Gender and Sexuality in the Younger Generation - Movie Review Example

24 November Gender and Sexuality in the Younger Generation Juno is an American feature film that was released in the year 2007, directed by Jason Reitman and written by renowned Hollywood scriptwriter, Diablo Cody. The film follows a simple story of a young teenage girl on her journey to life as she encounters an obstacle in the form of an unplanned pregnancy. It is thus about how she manages to handle her life despite deciding to have the baby, and the kind of impact the situation has on her maturity and lifestyle. The movie has gained worldwide recognition due to it being able to address a large audience on a global scale that has been able to relate with every aspect of it. The film also poses a strong question regarding the aspect of gender and sexuality and the role reversals that are felt between the two genders in the younger generation today, as discussed with examples from the film. Juno has a very basic story line as well as concept attached to the tale; it is about a young girl trying to explore the nooks and crannies of intimacy and relationships without understanding the implications that might arise along with the same. The film has been directed in a very concise manner making use of pencil stylized ‘rotoscoped’ images right from the credits in the beginning, making use of animation in order to help the audience understand the maturity level of the girl and the kind of colourful life that she always wanted to live for herself. This entire sequence took a period of seven to eight months to be mastered as each and every shot that follows Juno on her way to the medical pharmacy was taken in short screenings. The set design is incredible, assisting in providing the film with a touch of wonder. The story has been told through the eyes of Juno herself, as she takes the audience along on her woven tale of how she ended up having sexual relations with her classmate whom she did not have any feelings for. The film is mainly directed towards a young generation of teenagers and also helps them to explore the kind of curiosity that reigns within them, and how the same should be understood not by simply jumping in and trying things out with friends, but by reading about things and comprehending the facts about life from one’s parents first. It helps children and young adults to understand how friends might not be the best option when it comes to understanding such information about pregnancy and intercourse. These aspects of life are crucial to one’s existence and they must be understood well by every individual so that he is able to make his own decisions without falling into trouble or having unplanned circumstances crop up in his life. (Sciretta, Peter) The film achieved mass appeal because of the story telling as well as how the girl managed to learn her lesson without panicking much about the situation. The various characters within the movie have been portrayed in a very interesting manner. The director has taken his time to choose the main protagonists and provide them with a different twist. Juno is a young teenage girl who comes off a little strong on the first meeting with everyone. Full of sarcasm, she helps to put an indie spin on the movie and gives a very intense performance with her dominating nature and need to control everything that might not even be in her reach. However, she understands where she went wrong by getting pregnant but decides to bring about a change in a couple’s life with the help of her baby who she is willing to give up in order to make someone else happy. There was a vast amount of dramatisation in the film played by the other characters, namely Juno’s parents which helped to calm the situation by making her understand what she had gone through, and helping her come out with a solution rather than screaming at her and making her feel the pain of the implications and consequences that she was already suffering. The two characters acted in an excellent manner, almost very real and lifelike, helping parents all around to understand how to cope with their children if they befall such a similar situation in their future. Juno herself wonderfully shows the kind of solid and sincere relationship she always wanted a child to be under the influence of during his or her growing up years and thus decides to give the baby to the perfect couple who will be able to raise it with love and patience. The film has been divided into various chapters, giving the film a very succinct outline. The one thing that sets this movie apart is the idea of Juno trying not to become a victim of the situation she was thrust into, and rather treat the predicament as a stepping stone and move ahead in life, having learned a lesson. The design of Juno’s bedroom helps in understanding the breakdown of gender stereotypes, as compared to her very ‘girly’ friend, Leah’s bedroom. Juno has a very indie feel and objects in her room, like her famous ‘hamburger phone’ helped to show how different and varied her interests were and that she was just another ‘random’ teenager trying to find her way through life. The rooms of Paulie as well as Juno’s friend Leah have also been designed well, depicting what other teenagers like; Leah’s room being covered with posters of older men trying to signify her level of maturity when it comes to accepting love and Paulie’s looked neat with his mother bumping in several scenes showing how she might be the reason behind his cleanliness, like most teenage boys these days. In many scenes throughout the movie as well, it can be understood that Juno was more aggressive than Paulie, the ‘man’ throughout the process of pregnancy, and this thus brought a difference in understanding stereotypes. For example, when Paulie did not want to go with Juno for her doctor’s appointment because he was too shy and scared, it depicts what most boys are like when it comes to shirking responsibility. A number of examples of gender role reversal can be seen throughout the movie between Juno and Paulie as compared to the couple Mark and Vanessa. Juno is like Mark – the both of them love taking chances and are not at all passive with their emotions as opposed to both Paulie and Vanessa who get pushed over in many instances because of the decisions taken by others. Juno in this regard may be called more ‘man’ than Paulie because of her attitude to take things in her stride and continue with the pregnancy as if it were just another phase in her life. She was brave and strong, unlike Paulie who according to gender roles is supposed to be the brave and strong man. The movie also featured a vast variety of music, mostly ranging from indie music to songs suggested by the main actress Ellen Page herself. Mostly acoustic based songs were used in order to portray the simplicity in the background of the movie. This helped to place more emphasis on the character of Juno, who was seen to be less passive and emotional throughout the film as compared to Paulie. (Walker, Jeremy) The movie falls under a genre of romantic comedies as it includes heavy wit, sarcasm as well as a teenage romance blossoming with the men in Juno’s life. The movie also includes a high level of satire throughout the course of Juno’s nine months of pregnancy during the movie. Moreover, a good script and well spoken dialogues help to give weight age to the film’s ‘immature storyline’ and help the characters evolve on the basis of their personal thoughts, emotions and ideals. The film has received a vast amount of criticism from people all over the world, mostly for being based on a teenage girl’s life who takes her unplanned pregnancy very casually. Juno does not seem to panic at any point during the movie because of the mistake that she made and most critics feel that this has resulted in sending out a wrong message to young children out there who might feel that it is okay to engage in sexual intercourse before attaining any knowledge or education about the same. (Chris) Moreover, a number of critics also said that the film was not able to analyse Juno’s actual feelings properly and portrayed her in a very ‘random’ and haphazard manner, failing to show whether or not she actually learned her lesson from the entire experience that she underwent, and if she was able to gain some amount of maturity and be responsible for the kind of relationship she wanted to be in. The film had a very vast societal impact as it appealed to the minds of most young people, as well as parents who watched the film with their teenage children and were able to understand them better. The film helped a number of people wake up and realise things about teenage pregnancies and how this can hinder a person’s future in the long run and stagnate them from having a career or a dream to follow. (Celis, Barbara) Moreover, it may be understood that the film has also opened up people’s minds regarding the role of sexuality and gender; more and more young people have come to realize that the role of a boy or a girl related to a teenage pregnancy cannot be determine by their gender. Sexuality on the other hand is an anatomical construct which the protagonists in the film explored at its inception itself. The film portrays the idea of gender and sexuality as a personal but not a permanent identity because even though Juno is seen taking the reign of her life throughout the film, towards the end, Paulie comes and sits with her, indicating that he has accepted the role of being the aggressive and persuasive one in their relationship, as a man is supposed to be according to society. The film therefore speaks volumes about how gender is portrayed today; men are no longer the less emotional kind, especially teenage boys who are still trying to figure their way out of life and understand the weight of the responsibility that is expected of them since a very young age. Moreover, women are more aggressive because of the burden that has been placed on them to behave in a passive manner; this has had a reversing effect on both genders and in society today, the roles have reversed to a great extent, especially as shown in the film. Even the older couple Mark and Vanessa seem to have been going through a number of problems however Vanessa has been shown as the ‘ultimate’ woman who wants to raise a child and is very emotional in the way that she handles things. Therefore, the film highlights the male in a very arbitrary manner helping the audience understand that men, or women for that matter, are no longer subject to a single set of traits or characteristics as has been understood for years; instead gender and sex has two different meanings pertaining to social construction which young boys and girls are beginning to explore in order to understand their identities better. Works Cited Chris. (2009). ‘Juno: Film Review. Eye For Film’. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2012. Sciretta, Peter (2008). ‘Juno is the Most Successful Indie Film in Six Years.’ N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2012. Walker, Jeremy. ‘Juno’. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2012. . Celis, Barbara (2007). ‘Interview: Jason Reitman’. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2012. . Read More