saturday evening erin & spent our life savings to get out and watch a movie in a theater. something we never do. we had a choice of three movies depending on when we arrived. due to the line at the theater we ended up watching juno. we knew very little about the movie, teen pregnancy, many people liked it, a lot of people thought it would promote teen pregnancy, the writer of the movie was a former stripper, beyond that we were clueless.
to the point, we loved the movie. somewhat fantasy in that i have never met any teenager that talks in the manner that all the teens do, but that is just about every teenager in every movie, so pass over that quickly. the character development is great, people are as human as you would expect them to be & there were a bunch of subtle funny moments to laugh at.. we liked it.
juno has also given us some talking spots as a family unit of what we appreciated about the film. this could be spoiler material, but if you haven't seen the movie by now i am assuming you probably won't.. we are usually the last people to watch any movie.
- just dealing.. we liked how juno & the parents just took the pregnancy and moved with it. example, when juno tells her folks her step mom immediately says 'okay, we will get an appointment with the doctor and get you on vitamins'. we also liked how their actions in controlling were humorous but trusting.
- treating the child with respect.. it is easy to treat a teen pregnancy as an issue or problem to be solved. certainly it is not ideal, but it is a present reality. we liked how juno treated the child with respect, even though she never had intentions of keeping the child. ie. she wouldn't drink, smoke, took her pills, got check ups.. ate okay if you are cool with lunchroom food.
- teens were present where they should be.. having had a teen experience with a friend getting pregnant, i know that the best friend takes their place holding up their buddy & alongside at birth. the boy who doesn't really know what to do.. i wasn't the dad, but i was that guy friend who showed up at the hospital room door after the birth of the child. we didn't cuddle, just talked.
- the odd things.. there were so many little oddities or trivial spots that fill out ones life that we laugh at, cry at, and need to make us who we are. those oddities were there in place of some high moral speeches hidden in a after school special. those oddities are the make up of life
there was a lot of buzz saying that juno would promote teen pregnancy because it is all sunny or happy. we never got that impression, more of a moving through life with best intentions.
