A "Must See" For Family-oriented Adults

Rating: 10/10 (23 July 2016)

"Juno" is a "must see" for any person over 40 who is interested in "the human condition." Before I explain why, I must emphasize that this is a very wholesome movie.
Even though there is a "sex" scene, it is not in the slightest bit prurient or pornographic; it is "tastefully done." It fits into the natural flow of the movie; the over-all message would be less without it. I would not have hesitated to take any of my three daughters or their girlfriends to see it when they were 16-18. (All my children are over 30 now. They are all married and have children of their own.)
Here are some examples of the kind of insights into (or questions about) the human condition the movie has to offer. In the movie itself, these examples go by pretty fast; they are little sidelights to the main plot. Hopefully my comments will encourage you both to see the movie, and to increase your enjoyment of it when you do see it.
1) Juno's Asian classmate, Su-Chin, is picketing the abortion clinic. Previously pictured as a mousy type, it is a pleasant surprise to find out she is quite spunky.
In real life, do not people often turn out to have admirable hidden qualities when you get to know them better?
2) Su-Chin says many things to Juno at the abortion clinic, but the one that stuck was, "It already has fingernails."
Isn't it amazing how such tiny things often to be the "swingers" when we are making a big decision?
Or, maybe our subconscious focuses the attention of our consciousness on such trivia as a kind of distraction so that we will hurry up and do what our subconscious wants us to do?
3) The comments of the adult MacGuffs (Bren and Mac) show great insight into Juno's situation. AND, Bren and Mac are totally on Juno's side. Not wanting to exert too much control on the one hand, wanting things to go as smoothly as possible for Juno, on the other hand. (J.K.Simmons performance as Mac was outstanding, BTW.)
Does not God often give "special wisdom" to parents to help them raise their children?
When Juno is not there, Mac says to Bren, "I wonder whose idea it was"? Bren says, "We know whose idea it was." Mac and Bren know Juno better than she knows herself, and they care about her. Far more than Juno is able to comprehend.
Do not our own parents often grow wiser as we get older? Or is it us who are becoming more aware of the wisdom, and love, that they had all along?
4) Late in the film, Juno blunders her way into an uncomfortable situation in the middle of the Loring's marriage. One of the MacGuffs comments, "Juno doesn't understand about marriage." Yep, Juno did not understand the dangerous road she was walking because she did not understand about marriage.
I've been married 49 years and have 12 grandchildren. And yet, how much do I really understand about marriage? Almost nothing compared to what there is to understand.
In fact, Juno would have been better off not knowing what she found out (IMO). How often would we be better off not knowing something that we know about another person?
5) Juno's attitudes are SO typical of 16-18 year old girls. For example, "I want to find somebody really cool like an architect or interior designer to parent my child." And yet, successful people in those professions are often too wrapped up in themselves to make good parents. You want to find somebody with the time, the resources, and the desire to be a good parent. Juno lucked out; she found Jennifer.
16-18 year old girls seemed much wiser to me when I was a teenager than they did when I was the Father of three of them.
6) Another example. In this show it is Bleeker who is the sensitive one, the more mature one, the more respectful and loyal one; the one who is "pining away" while Juno keeps him at arm's length throughout most of the movie. And yet, Bleeker is completely masculine; he is not a "whimp." Young (teenage) people, both men and women are so much alike in real life. In popular and media stereotypes, the young woman is often the one who is "pining away."
It is thought provoking to see our stereo types challenged. And in Bleeker, they are challenged in an inspiring and awe provoking way.
7) Another example. For the whole show, Bleeker is "head over heels" in love with Juno, and Juno feels the same way about him. However, it is not until near the very end of the movie that she even has a clue how he feels about her. Not until he says, "I think you're beautiful," and she replies, with great surprise, "You do?"
Is not this unawareness of relationships typical of many young people?
8) Juno thinks that she is not physically attractive, although she is very attractive. Is this not typical of many young women today?

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The bottom line is that the movie is not so much about teenage pregnancy as it is about the give and take of family life. The movie uses the pregnancy of a particular teenage as a platform from which to offer very positive and hopeful insights into the Human Condition.
Enough. Words can not do it justice. If you are over 40, and you are interested in people, you just HAVE to see it.
Deacon John