It's just a movie...

Rating: 9/10 (6 May 2008)

The first time I remember seeing anything about 'Juno' was at Christmastime of 2007 while watching the commercials on TV. Being who I am I was very immediately curious. I only just saw it a couple of weeks ago... twice in one weekend, and it is one of those movies I could watch again. Being a teenager in today's society, you're exposed to a lot of these kinds of things. While I'm going to admit that 'Juno' doesn't totally express how difficult of a situation this really and honestly is, especially since my own family has experienced teenage pregnancy and adoption in its history, at a time where it was no more smiled at than it is now, I found the movie to be enjoyable.
I've seen a lot of comments on here bashing the actions of Juno and her parents, her friends, and sometimes even the very misguided Paulie Bleeker, the music, and so on. I actually enjoyed the music and found a great many of the things that the characters express remotely or truly believable... do some teenagers talk like that? Yes, they talk like that; they have sex, they drink, they do tons of other things that they shouldn't be doing but they manage to do anyways. I was actually very happy about the way Juno's father and stepmother were shown to be supportive of her. If a girl gets into that kind of situation, the least you could do if you were their parent, is to be a parent. Just because kids do these kinds of things nowadays, doesn't directly imply that their parents are messed up... but in most situations, it most certainly can.
The other thing I think about this is the way that people talk about "what is the message we're giving 16-year-olds?" Read the tag line: it may not be the most humorous, witty tag line you ever saw, but 'Juno' is, believe it or not, a comedy and that's what I'll stick by. You can't base your opinions about what is right or wrong on the media, not in today's modern world, and you can't base them off of a COMEDY. Most likely, the people who see this movie already have their own opinions about teenage sex. Personally, I consider it a bad idea - you get into situations like this, don't you, if not similarly unpleasant? Who does it really benefit? But as long as I know what's right and not let a movie decide that for me, then I'm going to say... just enjoy it, or not, whatever you personally choose.
I've seen a lot of movies, nowhere near a record-braking, couch potato type could see, but Juno is definitely one of the movies I'll hold onto. Remember... not all characters or stories are perfect. That's why we're human. I'm beginning to believe this may surpass Titanic in the "Movie Everybody Loves to Hate" category.