Pro-choice, pro-life, pro-family?
How we are seduced by conservative ideas.

Juno is a heartwarming romantic comedy full of
wisecracks and one-liners. Ellen Page plays the too-
precocious-to-be-true 16 year-old who discovers she is
pregnant after “going live” for the first time.

Director Jason Reitman uses a colour palette for Juno
and her friends/family that suggests love and warmth.
In this scene, we see a 360° view as she sees the
results of her first pregnancy test. The subtle
suggestion here is that this film is hiding nothing.
Angle #1: over the counter to Juno’s right side.

Angle #2 is the reverse angle, looking back at the
counter. The store clerk’s golden uniform paints him
as sympathetic (if sassy).

Angle #3, from in front and below, looking back at
Juno’s expression as she views the pee stick.

Angle #4: the reverse shot, showing Juno’s POV. The
little + on the stick, of course, could be seen as a
cross, suggesting underlying Christian values. Note,
too, that our 4-angle view of this result forms
another cross.

Michael Cera as Paulie is usually pictured in the rich
red and golden colours of the school. These colours,
particularly the red of his sweat top, associate him
closely with Juno, even as they drift apart. Paulie is
that most impossible of American teens: the jock who
rocks.

The warm lighting of Juno’s family home. Director
here uses one of many examples of the 180° rule.
There is an invisible line between the camera and the
characters, which the camera does not cross.

In the reverse angle, the camera stays on its side of the
180° rule line. What is the effect of this?
In his famous film theory book, A Certain Tendency of the
Hollywood Cinema, 1930–1980, Robert B. Ray suggests
that mimetic cinema forces its audience to make
choices.

180° line
180° rule
Illustration of this scene set-up, as if from overhead.
Green triangles are cameras; blue circles are
characters.

Mimesis: the reflection or imitation of reality. Mimetic cinema is
a form of realism, suggesting that the camera is merely
pointing at the world and recording it. If we notice the 180°
rule, however, we can see that choices are being made on our
behalf. Ray goes further and suggests that we are being
manipulated by mimetic illusion.
Although Juno begins with a 360° view, it is the 180° rule that
is followed throughout the rest of the film. Given that one of
the themes of Juno is choice, is this significant?

Our first view of the Lorings (Jennifer Garner and
Jason Bateman) is in black and white. They become
more colourful as we get to know them.

Again, warm golden light and the red of love and
passion is associated with Juno and her best (female)
friend. And again, the 180° rule is followed in filming
this scene.

Reverse ange looking up at Leah (Olivia Thirlby),
maintains the integrity of the invisible 180° line.

As Juno and her dad Mac (J K Simmons) arrive at the
Loring’s home, our angle on them shows warm
lighting. Also Mac’s red shirt picks up the colour we
associate with Juno.

Our first view of the Lorings, however, is bathed in
cooler blue hues.

Red/Gold for Juno and her family.

Cooler colours for the Lorings. But they do warm up
as we get to know them.

Mark at first seems to be the more sympathetic of the
Lorings. Whereas Vanessa is shown as cold, adult, and
professional, he shares interests with the teenage Juno. This
mis-en-scène is in Mark’s space, which is like a (wealthy)
teenager’s bedroom: guitars, posters, matchbooks, LPs...

This shot of Juno walking against the tide in the school
corridor is used twice. On both occasions, Juno is singled
out as exceptional because she walks in the opposite
direction. Some critics attacked the too-precocious Juno and
her wisecracks as being unrealistic, but shots like this remind
us that this is supposed to be a film about an exceptional
individual.

Extreme close-ups are used in Juno to show intimacy,
particularly in relation to Juno and Paulie, whose sex
act is shown as a close-up between ear and lips.

Juno’s youth (She’s a high school junior) is revealed in
this simpe scene with a toy car and her bump.

In conversation with Paulie at the lockers, she looks
him straight in the eye. Note that the 180° rule is
followed here by violating the position of the lockers.
If the lockers were really there (if this was really
mimetic), this angle would be impossible.

The reverse angle maintains the camera’s position in
line with the lockers on its side of the 180° line.
Paulie’s lack of confidence is shown by his inability to
return her direct gaze.

The fantasy of the film provides visuals to accompany
Juno’s wisecracking commentary.

180° rule again, together with the warm tones of
Juno’s perfect family life. In the film, her choice not to
have an abortion and have the baby adopted is
questioned only once.

In this reverse angle, Juno’s troubles (the marital
problems of the Lorings) are reflected in the blue
light coming from the open fridge door. The cold
interior of the fridge is also reflected...

...by the winter landscape.

Again, some writers have criticised the film for its
lack of tears and heartache. Juno has one moment of
despair, which she deals with alone and does not
really share with her family.

Mark becomes more unsympathetic, revealed to be
suffering from arrested development, a man-boy who is
in full retreat from adulthood. This shot of the Lorings
looking at a blank wall shows the emptiness between
them. This space is later filled by Juno’s personal note
to Vanessa.

As the pregnancy progresses, Juno shifts from red to
green. This signals her intention to “go” with her
original choice, and could also suggest inner peace,
and the fertility of the spring season (when the baby
was due).

Summer. Bathed in dappled light, Juno and Paulie (the
jock who rocks) sing a song together. The camera pulls
back to reveal Paulie’s modest but comfortable
suburban home. Juno has made her choice and there is
little suggestion that she will be haunted by her
decision to give up the baby for adoption.

Pro choice or pro-life? While Juno doesn’t exactly say,
the choice is made. As Juno enters the abortion clinic
(Women Now), her school acquaintance mentions that
foetuses have fingernails, and it is the scratching of
fingernails in the office that drives Juno to leave, to choose
adoption instead.

The film’s conservatism is also revealed in the attitudes
of Juno’s family and school, who are clearly
disapproving and yet supportive. Juno doesn’t end up
pregnant and homeless; the adults always stick up for
her. Going through with the pregnancy is therefore
privileged as the “right” decision to make.