1 Photo courtesy of Fox Searchlight
Alternative to what?
Though it presents itself as hip and counterculture, Juno sends an alarmingly mainstream message
By Beth Capper
Published: December 14th, 2007 | 12:00am
Juno — the latest feature from Thank You For Smoking director Jason Reitman — received a standing ovation upon its screening at the Toronto Film Festival. It's easy to see why: Juno is packed with so many snappy one-liners that even the most somber of viewers couldn't help but crack a smile. This is a film that will be adored by many for precisely this reason — it's amusing and easy going, and it knows its audience well. And that is precisely why I hated it.
Ellen Page plays Juno MacGuff, a 16-year-old who finds herself pregnant after spending the night with her best friend Paulie Bleeker. Bleeker is played by Arrested Development's Michael Cera, who resembles a cuter version of Napoleon Dynamite. After virtually no thought, she decides to have the baby and put it up for adoption.
Enter prospective adoptive parents Vanessa and Mark Loring (Jennifer Garner and Jason Bateman), a pair of yuppie-ish thirty-somethings who are unable to procreate themselves. The Lorings are stereotypical anti-stereotypes. Mark, who now writes jingles for adverts, was once really into Sonic Youth and the Melvins. Vanessa, seemingly an ice princess, is actually a warm, loving woman who believes she was "born to be a mother." Er, someone gag me.
So, let me get this straight — there is no other path for a man who once loved alternative music than to end up in advertising? And as soon as a woman like Vanessa hits a certain age, populating her household with babies is suddenly all she can think about? According to writer Diablo Cody, this is what it means to be a grownup.
Juno is a film with a Hollywood message marketed toward an indie audience. It's preciously scored by Kimya Dawson and the Moldy Peaches and is chock full of references to hip underground bands and indie films, but it’s no more offbeat than any other teen Rom Com. Juno — much like High Fidelity and Knocked Up, which were both equally cherished by an "alternative" audience — valorizes a certain notion of adulthood. For women, it’s motherhood; for men, its commitment, and not to desire these things is either immature or worse, unnatural.
I'm not going to criticize Juno for being an unrealistic portrayal of teenage pregnancy, since it's clear that realism was never intended here, although it is frustrating to think that I was sitting in an auditorium surrounded by people laughing at a situation that 31% of American teenagers experience, most of whom fall well below the income bracket comfortably experienced by Juno and her family.
Juno is exactly the kind of saccharine guff that keeps me away from contemporary American comedy
Issue #35
Comments
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DeniseGibson (8 months)
I'm going to see it when it comes to Chicago! I heart quirky Rom Coms.
AmyWestervelt (8 months)
great review! i have been noticing this whole indie-fied mainstream thing lately too and it was fun to read your take on it. :)
BrittanyJulious (8 months)
I just love Michael Cera, so...
dozer (8 months)
THANK YOU! IT SEEMS THIS 'ALTERNATIVE' ATTITUDE IS NOW BEING SOLD AT McDONALDS 'TO GO'. I TOTALLY AGREE WITH BETH ON THIS- JUST BECAUSE THE WRITER/DIRECTOR INCLUDES COOL/HIP SUB-CULTURAL REFERENCES DOES NOT MEAN THE STORY FOLLOWS IN STEP. I FIND SCRIPTS LIKE THIS TO BE CONTRADICTORY AND INCONSISTENT TO AN ACTUAL "ALTERNATIVE" LIFESTYLE; THERE IS SOOO MUCH MORE TO LIFE THAN BREEDING AND SETTLING INTO AN OFFICE POSITION. I WILL NOT BE SEEING THIS FILM AND REGARDLESS OF ACTORS, I ACTUALLY BOYCOTT FILMS BY CONTENT AND/OR PRINCIPLE- I'M THINKING FOR MYSELF. CHEERS.
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