<p>Here is how I felt about Juno: It made me recall feelings I had many years ago as a teen. I thought about sex & how it was all such a mystery … how I wondered what the fuss was all about. I got the feeling Juno shared that wonder, which is why she did the deed. I thought about how unreal it would have felt to be pregnant at that age. I would have been scared sh&#less. I understood Juno’s need to make absolutely sure she really was pregnant, and I sort of enjoyed seeing her steely resolve to just handle things once it was painfully obvious that this was really happening. I understood her conflicting emotions when faced with her choices, and I liked the little twist of the immature girl sometimes being more mature than the adults (what kid doesn’t imagine herself that way at times?). I really liked the way the adoptive parent characters played out through the movie, especially in the way that Juno realized what truly was there beyond her initial impressions. And I thought the way the father was portrayed was sort of a metaphor for young men who find themselves in such a situation … kept on the outside, maybe wanting to be a part of things but not sure they can/should speak up, and being there to share the pain & help with the healing (that part was sweet, IMO). He ran in the beginning; in the end, he stayed on the steps with Juno. I saw emotion & growth at the end. I am no film critic, but I know what I like. </p>
<p>I am no fan of teen sex. I had quite a few friends who got pregnant in h.s. back in the 70’s. Abortion was illegal in MI at that time, so they either chose adoption or kept the baby. Their lives were hardly the stuff of sunshine & fairy tales. Frankly, though, I just didn’t see this movie as glorifying teen pregnancy. I wouldn’t encourage a young teen to see it (I was always careful about what my kids saw when they were younger), but I haven’t been a young teen in a very long time. </p>
<p>I find it interesting that people can watch the same movie and see so many different things in it.</p>
<p>I’m reviving this thread cuz im too cheap to see a movie in the theater, and I just rented it tonight.</p>
<p>Like most here, I absolutely adored Juno. The dialogue may be wittier than real life, but as has been said, isn’t that true of most movies? ANd i kept thinking, I’d like to write lines and scenes like those (ND and GS,particularly the latter, also make me feel that way.)</p>
<p>I liked it as much as Barrons did, but I disagree on his take on Mark. Mark appeared to me shallow and disengenuous from the start–obviously not being honest about wanting the baby. He and his wife were a mismatch, but she wasn’t “holding him down”. He was busy blaming her for his aimlessness, stuck in teenage-hood himself. IN the end, the wife realized that what she genuinely wanted was to be a mother, not married to Mark, and Juno realized it too. That’s why she wrote her the note. And Juno wasn’t “romantically interested” in Mark–way too smart for that. She was appalled when she realized he was interested in her. Sympathy and shared interests don’t always mean sexual attraction, and the prom dance was in mourning for the fact that Bleecker was going to the prom with someone else.</p>
<p>Juno reminded my H and I both of our D; she was shyer at that age, but had and has the same wisecracking persona and an impressive ability to see beyond the usual parameters. So, we liked the character a lot.</p>
<p>And, for me, having, though somewhat older, beyond teenage, found myself in somewhat similar circumstances, with the same bewilderment of family and friends, it brought a lot back. (It’s a weird world where people ask you why you’re not getting an abortion.) Made decisions that didn’t make sense to a lot of cooler-headed, more practical acquaintances, but I wouldn’t have that wisecracking 25 year old now, otherwise (a statement, not a political agenda.)</p>
<p>How timely that this thread is revived. We finally saw Juno tonight after the recommendation of our 23 y/o son. We found it charming and loved the wisecracking.</p>
<p>I didn’t miss the lack of technology; I thought the movie was set a few years back in a working class environment.
I thought the script did a great job of setting Mark up to be cool and become Juno’s friend, then evolving to the realization that Vanessa was really the parent Juno wanted for her baby.</p>
<p>Juno is a special movie. Every once in a while, a movie is put together in a way even the director, screenplay writers and actors did not expect or intend. Casblanca is such a movie. Pulp Fiction is another. Juno is also such a movie.</p>
<p>On a separate note, I saw Iron Man yesterday and I thought it was awesome. I recommend it.</p>
<p>I recently saw “Smart People,” which I also liked, but it was a little disconcerting to see Ellen Page playing exactly the same role she played in Juno - the witty and wry teenage observer of events around her. It will be interesting to see whether she can play any other roles as her career advances.</p>
<p>I’ve seen Ellen Page in a Canadian indie flick and she was very different, an inarticulate lost child.</p>
<p>It’s always nice to be reminded of Juno. We bought it and watched special features, but since each family member had seen it at least three times, we are waiting for a viewing.</p>
<p>Have matched the Mamma Mia trailer about fifty times, though.</p>
<p>I loved Juno as well - I laughed and cried. </p>
<p>To set the record straight - Diablo Cody grew up in Chicago and moved to Minnesota as an adult where she worked in advertising and then became a stripper in order to pay the bills. She gained notoriety, at least locally, from her blog about life as a stripper. </p>
<p>The story is somewhat autobiographical although I never heard her mention ( in local interviews) anything specifically about a pregnancy, only that it was about a boy in high school that she cared about. If I recall correctly she said she wished she had been as articulate as Juno at that age so I think in a lot of ways it’s her idealized version of life as she would have liked it to have unfolded. </p>
<p>As for writing to sell tickets, I like to believe that Diablo Cody won an Oscar for screen writing precisely because she wasn’t thinking about what would sell, but rather what makes a great story. It was her first screen play.</p>
I can hardly think of 3 more different movies, and I believe you are mostly right. However, Pulp Fiction turned out the way Tarantino hoped it would but could not reasonably expect to achieve; I think the raw talent and combinatorial chemistry of the actors elevated it beyond the simple entertainment its own title implied.</p>
<p>So strange to see all of the conflicting–occasionally quite passionate–views on what I just thought was a cute, enjoyable (and thought-provoking, if you let it be) movie. Reading the first few pages of this thread, I refused to get sucked in to the dissection, but it’s hard to pass up :p</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Set in the Twin Cities, MN. References Ridgedale, which is a mall in suburban Minnetonka. </p></li>
<li><p>I didn’t notice the lack of cell phones/internet, but that’s not so uncommon. Personally, I’m more bothered when the references exist than when they don’t. They rarely add much to a story, and eventually they’ll just look dated.</p></li>
<li><p>I loved the music, but only within the context of the film. It may not have been pretty, but it just seemed to fit so perfectly with the story…this immature, childlike music that has no real place in a major motion picture, but hey, there it is! When I got home from the theatre and went to find some of the music on iTunes, I found that with the exception of one or two songs, I didn’t really enjoy it outside of the movie. I suppose that could be a sign of a really awesome or a really crummy soundtrack…to each, his own.</p></li>
<li><p>I agree that the dialogue does sound very contrived, but IMO, it sounds that way precisely because of how un-contrived it actually is. I’m always struck by that in this type of film. I’m unused to hearing “normal” speech patterns in movies, but stuttering, excess words, dumb jokes, mumbling…that’s a lot more realistic than most scripted dialogue, especially coming from teenagers! Written quotes don’t capture how smooth the delivery actually is (just transcribe some casual conversation to see what I mean). I agree that some of the lines were unrealistically eloquent/mature, but I was happy to overlook the fact :)</p></li>
<li><p>I didn’t like Napoleon Dynamite, didn’t particularly enjoy Garden State. Liked Little Miss Sunshine, which I sort of lump into the same category. Juno was my favorite of the bunch, no question. So there’s hope even for those who don’t typically love the indie style.</p></li>
<li><p>Some fitting quotes from Ellen Page, courtesy of IMDB: [url=<a href=“http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0680983/bio]Ellen”>Elliot Page - Biography - IMDb]Ellen</a> Page - Biography<a href=“bottom%20of%20the%20page”>/url</a></p></li>
</ul>
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<ul>
<li><p>I think that this film does address a lot of obvious negatives/complexities (as they’re relevant to Juno’s circumstances, which not all are), but it definitely doesn’t dwell on them. The confusion, fear, mixed emotions, social stigma…it’s all there early on, and in case you forget about it, it comes back (quote poignantly, IMO) in the end. I’m curious as to whether there are any Gilmore Girls fans among those who dislike the message of Juno. Two totally different types of entertainment, but some parallels can be drawn re: ‘glorification’ of teen pregnancy. In both cases, I think the situation is portrayed in a “life goes on” sense, neither totally positively or negatively.</p></li>
<li><p>I also think that there are some good read-between-the-lines lessons to be taken from the movie. Juno is obviously an intelligent girl with a loving and supportive family. Her best friend is a cheerleader and her boyfriend is the exact opposite of “shady character”. There’s an important “this could happen to anyone” message there. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>I enjoyed the Juno very much, but it’s definitely not what I expected to see in a comedy about teen pregnancy. Love it, hate it, or ignore it…that’s fine…but I don’t recommend judging it based on topic alone.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Acknowledging teenage sexuality and free will that not all teenagers are irresponsible and confused. Our society has a great deal of trouble with teenage sexuality. Just look at the flap over Miley Cyrus. She’s 15 and probably thinks about and experiments with sexuality more than 10 adults combined, yet we want her to sleep in big flannel pajamas and curl up with her teddy bear until she’s 18. God forbid she has a back!</p></li>
<li><p>It addresses an understated taboo in our society in the awkward relationship between the Jason Bateman character and Juno. Males are biologically driven to consider any female able to reproduce for mating, and females are most biologically viable between 15 and 21 years old. Yet we are told by society that even looking at someone under eighteen makes us pedophiles (just ignore Britney’s 16 year old skyrocket to global fame thanks to a video filmed in a high school and watch “To Catch a Predator” over and over again). </p></li>
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<p>I’m not saying that some profound relationship would emerge or that it’s healthy in our currently primitive society in which those who bear children raise those same children (rather than having elders who have manifested their potential raise the children), but not since “Beautiful Girls” have I seen a film accept that a teenager can be smart, witty, sexy, and potentially attractive to a man who could be her father’s age. I’m surprised that hasn’t gotten more flack. </p>
<p>Then again, Edgar Allen Poe married his 14 year old cousin, and he seems to have faired pretty well.</p>
<p>Ellen’s been doing tv and film for ten years. Although her roles in Juno and Smart People are somewhat similar, certainly not entirely, if you want to see her in a very different role, rent Hard Candy or Mouth to Mouth.</p>