Seeing as the Wellbeing Zone have dedicated their display to
sexual health I thought I would address the problem of unsafe sex in this
week’s DVD review. Pregnancy is a pretty huge, life changing consequence of
unsafe sex, as young Juno MacGuff found out when she made the bold step to lose
her virginity to best friend Paulie Bleaker.
This quirky American comedy first hit cinema screens back in
2007 and writer Diablo Cody scooped the Oscar that year for her wonderfully
colloquial screenplay. We are first
introduced to Juno as she is buying a pregnancy test and learning she is
pregnant. As we can see already, Juno is not the most conventional of 16 year
old girls, she has a bold confidence and very off-beat manner that you would
more likely see in an adult man. Juno, accompanied with best friend Leah – an
attractive cheerleader type with a penchant for older man – decide to break the
news to Juno’s father and step mother. Who, while disappointed in her, are
supportive at her decision to have the baby and give it up for adoption. Juno and Leah hunt through the personal ads
and find a couple, Mark and Vanessa Loring, with whom she makes a legal
agreement with that they can have her baby when she has it. That’s the baby problem solved, now what
about the father? Paulie Bleeker is a sweet, kind young boy who wholly supports
Juno’s decision to give the baby to The Lorings. Bleeker and Juno are best
friends, turned couple, who’s unconventional relationship takes a dramatic turn
when Paulie asks another girl to go to prom with him. Juno, without saying so,
is clearly very heart broken by this and struggles to deal with her ever
increasing size and the staring students in the school corridors.
She finds an unlikely friend in Mark Loring, future adoptive father to the little foetus, who writes music for commercials. They two end up spending the day together when Juno visits them with a picture from her first sonogram. Vanessa is at work, so they listen to music, talk about music and watch old, gory horror movies together while debating the genius of Herschell Gordon Lewis. Juno gets into the habit quite quickly of spending her days with Mark, which to her is a perfectly normal thing to do and she thinks nothing of it, however, it becomes clear that Mark is seeing it as something more. Juno’s whole world starts crumbling all around her just as her waters break and she is left facing a very difficult decision that could dramatically change her life forever.
Juno is perfectly played by Ellen
Page who is accompanied by a whole host of great actors. Michael Cera plays the
naïve Paulie Bleeker and Olivia Thirlby plays best pal Leah. With the help of
J.K Simmons and Allison Janney as Juno’s parents and Jennifer Garner and Jason
Bateman as The Lorings, its not wonder this film was such a great success.
Director Jason Reitman, whose
feature film career was kicked off with Thankyou
For Not Smoking in 2005 sky rocketed after the release of Juno and he went
on to make more indie films including Up
in the Air starring George Clooney and Anna Kendrick and Young Adult starring Charlize
Theron. Pairing up with Diablo Cody at
the helm of the screenplay, the successes the film received were well and truly
deserving of the talent that was the driving force behind it.
Perfect acting, masterful
direction and triumphant writing all topped off with a strong soundtrack makes Juno a must watch for all young adults!
Further Reading in the Information Store:
Juno - DVD ZONE - 791.43 J
Juno: The Orginal Motion Picture Soundtrack - MUSIC CD - Soundtrack J
It Happened to Me: Teenage Pregnancy by Suzie Hayman - BOOK ZONE - 305.23 HAY
Great Answers to Difficult Questions About Adoption by Fanny Cohen Herlem - BOOK ZONE - 362.734 HER
