It idolizes it in the way that it shows teenage pregnancy (once again, a tragedy) having an overall happy ending (while being incredibly light-hearted), without consequences. She does become pregnant, but she winds up finding a loving family to adopt said baby so she winds up with an overall positive experience (and so does the audience from what I've heard). I feel as though, in real life, such a situation is more difficult than it appears through this movie (and to minimize the process is to glorify it). I highly doubt that it's an accurate representation of the actual adoption process, as it seems a little too easy and perfect. Again, I'm also not basing my opinions on this movie solely on the little snippets of previews I've seen, but also on the comments of others that have seen the movie.

Teenage pregnancy is something that should be avoided, and it is by no means a light-hearted matter (and I've heard that this movie is nothing BUT light-hearted despite the heavy-hitting topics, and yet, no one has given me the impression that this is a heavy, heart-wrenching film).

Teen pregnancy IS a tragedy. I would be shocked if anyone thought otherwise. No teen is fit to have a child and raise a child, granted that sometimes such a serious event can change a person for the better and a child can have a positive impact on someone's life, but teens are not fit to be mothers. Not only that, but having a child at such a young age drastically limits your options for the future... suddenly you go from being able to do everything in the world, to only being able to do about half of that or less.

Children should not have children. Just because it happens and just because those mothers are able to deal with it, or forced to deal with it, (and may go on to lead perfectly happy, fulfilled lives - along with their children), doesn't make it any less tragic. Tragic things have happened in all of our lives, but tragedy doesn't necessarily condemn you to an unhappy life or an unhappy ending, but having a happy ending doesn't mean the tragedy never happened.

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it is not a light-hearted movie... some parts are and some parts are utterly gut wrenching or i found so and i have seen it twice. yes there are jokes yes there is humour and a happy ending. no body is going to see a movie that just focuses on teen pregnancy are they? riding in cars with boys focused on teen pregnancy and it also used some level of humour to even out the darkness and depression in that film.

while i agree should not be having children... its happening its out there. atleast this movie in some ways addresses that issue and has a character some girls can relate to who does the right thing and gives the baby up for adoption, its not easy as the adoptive parents in the movie are flawed. but the movie highlights that juno is not old enough for the responablity and maybe just maybe that will influence some pregnant teenagers to take a mature approach.

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Life is pain, life is only pain. We're all taught to believe in happy fairytale endings,

But there is only blackness; dark depressing loneliness that eats away at your soul.

yea, i agree. she does originally go to get an abortion, but this kid who's pro-life tells her that the baby has finger nails, and Juno freaks out. So she decides to stay pregnant and put the baby up for adoption.

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You're the first person that has given me any kind of indication that the movie may be dealing with the issue in a very serious way.

Maybe that's the problem; maybe we should be addressing the topic more seriously and putting the reality out there and maybe people should give a shit about that reality (since, apparently, teen pregnancy is on the rise). My problem is that the overall message of the movie seems to be one of, It's okay if you DO get pregnant, because there are options available... like giving your baby to a loving family that wants a baby, it can actually turn into a blessing. But I feel like the overall message in such a film should cater more to the idea of denouncing teen pregnancy and viewing the idea as unpopular.

The fact that girls can relate to Juno makes them more comfortable about the idea and can put them at ease over a subject which "ease" should never play a part in. After all, it could happen to anyone, and Juno got through it okay, so I can too. I just don't get the sense that the movie has that sense of urgency over just how unfortunate it is to get pregnant so young. Just because teen pregnancy isn't a light-hearted issue, doesn't mean you need to interject humor into the issue to get people to watch it. I believe that people are more interested in difficult issues, especially ones that aren't discussed very often. There's okay to have balance in movies, but I get the feeling that the balance between humor and depression is a little uneven and the humor sort of wins out (that's my impression, after all).

I would expect that it deals with some of the issues, like choosing between abortion and adoption for instance... that's entirely unavoidable. But that doesn't make it a very accurrate representation, by including certain aspects of the issue that it's obligated to. I'm sure it's a good movie... I've yet to hear anyone say it was "okay" or anything less than good, but I just don't care to see it.

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Which is what I have a problem with. How far along was Juno when she went to have her abortion? Would the fetus have actually had fingernails at this time? Are the facts right?
That's what I have an issue with, the fact that things might not be accurate.

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in some ways juno is an important film that these girls in the situation of being a pregnant teenager can relate to someone. have some sort of character they can relate to have a story line that shows things won't be easy but there is the chance of a happy ending for them. i think they need something like that, the idea of being a pregnant teenager to me is so scary and distressing i can imagine it would be the same for others. its important that they have something to give them something slightly possitive something to tell them everything is not lost... im not in any way saying teen pregnancy isn't a problem im just saying they need some support and something to give them some hope

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Life is pain, life is only pain. We're all taught to believe in happy fairytale endings,

But there is only blackness; dark depressing loneliness that eats away at your soul.

No offense, but unfortunately, this is a very superficial and shallow statement. Yes, she was told the baby had fingernails and she was surprised for a while, but she still went in and even got as far as filling up the form - meaning, she's still in for abortion. It's when she saw the other "abortion-tees", expressions, and atmosphere around her that she decided she can't do it. You can easily read it on her face that it was conscience. So, it doesn't actually matter if the fingernails were a fact or not.

Let's put it this way, an eyewitness will most definitely have the most accurate and reliable knowledge about the crime compared to the police officer who just investigated on evidences or accounts of people. The factor that makes a significant difference is because the information the eyewitness acquired is first-hand, he was there. Evidences don't lie, but they can be perceived the wrong way. Word of mouth, as you all know, can be gravely altered based on the speaker’s perspective alone. More so if the story had gone several degrees already.

I'm pretty sure you've checked reliable sources, but it's still very different when you come to a conclusion based on your own. I hope you don't take this the wrong way though, but I'm pretty positive a point can be established here somewhere.

I believe this summarizes the point and somehow also contradicts with what you're trying to say. No offense there.

"Children shouldn't have children" - that is genuinely correct. However, teen pregnancy happening still holds true. In light of this situation, don’t you think it's better to move forward rather than succumb to self-pity and wallow in the... "tragedy" (as you call it)? Tragedies can happen, but as ~river~ mentioned, "everything is not lost". Having a happy ending doesn't mean you forget the tragedy, rather learn from it.

Again, the choice between adoption and abortion is just one of the things that could've happened given the situation. It may not be exactly accurate, but that doesn't cross out the fact that it is possible, as you mentioned yourself.
Would you have preferred if Juno had the baby aborted? Again, I quote myslef:
It's about making the best out of your mistakes instead of crying in one corner and just waiting hopelessly for things to happen. It's your mistake, your tragedy, at least do something about it.

That's why we'll just go back to square one, which unfortunately (and ironically) boils down to the top of this post. You won't have an established point of view of your own.

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Jane, my apologies if this may come across strong or anything, but I can sincerely assure that it's not anything like that. I'm not trying to prove you wrong, but simply giving attention to things that come across a bit blurred. I will not try to convince you anymore as it’s your choice. I believe I’ve said all I’ve to say and clarified them in my own points.

I enjoyed this discussion.

I'm not going to see a movie I'm not interested in, period. If 95% of the reviews are telling me one thing and 95% of the people that have seen the movie are telling me the same thing, I feel like it's appropriate to make a judgement on whether or not I care enough to see that movie. It's a MOVIE after all, not a crime scene (huge difference); based on all that I'm allowed to decide whether or not I approve/disapprove of the content of a movie. I'm not going to bother wasting my time or money for that 5% chance that the movie will turn out in a way I didn't expect.

I never said to wallow or succumb to self-pity or, as you're suggesting, let something like that ruin your life. It's kind of hard to prove I'm contradicting myself if you're going to put words in my mouth like that. In fact, where you quoted me, I said that tragedies don't condemn you to an unhappy life or an unhappy ending. I believe you need to just read more carefully before commenting.

My point was it shouldn't be IGNORED or overlooked as some kind of miniscule detail. Tragedies happen, and they're hard, difficult, trying; however, we deal with them, learn from them, make the best of them, and move on with our lives. My point was that this movie makes too LIGHT an issue of something that should NOT be taken lightly, and as I've also said before I've only heard any different from one person, who probably falls in that 5% statistic.

I never even bothered discussing the abortion/adoption debate because that's not what my talking points were about. My points all had to do with why I don't want to bother seeing the movie. And again, I never suggested anything different about learning from mistakes and moving on despite tragedies, so this point of yours makes very little sense. Just because I pointed out the obvious, in that the movie was forced to deal with issues of abortion/adoption, doesn't mean that they explored those issues thoroughly, appropriately, or accurately.

But because you care, I'm 100% pro-life, but personally 100% against abortion. I would never judge anyone that chose to get an abortion, but I would never be able to go through such a thing myself.

As I said, in the beginning of my post, my decision to see a movie based on my own morals is entirely up to me and I have every right to establish my own opinion (after hearing reviews and spoilers) on whether or not I agree with the film. Everyone is reacting to this movie in shockingly similar ways, and I'm frankly not interested in a movie, dealing with teen pregnancy, when it affects audiences in such a way.

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Oh for fucks sake, Jane, either get of your high horse and watch the movie or GTFO of the thread. Seriously.

It's a cute movie that does not glorify teen pregnancy. If anything, it shows people that if/and when teens do get pregnant(and yes they do, and yes it's a tragedy) that there are other options out there. Perhaps if you actually WATCH the movie you might know that.

You being so gung-ho against this movie without actually seeing it is laughable. I dont really care what you've read or heard about it. Watch it THEN make up your mind. Otherwise, why even come into this thread? Just to stir up shit? Bingo. I R smrat.

I'm quite disappointed that you took it quite maliciously. That example was obviously meant to prove a point, which you should've perceived, not saying that a movie should be taken seriously like a crime.

Sadly, the rest of your last post is similarly more of a rant than a discussion of points. I don't want to turn a sound exchange of opinions that have gone on in this thread to a heated public argument. If you want to continue this conversation, please feel free to PM me.

I hope you don't take this the wrong way though.