Analysis Of Juno

Juno:

Analysis of both Accurate and Inaccurate Portrayals of

Adolescent Pregnancy

The movie, Juno, features a female teen who is faced with the challenge of an unplanned pregnancy by her classmate. The protagonist, in the movie, is a 16 year old girl named Juno. She is sharp, sarcastic, and humorous. She learns that she's pregnant from having sex for the first time with her best friend, Paulie Bleeker. Although she would rather not be pregnant, Juno is realistic about her situation. Paulie is initially shocked about the whole situation and decides to leave all the decisions about the baby to Juno. Unlike most TV shows and movies, this pregnant teen is not a deviant or an outcast, she is a character that we are encouraged to identify with. She is not like the pregnant teen we have seen on Jerry Springer or Montel, who are promiscuous and claiming that they got pregnant on purpose to the dismay of their parents. She first tells her best friend, Leah, about the pregnancy and then they decide to get an abortion. When she decides to 'nip it in the bud' and terminate the pregnancy, Juno goes to the abortion clinic where she finds one of her friends from school outside protesting. Even with her friend protesting, she still decides to go into the clinic. While she is sitting down filling out the paperwork, she stops to look at this place. The atmosphere of the building and the fact that it ‘smelled like a dentist' made her leave the abortion clinic and decide against getting an abortion.

So instead of getting an abortion, she makes up her mind to have the baby and give it up for adoption. She first has to tell her divorced father and stepmother, Mac and Bren, that she is pregnant. The parents take the news with little shock and respond t...

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...6 percent of teens that first had sex used some form of contraception at last intercourse” (Kearney, 2012). The majority of adolescents that are having sex for the first time are actually using contraception unlike how Juno does in the movie. Kearney’s findings are supported by the findings of John Santelli whom states that “Increases in condom use resulted in an increased use of contraception at first intercourse” (Santelli, 2010). In order to improve on the film’s accuracy, the issue on contraception should have added exploration in the film. Whether the contraception fails, like the condom breaking, or Juno or Paulie denies use of contraception should be included in the movie to address the matter of adolescents using contraception during intercourse. The film does accurately depicts some aspects of teen pregnancy and needs to enhance others such as contraception.