Analytical Essay On Juno

1158 Words3 Pages

Juno Analytical Essay
Harri Puddey (1137 words)
How does the film Juno by Jason Reitman subvert audience expectations of a typical ‘teen film’?

The expectations that audience have of teen films are that expecting it would follow the struggles of growing up or being a teenager. Teen films are generic by categorising the social groups in high school based on stereotypes. Teen film narrative often follows common plot of high school relationships. Jason Reitman’s 2007 teen film, Juno separates itself from the typicality of teen films. Juno goes against the familiar trends of teen films, challenging the audience expectations. This is because the main topic of the film is the struggles and everything associated …show more content…

Juno subverts the audience expectations of typical teen films because it has a controversial plot of pregnancy and abortion, mature/adult themes and the characters are quite deep and complex. The construction of characters and how they develop drives the plot and sets the setting of the film is evident that Juno challenges the typical narrative that audiences are expecting.
The characters in Juno are not typically the type of roles that would be found in a teen film. The characters challenge the audience expectations of teen films. The expectations would be expecting that Juno, being a teen film would feature cliques and social groups. Some of these stereotypical groups are the Jocks, Mean/Popular girls, the Nerds and the Outcasts. Juno challenges these expectations and doesn’t display a social divide like most common teen films. Paulie Bleeker, the boy that Juno fell pregnant to, doesn’t fit what the audience would expect from a male teen role. His character, is a combination between a jock and a nerd. Paulie takes part in a running club therefore he earns the title of jock but appears nerdy and acts socially awkward. He is tall and has a lanky appearance. His attitude towards Juno isn’t what would be seen …show more content…

The setting challenge the audience’s expectations of teen films. Audience expectations of possible setting of typical teen films are generally centred around school grounds, house parties, sporting areas. Juno doesn’t focus on these settings. The settings used in Juno are not what would be found in a typical teen film, thus challenging audience expectations. The abortion clinic is a controversial setting in this film. Juno decides that she is going to deal with her pregnancy and by going through with an abortion. Outside of the entrance of the abortion clinic, Juno sees Su-Chin protesting against abortion. Juno is overwhelmed in the clinic because Su-Chin told her that babies have fingernails. Juno freaks out and the scratching of fingernails on skin is emphasised. She decides to keep her baby. This film sides with both opinions of abortion, for it and against it. Generally teen films are superficial and very unrealistic. They don’t explore topics such as pregnancy and abortion because it is too mature for a general audience watching the film. The settings in this film are realistic and go hand in hand with the plot and theme, what adventures come with teen pregnancy. The settings are squarely focused at school like most superficial teen films are. They setting in Juno are unexpected and unique and ultimately carry the controversial topic of teen pregnancy and

Open Document