Is this the Juno thread?

the only thing to do is not pay attention to it

first half - flat and unreliable (the scene where juno tells her parents bout her pregnancy and their reaction for example)
2nd half - great! (juno's learning the balanced way of looking at life)

I just saw this, I thought it was okay, but not mind-blowing. I agree with most of the people that the oversaturation with twee indie songs was very annoying. And there was a bit too much of "quirky" dialogue, if it was used more sparingly it would've flowed better, now it felt at times like the scriptwriter was just trying to draw attention to her impressive dialogue-writing skills, which was a bit irritating. Juno felt like like a teen movie not aimed at teens rather adults who wished they would've been as witty as Juno as kids. I agree with Jaymc's initial comment that it was sort of fantasy-fulfillment film, but the problem was that because of this the teen bits worked on a rather superficial level, and unlike Ghost World (Juno's closest relative, I think) didn't have that much to say about actual teenage experiences. I guess it's not surprising then that the adult characters were actually the most interesting and rounded ones, because they weren't about fantasy. I would've loved to see more of Juno's dad especially, and like people have noted, the dynamic between the adoptive couple, and the sympathy-reversal between them, was well done too.

About the adoption thing: I don't think the movie was either pro-life or pro-choice. Like most other Hollwyood films these days Juno sorta side-stepped the whole issue, I guess because movie-makers don't want to anger any possible viewers. In these sort of films abortion is usually presented as an option, so they wouldn't appear conservative and piss off the liberals, but then female character never has it anyway. They always go to the adoption clinic, but then run away at the last moment! I can't remember when I last saw someone actually have an abortion in an Hollywood movie, even movies where teens get pregnant it never seems to happen. I think it's kinda weak.

it was funny how the step mother tried to analyze the future-might-be-problems of the adoption choice to that nurse, as if the writers were trying to defends their choice to the audience,saying:hey,this isnt an easy solution as you might think.that was superfluous

That was weird scene; I think the movie-makers wanted the audience to side with the step-mom, but she came off as totally obnoxious, where as the nurse was just making sense.

daer tuomas,

it is not 'weak' to choose birth/adoption endings over abortion endings in teen movies, because teen abortions are pretty huge bummers no matter how you look at them.

here's a happy little comedy that ends with a depressed teen straddling the toilet and crying into a wad of toilet paper

or a slice-of-life drama in which a girl chooses college over motherhood and stoically takes a pill before going out drinking with her friends

the end half of the movie is way better,cause the writers don't try to force the story on you and making it unreliable.as a matter of fact the story on the first half reminded me of yet another episode of yet another american tv series,except from the strong "indie" film.

the second half i mean

btw,kill me but i love kimya dawson.
how can't you as a beat happening fan?!

"It was interesting how we sided with the male yuppie at first and the woman seemed obsessive and anal until it switches and we come to see that she really wants this kid and the guy is a selfish prick.
"

yeah, that was the most powerfull event of the movie.
the relationship between Juno and the will be stepfather are interesting and are the main reason the 2nd half comes as great as it does.
both of them change, for the good and for the bad, from the unspoken attraction that they share,juno realize that nothing's perfect, and that what might seem to be a good thing on first impression doesnt always comes off so good when you look deeper inside.
on a way, maybe without being aware of it,she tested the ex-hipster guy, and he failed the test.
than,and after the father "fixer" words about true love, she can go back to the tic-tac kid and stick to what shes as long as it's good, knowing it may not last.those were great script moments imo.
i mean,growing up is alot about losing your ideals,in a good way.

I told ya that Jennifer Garner's terrific.

i didnt like her.
Cera was great though

which makes no sense! You don't believe her situation if she's not convincing.

i just think her character could be better casted.
i can see the point of the writers, thats enough to understand.

I don't really understand what this movie has in common w/Ghost World other than sassy lil lassy as central figure

And others have complained that the Moldy Peaches and Kimya Dawson are has-beens.

Pretty sure they're 'never-weres.'

i think the word we really want here isn't 'commodification' - too common, too abstract, there's a reason why only 18-21 yr olds get excited by adbusters - but a word that means 'insular' and 'accepting' and 'docile' and ultimately 'boring.'

Homogenized?

daer tuomas,

it is not 'weak' to choose birth/adoption endings over abortion endings in teen movies, because teen abortions are pretty huge bummers no matter how you look at them.

Er, what? Do you really think keeping the baby or having it and then giving it adopted is always a better choice? If you do, why? Because I know couple of girls who've had an abortion at an early age, and let me tell you, it was much less of a bummer than the alternatives would've been.

To make it clear, I'm not just criticizing Juno (obviously if she'd had an abortion it would've been a totally different movie) but the trend in American movies that abortion is simply something that never happens, even though it does in real life. I can't help but think this is because American movie-makers don't want to upset any potential section of the audience.

'insular' and 'accepting' and 'docile' and ultimately 'boring

I've been getting a lot of mileage out of "insipid"

although for the purposes of this thread "jejune" could perhaps provide a greater lol

Do you really think keeping the baby or having it and then giving it adopted is always a better choice

The problem with your sentence is "always."

Well, that's what Remy seemed to be implying. I'm sorry if I got that wrong.

I saw a trailer for this, and now wild horses could not drag me to the film, as it seems to consist of loads of teenagers with annoying voices saying "Like, yeah" to each other.

Then the trailer is quite misleading.

it is not 'weak' to choose birth/adoption endings over abortion endings in teen movies because teen abortions are pretty huge bummers no matter how you look at them.

i am not making any general statements about abortion at all. although i do think that adoption is generally favorable.

What do you mean by that sentence? That abortion is a bigger bummer for teens than for adults? That birth/adoption is better than abortion for teens?

(x-post)

I am saying that very few people want to go see a quirky teen comedy about abortion, because it is about the termination of a zygote/fetus/baby (depending on your views) and that is some seriously dark and unfun movie territory.

I also do not want to see teen movies about vasectomies, the consequences of gang rape, or miscarriage, but that does not mean I don't believe they don't exist or are unimportant.

IN SHORT, IT IS NEITHER ENTERTAINING NOR DRAMATICALLY FULFILLING TO WATCH SOMEBODY GET AN ABORTION

remy stfu

ethan, go be a worthless piece of shit on a thread that wants you

when people get pregnant without wanting to be a lot of them have abortions, and it's dishonest to keep making movies about unplanned pregnancies without acknowledging this

remy have you seen 4 months 3 weeks and 2 days?

yeah, i really enjoyed it

notable films that were not teen comedies, #1

hahahhaa

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0209877/

Title:
Abortion! (1967)

Plot Outline:
Women get infected or die from abortions.

First of all, Juno isn't a "quirky teen comedy" - it's often quite serious, and I think the intended audience is not teenagers. Secondly, even if it was, I think saying that certain issues shouldn't been dealt in teen movies is a very weird attitude. Do you think teen's should just have fun and never think of real world issues, many of which might affect themselves?

it is a bad movie with pretentious Important Social issues shoehorned between ridiculous bits of High Quirk dialogue about Sonic Youth, and I think that suggesting it would be a better movie if the kid had a late term abortion makes absolutely no sense at all, and is a kind of weird take on what is ultimately neither a good nor important film.

"more movies about unexpected/unwanted pregancies should end in abortion" seems like such a creepy thing to say.

I didn't say that Juno should've been changed, or that it would've been a better movie, to me Juno was just one example of a trend in Hollywood films. I just was commenting on your post where you said teen movies in general should preferably not deal with abortion.

"more movies about unexpected/unwanted pregancies should end in abortion" seems like such a creepy thing to say.

Why is it creepy? Anyway, I wasn't saying that all of them should end with abortion, but maybe at least some of them, which doesn't seem to be the case today in Hollywood.

i heard jamie lynn is going to give up her baby

i didn't say that teen movies shouldn't deal with abortion.

i said that movies about abortion were depressing and dark, and largely unfulfilling, and not really a big draw to the teenage audience

lol max

and all tuomas said was that he was disappointed that almost all movies about pregnancy would rather pander to the abortion-is-murder crowd instead of showing what actually happens

you load an argument with words like 'pander' and it's hard to respond, dude.

'pander to the abortion-is-murder crowd' isn't what most movies that end with birth do at all.

in dramatic terms, it is a lot harder to achieve dramatic fulfillment or a big payoff using abortion for the final scene when adoption or birth has the same story consequences.