Movies and films are a direct reflection of the society and understanding the times, and the context of the movie analysis helps in understanding the world better. The young children, teens, and young adults directly reflect the current dynamism in society. However, although the older generation is also a significant part of the society, their ideologies and perceptions are significantly dictated by their environment when growing up and the dominating values at that time. In the film, Jason Reitman’s Juno (2007), a different picture of modern society is painted in the minds of the audience. The young adults and teens are more enlightened about sexuality and contrary to the earlier times, these actions in the movie are unpredictable depicting how the society has changed. The paper explores the changes in societal values, attitudes, conditions, and perceptions as portrayed in Jason Reitman’s Juno (2007).
The film represents the entirety of American society; the characterization, filming, and music are all American. All aspects of the film portray what an American society functions and responds to a crisis, for example, teenage pregnancy. The songs used in the soundtrack by Kimya Dawson and her bands are based in the United States and at the same time, the anti-folk genre. The songs are partly love songs but majorly depicting the state of life and society, which came up in the 1980s. The characters are mainly of American descent, composing all categories of people in age, sex, social status, and ideologies. Typically, the film is a better reflection of people and the rampant deviance in the teens and the impact their actions have on life and the society at large.
Modern society is characterized by freedom in opinion, mindset, and parenting. Juno being the main character and a teen she is more than enlightened about life than it would be expected at her age particularly in the 20th century. She is free to go out even without parent consultation, and the parents are not bothered by this. Juno also makes key decisions, for example, to have an abortion independently, although she does not, all other decisions about her pregnancies are purely voluntary. The parents, however, seem to take a backstage in parent and appear to be more of equal parties with her daughter and their main activity is not to mentor her but more of supporting her. For example, after Juno suggests giving the child for adoption, they immediately agree and even accompanied her to the foster parents’ house. All in all, their multiple incidences that show dynamism in the societal aspect of parental and social life.
The times and the society have changed the parents’ attitudes making them more considerate and reasonable in dealing with crises at the family level. This is among one of the features depicting unpredictability in the film. The movie alters the patterns of our thinking and presents the reality in a form that is unforeseen and unexpected. As opposed to what the audience expects, Juno conveys the pregnancy news to her parents, and instead of condemning her or urging her to get an abortion given that she is a high school student, they support her. Besides, instead of the parents blaming the girl or her boyfriend for the pregnancy and its impact on her schooling, they let it go and offer their support. This is a clear view of modern parents, and despite their ideologies, they are more supportive and understanding.
The youngsters are more confused about life and their purpose in life as portrayed by their unpredictability and diverse views and actions. The plot depicts directionless youths who are not decided on what they want to do with their lives. Although Juno and Paulie are intimate lovers, the pregnancy leaves them confused and undecided on what is the next step in their lives. They start looking for affection from other people. However, the older generation has also played a key role in the confusion among these young people. After mark and Vanessa agree to become foster parents to Juno’s kid, Mark later leaves saying that he had things to do before becoming a father and making it clear that he is not ready to be a father although he is a full grown man at forty years. When the kid is born, confusion subsides depicting the pregnancy as the center of the confusion, and Juno and Paulie get back together.
The many freedoms that have been provided for in the country have raised conflicting ideas in societal morals and way of life. Abortion legality is among the greatest and most controversial debates in the world today, and these contrasting ideologies are evident in Jason Reitman’s Juno film. These contrasting ideologies shape the society in a certain manner either directly or otherwise. Juno goes to the clinic to have an abortion, but a group of women protests against the same. They advocate for the value of life and all these occurrences trouble Juno forcing her to leave. The verisimilitude used in the movie depicts realism given that abortion protests have been in the media every year. The greatest being the ‘match for women lives’ in 2004 in Washington D.C, having more than 800000 attendees. The protest for pro-life vigil changed the decision and ideology of Juno, and she never aborted. Although it is her decision, the conflicting idea against abortion, shaped her life and made gave room for her to consider other options.
Relationships in American society make the core of the film. The American families are ranked highest in divorce rates worldwide. In Jason Reitman’s Juno film, this aspect is addressed with Vanessa and Mark’s family falling apart without warning. The implicit meaning of these events confirms that young people who are in relationships adopt their behavior. For example, Paulie and Juno are in love; when Juno gets pregnant, she gives Paulie mixed reactions which send him away. After a brief separation, they start having feelings for other people, however, after the delivery, they get back together. This is a reflection of the kind and types of relationship in American society, indicating that the high divorce rates are engineered by a growing culture in relationships of young people which truncate into marriage. Thus, Juno is a true reflection of marriages and relationships in American society and the reasons behind their instability.
The reason behind lack of commitment and devotion in American relationships and marriages is mainly careers and search for autonomy. The explicit view and meaning of some occurrences in the movie are just normal, but the deeper look into these events shows hidden agendas that the movie wants the audience to conceptualize. For example, Mark is not satisfied with making commercial jingles in the house, and this makes him leave his wife and their adopted son for him to find himself and where he belongs. Mark gives up his entire future and family; he also fails to uphold their developing feelings with Juno for the same reasons. Besides, Juno fails to contact Paulie when she gets into labor because he had his track. She never wanted to distract him from what he loved doing. All these cases portray the priorities among the American people, and this could be the reason for high divorce cases and broken relationships. As in Jason Reitman’s Juno, search for autonomy and chasing careers is more important than all other things, and people are willing to sacrifice for it.
Societal attitudes are controlled by what people see and hear from their environment. Most of the decisions made in the film are explicitly from what people hear or see from their friends, family or community members. For example, Juno changes her mind for abortion for seeing a women protest which her school mate was part of. Besides, Juno and Mark start developing feelings out of their commonality in their tastes in movies. Their closeness makes her ignore and desert their relationship with Paulie. In the film, multiple scenes depict the power of society I making decisions, for example, in the life of the youth. The actions of the people, as portrayed by the movie are a direct reflection of what interacts with which influences their mind, to take certain decisions in life.
The pregnancy journey for teenagers is hectic and is met with a certain degree of uncertainty. Juno’s life changed drastically after getting pregnant, her mood and response to different environments were different and unexpected. Her pregnancy journey is harder than what the people can imagine. She is also not used to children and inexperience is getting the best of her. For example, when Juno and Vanessa saw a woman playing with her baby, Vanessa challenges Juno to speak to her child that was already kicking. This also depicts the belief that an unborn child can hear given that Juno talks to the baby very passionately. The film to some point may be cautioning the youth and teens against early pregnancies and complicated relationships. On the other hand, the movie convinces the youth to take responsibility for their actions as Juno struggled with the pregnancy alone. Therefore, teenagers are warned of the dangers and complexities of pregnancies and changes they bring in life.
In summation, Jason Reitman’s Juno (2007) is a representation of society and its values. The film majors in depicting the nature of relationships between children, teens and their parents and how they handle a crisis. The typical life of American teenagers is addressed which majorly characterized by recklessness and unpredictability. It also shows how American society has changed considering freedoms and liberties given to teenagers in making serious decisions about their life. Parents are also shown to be evolving in a manner that they are neglecting their primary roles of parenting and have become of friends and peers to their children. The society also is characterized by a certain form of freedom and independence in thought and actions. However, the nature of relationships in this society depends on the surrounding and both the young and the old are going through almost similar relationship cycles. Careers and search for autonomy take the lead among the American hierarchy of opportunities.
