Juno

This topic contains:

• overall comments and recommendations
• details about Juno's classification and consumer advice lines
• a review of Juno completed by Young Media Australia (YMA) on 17 January 2008.

Overall comments and recommendations

About the movie

This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Office of Film and Literature Classification (OFLC) and the associated consumer advice lines.

YMA review

This review of the movie Juno contains the following information:

• a synopsis of the story
• themes
• use of violence
• material that may scare children
• product placement
• sexual references
• nudity and sexual activity
• use of substances
• coarse language
• the movie's message

A synopsis of the story

Juno MacGuff (Ellen Page) is a fairly typical 16-year-old teenager with attitude and a quick tongue. She decides to experiment with sex with her friend Paulie Bleeker (Michael Cera) which results in an unwanted pregnancy. Juno decides to confront her father Mac (J.K. Simmons) and stepmother Bren (Allison Janney) who, although initially surprised, are very supportive of Juno. At first Juno thinks she’ll have an abortion, as she knows she is too young to be looking after a baby. However, after attending the clinic she changes her mind.

Juno then sets out to find the perfect couple to adopt her baby and thinks she has found them in Vanessa (Jennifer Garner), desperate for a baby, and Mark Loring (Jason Bateman). Juno is to learn that nothing is simple or straightforward in life and that bringing a new life into the world is far more complicated than she thought.

Themes

Children and adolescents may react adversely at different ages to themes of crime, suicide, drug and alcohol dependence, death, serious illness, family breakdown, death or separation from a parent, animal distress or cruelty to animals, children as victims, natural disasters and racism. Occasionally reviews may also signal themes that some parents may simply wish to know about.

Teenage pregnancy; abortion; contraception

Use of violence

Research shows that children are at risk of learning that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution when violence is glamourised, performed by an attractive hero, successful, has few real life consequences, is set in a comic context and / or is mostly perpetrated by male characters with female victims, or by one race against another.

Repeated exposure to violent content can reinforce the message that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution. Repeated exposure also increases the risks that children will become desensitised to the use of violence in real life or develop an exaggerated view about the prevalence and likelihood of violence in their own world.

There is some violence in this movie, including:

• Juno and Mark watch a horror/slasher movie which involves drilling a hole in a body and  blood everywhere

Material that may scare children

Under eight

Children under eight are most likely to be frightened by scary visual images, such as monsters, physical transformations, the death of a parent or child abandoned or separated from parents, children or animals being hurt or threatened and / or natural disasters.

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children under the age of eight, including the following:

• Juno is shown being sick
• Juno is seen in a lot of pain during childbirth.

Aged eight to thirteen

Children aged eight to thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic threats and dangers, violence or threat of violence and / or stories in which children are hurt or threatened.

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes and scary visual images, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children aged eight to thirteen, including the following:

• Juno throws a noose around a tree and puts her head through it, with no intention of hanging herself.
• A girl demonstrating outside the abortion clinic says that abortion is murdering babies.

Over the age of thirteen

Children over the age of thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic physical harm or threats, molestation or sexual assault and / or threats from aliens or the occult.

Some children in this age group may also be disturbed by some of the above-mentioned scenes.

Product placement

• Sunni D orange juice

Sexual references

There is much discussion about sex and pregnancy, and many sexual references in this movie, including:

• Juno sits on a toilet to take a pregnancy test – her friend asks her if her nipples are brown.
• When asked what sex was like, Juno replies it was magnificent.
• References to abortion
• A demonstration of how to put a condom on a banana is given in the classroom.

Nudity and sexual activity

There is some nudity and sexual activity in this movie, including:

• Juno takes off her pants and is shown having sex with Paulie, sitting in a chair in the nude, although it’s fairly discreet.

Use of substances

There is some use of substances in this movie, including:

• Juno holds a pipe as if smoking it
• Talk about drug and alcohol use
• Juno drinks a gin sling
• Drinking of wine at home

Coarse language

There is some coarse language in this movie, including:

• Friggin
• Piss
• Oh my God
• Shit
• Arse
• Bitch

The movie's message

Juno is a comedy about a serious subject. It is directed to adolescents who might find it confronting while funny, with the realisation that many human emotions are involved in bringing a new life into the world. The main message from this movie is that casual sex can result in an unwanted pregnancy which can affect many people’s lives.

Values that parents may wish to reinforce with their children include Juno’s courage in telling her parents about her pregnancy and in continuing with her studies while pregnant.

This movie could also give parents the opportunity to discuss with their children issues concerning casual sex, contraception, pregnancy and abortion.