(#9) / Juno / (written) by Diablo Cody / (Movie)

Opening

Bibliographic Information:

Juno / (written) by Diablo Cody

ASIN: B000YABYLA / 20^th Century Fox

$6.49 (Amazon) / 96 minutes

Release date: 2007 / Rating: PG-13

Body of Content

Summary: The title character Juno (Ellen Page) lives with her dad and step-mother.  Taking place in Minnesota, Juno chronicles an unexpected love story that develops into an unplanned pregnancy, as Juno has sex with her best friend Paulie (Michael Cera).  Facing the decision to raise the child or abort the baby, Juno decides on a third option – that of adoption.  One of her girlfriends helps Juno place an ad – and soon enough, a suburban couple takes interest.  The couple is in their 30s but have unsuccessful tried to have children of their own.  The couple represent opposite personalities – with the Vanessa (Jennifer Garner) standing as a straight-laced, analytic person – and her husband Mark (Jason Bateman) comprising a more free spirit who enjoys writing music and watching old-school horror films.  But the decision to give up the child is not an easy one.  Juno must face the prospects of judgment from peers, heavy-handed advice from adults, and more than a few unexpected labor pains along with way.        

Critique: The film Juno succeeds on several levels – including a great ensemble cast, a hilarious comedy, and a well-acted, well-thought drama.  But a hidden strength resides in the vernacular of the film – as the dialogue and cultural allusions represent a realistic version of teen culture.   

The film represents physical props well – as the title character drinks Sunny-D and blueberry ICEEs.  Her room is the typical, clustered mess – complete with a nostalgic throwback – i.e. Hamburglar telephone.  The film even includes a common candied, high-school prank alluding to Tic-Tac boxes – as they overflow Paulie’s mailbox.   

The dialogue is intelligent, meaningful, but completely laced with pop cultural references.  At times, the dialogue feels like word and idiom entries from the website Urban Dictionary.  Characters within the story use phrases like “home skillet” and “pee stick”.  Elsewhere, Juno yells at her dog, “Quiet Banana. Hey shut your gob for a minute, okay?”.  Even minor characters like the convenience store clerk use teen-speak, “This is your third test today, Mama Bear.  Your eggo is preggo, no doubt about it!”  There is a certain rhythm to the dialogue, also.  Overall, the film represents conversations that real people could have – particular the scenes with multiple teenagers having lines of dialogue.   

Teaser: Juno is your typical, high-school girl.  Then, she gets pregnancy.  Is her next decision the typical response?    

Information about the Author: Diablo Cody is actually a pen name for the writer of Juno, as the screenwriter’s birth name is Brook Busey.  Cody came from a middle-class family and suburban upbringing, but she decided to quit from a copy editing job in marketing to become a stripper.  Later she decided to write about the experience in both blog and book form, including the latter titled work, Candy Girl: A Year in the Life of an Unlikely Stripper (Valby, 2007).

Cody wrote the screenplay for Juno; and since the film, she is also known for co-creating the Showtime series “The United States of Tara”.  Future movie projects include the possibilities of a film adaption of the Sweet Valley High book series and a remake of the horror classic Evil Dead (Wikipedia, 2011a).   

Supplemental Material

Genre: Comedy / Drama

Curriculum Ties: Sociology/Psychology – teen pregnancy, teen culture

Booktalking Ideas: 1) If you became pregnant, who would you tell first?  Would it be the same person that Juno told?  

Reading Level: Many teens would have interest in this film, given the emphasis on presenting a realistic version of teen culture – along with the lead protagonists (themselves) being teenagers.  The age-appropriateness could fall to grade 7 and up.    

Challenge Issues and Defense: The movie contains some language, some sexual content, and some adult themes.  The premise contains teen pregnancy and controversial issues like abortion and pro-life as backdrops.  The question becomes – at what age is this film appropriate? – And parents may have different takes on that point.  The PG-13 rating is a fair assessment of the content.  The best defense for the film is the wealth of critical acclaim – winning several awards – and appearing on multiple top ten lists by critics (Wikipedia, 2011b).  Also, although the film contains a controversial premise, the film has received positive support from both pro-life and pro-choice camps – and overall, it presents ambiguous statements regarding the issue (cf. Howell, 2008 / Freeman, 2008).

Personal Reasons for Inclusion: I originally saw the film because Jason Bateman plays a supporting 

role.  Since seeing “Inception”, I have also become a fan of Ellen Page.  Juno, in itself, is one of my favorite films within the comedy genre.

Last Thoughts

References:

Freeman, H (2008). A choice that films ignore [Article]. Retrieved from

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/jan/28/healthandwellbeing.film

Howell, P. (2008). Juno has a mind of her own [Article]. Retrieved from

http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/article/298588

Valby, K. (2007). Diablo Cody: From ex-stripper to A-lister [Article]. Retrieved from

http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20157948,00.html

Wikipedia. (2011a). Diablo Cody [Webpage]. Retrieved from

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diablo_Cody

Wikipedia. (2011b). Juno [Webpage]. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

Juno_%28film%29

Listening to (Music):

Artist – Audrey Assad/ Album – “The House You’re Building”