Film review

Reviews

Juno
By Maria Corey

The movie Juno was released in the winter of 2007 and was immediately a blockbuster hit. It was nominated for three academy awards and won best screenplay. There are other movies that involve pregnancy but nothing like this movie. Juno demonstrates the ups and downs of being a teenager and being pregnant by showing how hard it can be to give up something that you grew to love.

Juno MacGuff (Ellen Page) is a 16 year old girl who is best friends with Paulie Bleeker (Michael Cera). Juno and Bleeker were in a band together and have the same struggles with school and family just like any other teenager, except Juno ended up getting pregnant. Juno was going to get an abortion but decided against it. Instead Juno finds a couple, Vanessa and Mark Loring (Jennifer Garner and Jason Bateman) who have been looking to adopt a child for a while. What Juno didn’t know when she agreed to give them her baby, was that their marriage was falling apart and split up around the time that Juno was about to have her child. Juno did not know if she wanted to give her child to just one parent, but she did not have many options. Juno decided to still give her baby to Vanessa who was ready to have a child with or without a husband.

Being a teenager is tough enough without being pregnant. There are hormones raging and emotions aroused, everything is all over the place. Being in high school there are many stressors like passing a course, getting along with your peers, and possibly finding someone you love. All of these things happened to Juno because she was just an ordinary girl going through the stressors of high school. Having the added stressor of being pregnant was the only difference to Juno’s life at that moment. Juno did not react to her pregnancy like other teenagers have. Other pregnant teenagers may have dropped out of school or just let their grades slip which is something that should not happen because that is what all teenagers have to base their future career on.

Teenage pregnancy is becoming more and more common today and this movie shows how some teenagers don’t think their actions all the way through. Some teenagers think they are responsible enough to have a child but they just don’t realize how much trouble it can be. Juno was a smart child who knew she wasn’t ready to have a child and gave it to someone who was ready and wanted a child. Some teenagers don’t realize how much responsibility it is and how everything changes for them. High school dropout rates increase, poverty increases, all the problems that go along with being a single mom happens when you have a child when you are too young or not ready. Nothing like this happened for Juno but it is social problems like those that happens everyday to many teenagers in America.

Juno did everything that any teenager would normally do; the only difference was that she was pregnant. When she went to school, she acted like it was any other day. It was everyone else in the school that were more shocked by Juno being pregnant than Juno was. In high school everyone talks and everyone knows everyone’s business but Juno acted like it didn’t bother her. She had other things on her mind like trying to control her feelings for Bleeker and keeping up in school. Being a pregnant teenager should not be a normal thing but it is occurring more often nowadays, which is not necessarily good thing. Teenagers are not responsible enough to take care of a child. Teenage pregnancy can be changed by teaching about the consequences of young parenthood and letting them know it is a serious matter and should be thought about seriously before making a decision.

mwalsh @ April 10, 2008