Juno

All Film Analysis Essays for this class must follow this format, using all 10 headings in bold, exactly as written in this sample. Obviously, you will have different content under the headings for whatever film you choose.  For Essay #1 due Friday Sept 25, you have a choice to write about either “Psycho” or “The Birds”. Last Friday of October (Essay #2) and November (Essay #3) will afford you other films to choose one from. Each Film Analysis Essay must be at least 4 pages, single spaced, 12 point font, Times Roman, Garamond or Century Schoolbook.

For theme/thematic support use one of these themes as they relate to the film. Man vs. Nature, Cultural norm (Current society standards) vs. counterculture, reality vs. fantasy, moral vs. immoral choices, man vs. technology, realistic love vs. obsessive love.

“Juno”Format Sample Analysis

Film name, Director, where it was set, what year, and cultural highlights.

The offbeat comedy, “Juno” directed by Jason Reitman, and featuring Juno and her boyfriend’s    coming of age, is set in our post 2000’s contemporary age of small town life where current controversial issues and growing into adulthood is a study in life lessons and their complications.

The backdrop of social highlightsis the experimentation in identity, more openness ( but still judgmental attitudes) to once totally stigmatized subjects such as teen pregnancy, and individualistic paths. The cultural highlights of the era include references to modern materialistic and shallow culture of the “odd girl” being bugged by the cheerleader, though Juno has punk rock credibility in teen off-beat lingo, demeanor, and counterculture music stemming from recent past decades.  The two homes of JunoMacGuff’s family and the adoptive parents are in two different worlds –the easygoing and messy middle class one of the MacGuff’s and the uptight, stiff, suburban castle of the Lorings.

In that teenage pregnancy is involved as the major subject matter, the lessons are mixed with many layers of emotions for the teens, biological parents, the adoptive parents, and other people close to them.

Theme and Thematic support (examples)

“Juno” is the story of how the 16-year-old title character and her best friend, Paulie Bleeker reflect the theme of stereotypes and prejudices with the contrasting of traditional American life to counterculture social trends and attitudes about adulthood responsibility.  This journey, which is primarily Juno’s, takes her from a convenience store bathroom stall, where she takes her pregnancy test, through nine months of ups and downs. Telling her other best friend, Leah, about her pregnancy. Telling her parents. Weathering strange side effects like “heartburn radiating to [her] knees.” Ultrasounds. Growing out of her clothes. Not getting asked to prom.

After a brief stop at an abortion clinic—which Juno decides is not for her—she sets about finding adoptive parents for her baby. She chooses Mark and Vanessa Loring, a yuppie couple with a huge house in the suburbs. Vanessa is a high-strung career woman. Mark is an aspiring musician. They’ve got their own set of issues.

Shouldering the quirky mix of utter cluelessness and the premature maturity that teenage pregnancy brings, Juno keeps Mark and Vanessa in the loop about doctor appointments and the baby’s health. And that leads to a deepening, sometimes awkward, relationship between this young mom and her baby’s future parents.

Positive Elements

Juno’s initial plan in response to finding out she’s pregnant is to “nip it in the bud.” “I hear that pregnancy can often lead to an infant,” she tells Paulie, and goes on to let him know that she’ll put an end to it. But when she arrives at the abortion clinic, which is meant to represent a Planned Parenthood-type operation, she can’t go through with it. Her decision is impulsive, rather than well-reasoned; nonetheless, her story ends up supporting the choices of both life and adoption. One of the strongest contributing elements of that message is the ultrasound footage that clearly shows a baby to be growing inside Juno.

Juno’s father and stepmother respond pretty well to her announcement that she’s pregnant. At first, they joke to each other that they’d rather she’d told them that she was expelled from school or on hard drugs, but they both move quickly into roles of support and responsibility, going with her to visit the Lorings, being present for her ultrasound and providing emotional support.

Juno’s growing relationship with her father is particularly touching, as represented by a scene in which he gives her advice on finding lasting love. Wisely, Juno’s stepmom tries to teach her daughter the value of hedges when it comes to single girls’ friendships with married men.

Dismayed by the number of people she knows who are in broken relationships or being hurt by them, Juno rages against divorce.

Cinematography and Music

Walking in the cartoon like setting at the beginning of the film sets the quirky tone to the film, as well as stylizing certain animated sequences.  The shots were also interestingly portrayed, such as concentrating on a long shot of the “love” chair.  One scene showing Juno’s reaction to the Loring’s news of a divorce shows a shot from the backseat as Juno is driving; she is placed to the left of the frame and the long, empty road ahead of her to the right. This movement of camera from left to right gives the viewer a feeling of optimism that everything will be alright. The camera then cuts to a panning shot as Juno parks the car by the side of the road. A cut to a low angle is made, showing a close-up of Juno as she cries. The gray seat, ceiling, and steering wheel creates a tight frame around Juno, which indicates her claustrophobic feeling and the fragile state she finds herself in. In terms of the music, there was an offbeat love song threading its way through the story, and tied Juno and Paulie together.  Her attraction to counterculture is also found in the off-beat CD’s she and Mark (the adoptive parent) listen to.

Male/Female Relationship Content

Far more prevalent than a brief, non-graphic sexual scene is Juno‘s sexual dialogue. Mostly, it’s teenage slang for sex and all things pregnancy-related—and we’re talking dozens and dozens of phrases here.

Less overt, and understandably present in a movie about having a baby, is medical dialogue about pregnancy and the female anatomy. These conversations are fairly rare and mild.

A health teacher is shown demonstrating to students how to put a condom on a banana. A comment is made about a student who is “into teachers.”  Juno talks about liking to watch runners “bounce” inside their shorts—while the camera zooms in and slows things down so moviegoers can see what she means. In her search for adoptive parents, Juno briefly entertains the idea of giving her baby to “a couple of lesbos.” She sits on the toilet taking a pregnancy test. (The brand of the test she’s taking is “Teen Wave.”) Actor Rainn Wilson’s memorable line from the movie trailer comes next, in response to Juno shaking the positive test: “That ain’t no Etch A Sketch. This is one doodle that can’t be undid, homeskillet.”

Violent Content

Juno briefly entertains the idea of hanging herself. But her “suicide attempt” is aided only by a licorice rope, so it’s pretty clear that it’s not serious. When she goes to tell her dad and stepmom about her pregnancy, she prefaces the announcement with, “It would be freakin’ sweet if no one hit me.” Their gracious (if somewhat stunned) reaction quickly shows that her disclaimer was unnecessary.

After Juno meets the Lorings, she and Mark bond over a common love of music and horror films. One gory scene they watch shows a woman being impaled by a thick post.

Crude or Profane Language

The f-word pops up once, and the s-word nearly a dozen times. As noted, euphemisms and slang for sex and sex organs fly freely. There’s also frank discussion of the strange effects that pregnancy has on the body and bodily functions. Yet, it could be debated that these indications of current teenage slang and culture, and that thoughtful, ethical decisions are exemplified by this main young couple.

Drug and Alcohol Content

Juno jokes to Mark and Vanessa, “I drink tons of booze, so you might end up with one of those scary neuter babies with no junk [genitals].” She also teasingly offers to sell some of her Adderall (medication for ADHD) to a classmate. Vanessa drinks wine to relax in the midst of a difficult situation.

Other NegativeElements

Mark and Vanessa represent the damage our culture has done to healthy identification with male and female roles. Vanessa is driven and controlling to the point of being neurotic. Mark is aimless and lacks ambition. He’s stuck in adolescence, not ready to be a father. And he lives in their house as if he’s a guest on Vanessa’s turf. What’s worse, the filmmakers leave them in exactly the state they started in. Neither of them grows up—or learns to love and serve the other. Before the baby is born, Mark and Vanessa divorce because he “has some things he still wants to do.” Basically, he doesn’t want to be tied down by a family. Juno decides that Vanessa is still the best parenting option for the baby, despite her flaws.

Conclusion

As Juno, Ellen Page is completely adorable. And wow, can the girl talk! She leads the cast through 92 minutes of rapid-fire repartee. Audiences have to stay on their toes to keep up, and even then, if they’re unfamiliar with what the film’s screenwriter Diablo Cody calls “teen speak,” they’re still likely to get left behind.

Speaking of teens, Juno is—if nothing else—a telling inside perspective on the new teenage sexuality (or at least the world’s version of it). All the old rules are out the window. Sex is just as likely to happen between best friends (or even near-strangers) as it is between those who are seriously dating. And having sex isn’t necessarily a precursor to the deepening of commitment. It’s just one of many complications to be factored in as teens are defining their relationships. Pregnancy, likewise, doesn’t carry the social stigma it used to. Which is not to say that Juno makes it out to be a breeze. It’s clear that the heroine is in over her head at times—but the film is über-careful not to judge any of the moral decisions made by any of its characters.

This deliberate moral relativism is also the reason why the film comes off as mildly—almost accidentally—pro-life and pro-adoption, rather than decisively so.

As a snapshot of adolescent culture—complete with crude language—Juno offers a conversation-inspiring perspective to adults who care for teens. Is this really the way things are now? Can anything be done about it? Those questions aren’t exactly posed in the film, but they’re sure to arise in the minds of some viewers afterwards.