Quirky Sixteen-Year-Old Pregnancy

Rating: 7/10 (20 March 2011)

The movie Juno is about a girl who is supposed to be an average sixteen-year-old. This sixteen-year-old gets pregnant and the rest of the movie describes her conception to delivery with little quirks and interesting expressions. When Juno (Ellen Page) gets pregnant, she attempts to get an abortion. After going to the abortion clinic and becoming completely freaked out she leaves, then she goes home and decides she needs to find parents to adopt her baby as she cannot raise it herself. Juno calls her best friend (Olivia Thirlby) and together they look through ads in the newspaper until they come across one that they both like. The ad had been posted by Vanessa and Mark Loring (Jennifer Garner and Jason Bateman), a somewhat out there, fairly well off, couple who Juno ends up befriending.
The theme of the movie Juno spreads across several categories. First, there are moral implications based on the decisions Juno has to make about keeping her baby and placing it up for adoption. Secondly, Juno contains the social problem of having an unwed sixteen-year-old child with no way of raising the child. In this day and age, there are several movies that describe the negative sides of carrying this baby to term. However, in this movie, the characterization is more upbeat. Obviously, Juno struggles with her own human dignity. She is forced to make decisions that test her wills, especially when it comes to Mark Loring. Juno takes a stance that is very courageous and impressive by telling him that he is a fool for breaking things off with his wife. Additionally, Juno is about the complexity of human relationships. An example of this is the interaction between Vanessa and Mark when they choose to split up and Juno's decision to allow Vanessa to raise the baby anyways. In addition, carrying a baby causes a huge loss of innocence and causes Juno to come of age. The film displays how much Juno grows up throughout the process by giving little hints along the way. Finally, Juno is a moral riddle. There are many sixteen-year-old girls that get pregnant and decide to get an abortion. This movie simply shows another side to this dilemma.
The lighting in Juno was used to symbolize the change of seasons as well as development. It was important to notice that the seasons had changed so that the viewer could follow along the stages of Juno's pregnancy.
I was extremely impressed by the amount of emotional growth that was displayed by Juno when the movie films back to the wall in the nursery where the note that Juno left on the Loring's door step is displayed. It simply states, "Vanessa: If you're still in, I'm still in. —Juno." One last support to Juno's character is the relationship with her father (J.K. Simmons.) The movie comes back to discussions between Simmons and Page several times, and helps guide the viewer to understand a bit more about who Juno is.
I would say that the motif in Juno is based around the chair and what it resembles in Juno's life. It was the place that the baby was conceived. It was the place where Juno told her boyfriend that they were pregnant and it was once again introduced when Vanessa is sitting in a chair rocking the baby at the end of the film.
The line at the end of the movie where Vanessa looks at Juno's step mom (Allison Janney) and says, "how do I look?" and Juno's step mom says, "like a new mom, scared....," is priceless. At that point in the movie it's almost like all the emotional weight that had been baring down on Juno was then passed on to Vanessa.
Other films that came out the same year that Juno did, which show different complexities to this dilemma are Knocked Up and the Waitress. The difference between these three films is that Knocked Up and the Waitress are about young adults, whereas, Juno is more specifically about a young teen.
As I pointed out before, this film is about the emotional growth of a sixteen-year-old, I believe Ellen Page's portrayal is remarkable. Although the general theme of this movie isn't original, Ms. Page makes the movie outstanding. It is a movie that I will remember portions of for much time to come. Had it not been for Page's depiction, I do not believe this movie would have had the impact it did on me. Juno was an uplifting and tear-jerking movie which definitely touched my heart.