotions when it comes to this particular scene because beside the witty and snarky personality of Juno, she wants to be loved. In the movie, she states “I don’t know what type of girl I am.” With the support of her loving and concerned parents, viewers see a distinct change of heart in Juno. A.O. Scott, writer of the New York Times film review of Juno, stated, “Juno” also shares with “Knocked Up” an underlying theme, a message that is not anti-abortion but rather pro-adulthood. It follows its heroine — and by the end she has earned that title — on a twisty path toward responsibility and greater self-understanding.” The movie definitely takes you on a 9 month journey of taking the responsibility of raising a child at such a young age. Juno comes with a greater understanding that carrying and a child is much more a responsibility.
Citations:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/05/movies/05juno.html?_r=0
By: Raeven Maddox
Jason Reitman, the director of the 2007 charming but completely realistic film Juno stars a 16 year old witty yet smart and mature beyond her years, high school girl named Juno who finds herself dealing with an unplanned with her best friend Paulie Bleeker. With the support of her father and no-nonsense step mother, Bren MacGuff, played by Allison Janney who also starred in the 1999 hit movie American Beauty, Juno searches for a family that is willing to raise the child in a suitable and safe home. The film draws attention to the main themes that the movie projects are that of love, relationships, the meaning of what life is, and pro-adulthood.
At first, Juno’s thought to abort the baby becomes vital because she knows that she is not capable of raising a child while still being in high school. While on her way to the clinic, she becomes creeped out and then comes to the realization that the baby “has fingernails.” As a result, she decides to opt out of going and with the help of her best friend, Leah, together they come up with an idea to put the baby up for adoption. She looks for ads in the newspaper for families who wouldn’t mind raising a child. We see throughout the movie that behind the humor and the silliness that Juno finds in being pregnant, she learns the meaning of life.
There are scenes in movie that shows Juno as she begins to take a fragile and emotional depth. We see Juno by herself in the car crying because Mark, the husband of Vanessa told her that he was planning on leaving her because of the feelings that he had for Juno. This certainly shows how lonely and isolated Juno feels because her expectation of what an “American family” was not what it ended up to be. Also, the scene when Juno is in the delivery room, we see the camera’s angle on Juno indicating that she begins to Subliminally, she begins to learn the meaning of life, especially when it boils down to carrying life within her. Not only do we see camera angles representing the loneliness of Juno, we also see scenes in the movie with her surrounding other characters that show the support that she has - family and friends.
With the movie focusing only on the two main characters, Juno and Bleeker, the movie has supportive characters and well known actresses playing roles that help make the movie as realistic and fun to watch. Allison Janney is a well known actress who is very well experienced in the acting industry. In an interview that she was in, Janney stated, “I always get offered roles of strong capable women, so I just wanted to try something a little different....” “My character in Juno is also kind of unconventional.” This shows that she is capable of performing different characters that have different personalities.
After the news was broken to her parents, Juno and her father have a talk where Juno looks for advice in her father searching for confirmation that love will last forever in relationships. There’s a lot of unspoken feelings and emotions when it comes to this particular scene because beside the witty and snarky personality of Juno, she wants to be loved. In the movie, she states “I don’t know what type of girl I am.” With the support of her loving and concerned parents, viewers see a distinct change of heart in Juno. A.O. Scott, writer of the New York Times film review of Juno, stated, “Juno” also shares with “Knocked Up” an underlying theme, a message that is not anti-abortion but rather pro-adulthood. It follows its heroine — and by the end she has earned that title — on a twisty path toward responsibility and greater self-understanding.” The movie definitely takes you on a 9 month journey of taking the responsibility of raising a child at such a young age. Juno comes with a greater understanding that carrying and a child is much more a responsibility.
Citations:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/05/movies/05juno.html?_r=0