Sorry Anti-Choicers! "Juno" Is Neither an Anti-Abortion or Pro-Adoption Polemic

Posted by Amanda Marcotte, Pandagon at 11:09 AM on January 14, 2008.

I finally managed to see "Juno" in enough time to write this reply to publius's naive suggestion that the movie be a model for anti-choicers, which is to say quit trying to ban abortion and just try to talk people out of it. In other words, be one of the many flavors of pro-choice. Watching the movie itself didn't do much in the way of changing my argument, so I figured I'd keep my actual reactions to it here.

Contrary to the many anti-choice hopes out there, the movie isn't an anti-abortion or pro-adoption polemic; on the contrary, it was a coming-of-age comedy plus teenage romance with teenage pregnancy as the hook. Credit to Marc for noting, as we left, that the character of Juno was an outlandish teenage character in the same style as Max Fischer from "Rushmore", and the pregnancy itself functioned in the same way in this movie as Rushmore did in "Rushmore". Demonizing the abortion clinic to explain why Juno doesn't abortion (and thereby ruin the entire hook of the movie) is one of the sour notes that doesn't work in the movie, but as a friend pointed out to me last night, it was probably the only choice the screenwriter had to get the script approved by Fox Searchlight.

The movie was a reverse of "Rushmore" in a number of ways. "Rushmore" was better in its first half, and "Juno" is much, much better in the second half. The first half of the movie suffered because Juno was too clever by half, and it made it hard to find her compelling. It became clear to me in the second half that Diablo Cody was trying to write about a character who uses her wit and allegiance to being cool as something of an emotional barrier, but she's so enamored of Juno's wit and cool in the first half that she overwrites the character, just a little bit. The script was so good that the lines that are just too much fall like clunkers; it would have been near-perfect if someone had come in with an editing pen and just trimmed up the few lines that are trying too hard.

Across the board, the acting was excellent. I'm particularly in love with Michael Cera, and this part seems like it was written for him, to capture that befuddled sweetness he manages to embody while still being hilariously self-mocking. What really made this movie, and why I suspect it's so popular, is that it's the first romantic comedy down the pipe in god only knows how long where the leads have actual personalities that you care about, instead of being the latest variation of "doucheball slacker meets uptight, personality-less but unbelievably beautiful woman". Hopefully Hollywood will take note and realize that it's not a profit-killer to have the female lead have that oh-so-threatening thing that we in the real world like to call a personality.

But the second half was great. Like "Rushmore", "Juno" had an intergenerational sexual tension conflict that comes to a head in a way that makes you want to hide under your seat in embarrassment for the characters, but this time the person with the inappropriate crush is the older one. I appreciated the whole arc with Jason Bateman; it really captured that crushing blow it is for young women when you deal with your first Nice Guy® who wasn't your friend at all, but was using you as a cipher. But it was a really satisfying storyline, especially after she realized that while it seems flattering to have some guy compare the current or last woman unfavorably to you, it's probably a load of bullshit that's just going to make you feel foolish down the road.

Tagged as: abortion, film, juno, rushmore, women in film

Amanda Marcotte co-writes the popular blog Pandagon.