"This is one doodle that can't be undid, home-skillet."

***I wrote this post over a week ago but got caught up in the election stuff. I know this makes two long posts in one day but I figured I haven't posted since Wednesday so what's the harm. Click on the title above for a great trailer for the movie Juno, which is hopefully still playing in a theater near you!***


Now that my mother has proclaimed that I should be a movie critic, I am very nervous about writing about Juno, an amazing independent movie that is nominated for the Best Picture Oscar. Until last week when the nominations were announced, I had never heard of this movie before. A new friend who is a grad student at DePaul asked a bunch of friends from the retreat I went on last week if we wanted to go see one of the Oscar nominated movies. Juno was the suggested movie so I went to watch the trailer. I fell in love with the movie just from those few minutes of the preview. Luckily I was not disappointed after seeing the actual movie yesterday.

Juno follows the surprise pregnancy of the title character, who at 16 by no means wants to be having a baby. After deciding not to have an abortion (in one of my favorite scenes), her friend suggests that she look in the PennySaver for adoptive parents who are "desperately seeking spawn," in the words of Juno's best friend Leah.

I suppose this movie could easily be classified as a "coming of age" story yet I think that classification implies something contrary to the message I got out of the movie. Coming of age implies that a character goes through a process of maturity that leads into the next phase of life, such as teenage to adulthood. However, Juno is searching to discover her place in the phase she is supposed to be in as a teenager. Being pregnant complicates the difficult social trials every teenage girl deals with in high school. It is almost as though she is backtracking to the stage of life in which she belongs. In a great scene between Juno and her father, her father asks where she's been. Juno replies "I've just been out dealing with things way beyond my maturity level." The fact that she can recognize this is proof of her high level of maturity for a 16 year old, in an ironic sort of way. It is fascinating to watch a young woman who is acting more like an adult - taking pregnancy tests, acting above the other specimen at her school, etc - become more like the teenager she should be.

It has been a long time since I have seen a movie that is so purely pro-woman with amazingly strong female characters. Most movies tend towards traditional gender roles with subtle inferences of sexism (if you're wondering what I mean, go back to last year's posts about X-Men 3 and Batman Begins). Juno, on the other hand, is empowering (enough so that I want to go see it again soon). The funny thing is, nothing about the gender dynamics seemed artificial, proving that women can dominate a movie without it either becoming a chick-flick or seem like it is trying too hard! I hope other filmmakers pay attention and start making more women heroes! In addition, the male characters show a spectrum of strengths and flaws, just as the women do. We need balance in movies instead of taking sides with one gender or the other.

For example, Jennifer Garner's character, the wife in the adopting couple, seems unlikable at first until we are shown the flip side of the relationship. I don't want to give away too much but if you see this, pay attention to who sympathies change towards Jason Bateman's character (the husband in the adopting couple) throughout the movie. I was pleasantly surprised by my own reactions in the end. Juno's father, on the other hand, is like the wise old owl and loving father, played brilliantly by J.K. Simmons. Just so you know, all the performances were brilliant so I won't go through each of them here. Watch out for Ellen Page who played Juno, though! She was amazing and brought things to the character I'm sure no one else could have pulled off.

I really liked this movie, can you tell? The last issue I want to mention is fertility and adoption. I took a class in college called "Feminism and Fertility" in the Religion department. Since that class I have developed very strong feelings about infertility treatments and adoption. Juno shows us the struggle and journey of the individuals involved in adoption - the adoptive parents, the birth parents, the friends and family of the birth parents, etc. A lot of people don't think about the pain couples go through when they are not able to conceive on their own. Most people know that adoptions take months or years to go through the system but I've found even myself thinking of that time as mere "annoyance. Society has a "normal way" that children are brought into this world and become parts of families. Even though adoption is much more accepted in modern society than it was in the beginning of the last century, it is often seen as a "last resort." It is often assumed that only people who are "defective" in terms of reproduction adopt and therefore the couple can be stigmatized amongst others, especially in non-American cultures. In this film, however, we are shown the emotional journeys of both the adopting parents and the willing birth mother (and father and grandparents). Adoption takes just as much patience, hard work, and LOVE as being pregnant yourself and having a baby. I think this movie is a strong reminder to those of who may forget this from time to time. I have even more respect for my aunt and uncle who adopted two children and for all others who take the emotional risk to help children who need families.


Juno tackles these issues and more, highlighting both the humor and sadness found in all of the characters' lives. From the stress of high school dances to the pain in the delivery room, this movie shows what is real in life and what truly matters.