'Juno' review

I couldn't wait to see this movie.  Besides the fact that Diablo Cody, the screenwriter is the Official Next Big Thing, it's a movie about adoption.  Well, it's a movie with adoption in it. 

*CAUTION: SPOILERS AHEAD!*

'Juno' is a movie about a 16-year-old who gets pregnant and decides the give the baby up for adoption.  Does this in and of itself make it an 'adoption movie'? 

See, I think this movie is really about words.  Diablo Cody's script does a happy Snap! Krackle! Pop! on every page.  It's nothing short of brilliant.  But it's not reality.  No 16 year old that I've ever met is going to snap, "Silencio, old man!" at the man behind the market counter when she buys her fourth pregnancy test.  And yes, the hamburger phone is altogether too precious for words.  However, the words redeem everything.  Remember Allison Janney's speech in the ultrasound room?   I know actresses who would slit throat for an opportunity to open up like that on film.  The script is hyperreal, reminiscent of Aaron Sorkin. 

Given all these wonderful words, the performances are amazing.  Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner create characters that would be stereotypical in other hands.  And Ellen Page should just start prepping her Oscar speech now.

Now, on the the adoption part: no, adoption was not treated well in this movie.  The adoptive parents and lawyer breathe a palpable sigh of relief when Juno requests a closed adoption.  Juno goes through with the adoption even after Mark and Vanessa's marriage falls apart.  Nobody even suggests a conflict of interest with only having one lawyer, nobody suggests counselling.  In fact (and this is the part that REALLY ticked me off) the biological father's family never even knew about the baby.  Did he not have to sign paperwork?  Seriously, everyone at school knew and nobody mentioned it to his family at PTA? 

I've spent several days pondering what could have been changed to make me happy (and YES, that's what the whole WORLD is about HELLO) and I guess just a few lines here or there might have done the trick.  At the initial meeting with Mark and Vanessa, the lawyer probably could have recommended that Juno have her own lawyer.  As well-read as Vanessa seemed to be, I'm sure she could have tossed in a line about open adoption benefitting the adoptee.  After all, if Juno knew their names and where they lived, it was already too late for a really closed adoption, right?  When Bren cautioned Juno about how difficult the relinquishment would be, a suggestion of a counselor might have been nice.  I did like that shot of the framed note near the end.  It left open the possibility of more for Vanessa and Juno.

But if any of these things would have thrown off the pace of Cody's script, I'd gladly sacrifice them.  It does bring up a larger question, though: what responsibility does Cody have to paint a realistic picture of adoption?  Did she actually write an adoption movie?  Or did she just write a really snappy coming-of-age script of which adoption is a part?

If we in the open adoption community want realistic movies, I'm thinking we may have to write them ourselves.  Yes, the movie sends the wrong adoption messages.   But should anyone be looking to pop culture for education on such an important subject?  And if we rely in pop culture to deliver it, then we probably need to round up the horses and get writing. 

I nominate Dawn.

Comments

[dawn]

I can't write it because I'm afraid to see it!!!! (Jessica went and saw it last night. I anxiously await her verdict.)

[beagle]

When the topic is something as complex as adoption, I think it's normal to wish it were handled in a way that shines some light rather than promotes stereotypes.

But on the other hand, movies are about fun and fiction more than education of the masses. Can we really make it Hollywood's job speak for us? I guess not.

I though the movie would push all sorts of buttons for me but mostly I just found myself carried away by

[beagle]

well, that didn't work out too well, my comment posted mid sentence, prior to editing.

[Poor_Statue]

I think I would have been triggered by it, but.... I often wonder how other groups react to media that trivializes their experience.

Outside the adoption world, I've heard nothing but good things about this movie.

I'd like to see it and form my own opinion, but I'm not sure if I could handle it right now.

One good thing is that I hear the character Juno is really likeable which will hopefully help take away some of the crazy birthmother stigma.