1. JessicaGrundy.
Junois a Canadian-Americancomedydramathatfirstappearedinthe cinemasin2007. The director
for thisfilmwasJasonReitmanwhowasalsofamousfordirectingotherfilmssuchasThank youfor
smokingin2005, up inthe airin 2009 and youngadultin 2011. Junois abouta 16 year old school girl
calledJunoMacGuff,playedbyEllenPage, whofindsoutshe ispregnanttoschool friendandlong-
time admirerPaulie Bleeker,playedbyMichael Cera. Beingsoyoungshe realisesthe big
responsibilityshe will nowhave andinitiallyconsidersanabortion.
However,hervisitwasn’tasshe thoughtitwouldbe whenshe isalienatedbythe staff’s
authoritarianandbureaucraticattitudesandisoffendedwhenone of themcallshersexuallyactive.
Thisis a termwhichshe feelsdemeansthe highlyemotional eventwhichgotherpregnant.All of this
makesherchange her mindaboutabortionandinsteadshe decidestoputthe unbornbaby upfor
adoption. WithhelpfromherfriendLeah,playedbyOliviaThirlby,Theylookthroughlocal
newspapersinordertofinda willingcouple whowill take goodcare of the baby.Throughouttheir
searchtheycome acrossa wealthy marriedcouple whohave dotedonthe thoughtof having
children, calledMarkandVanessaLoring,playedbyJasonBatemanandJenniferGarner.Junoand
herfatherMac, playedbyJ.K.Simmons,travel toMark andVanessa’shome where theyagree toa
closedadoption. Whenwe firstmeetthe wealthycouple,MarkandVanessa,we see themasa
stronglovedupmarried couple whowouldbe greatwithchildrenandwouldgrow upoldas a big
happyfamily,buthoweverwhenJunogetsclosertothe couple she realisesMarkand Vanessaare
bothverydifferentsuchasMark hasa roomfor all of thingssuchas guitarsand musicwhich
Vanessamovedasshe claimedwasjunk.Itisalso veryevidentthatVanessahashighstandardsas
she’sthe wealthyone whohasa goodpayingjob,but we don’tfindoutwhat occupationshe has,
whereas,we dofindoutMark has a lowpaidjobmakingjinglesforadverts.
Aftera while,whenthe pregnancywasprogressingJunostruggleswithheremotionsforPaulie
Bleeker,whoclearlyloveshertoo. She continuestohide hertrue feelingstowardsPaulie,but
howevershe isdevastatedtofindouthe hasaskedanothergirl to prom,withangerand hurt she
confronts him.Thisiswhenhe tellsheritwas at herwishto ask the girl to prom andto keeptheir
distance eventhoughhe didn’twanttoand that she had broken hisheart.Notlongbefore herbaby
isdue,Junoagain visitsMarkwhenhe hitsher withthe revelationthathe isn’treadytobe a father
and that he no longerlovesVanessaanymore andthathe wishestodivorce her. VanessaandMark
bothcome to an agreementtodivorce.
Junofinallyaccepts thatshe lovesPaulie soshe finallytellshimandhisnextactionsmake itclearhe
feelsthe same way.NotlongafterJunogoesintolabour,butshe still decidestogive Vanessathe
childas itis all she has everwantedandMark doesn’twishtohave anythingtodo withitas he
wouldlike todomore thingsbefore he settlesdownwithachild. However,Paulie isunaware that
she has gone intolabourand hada babyboy because she deliberatelydidn’ttell himas she didn’t
wantto put himoff on hisbigrace. Furthermore,he figuresitoutwhenhe seesshe isn’tinthe
audience andmakeshiswayto the hospital where theybothagreednotsee the babyashe comforts
Junowhyshe sadlycries.HoweverVanessaclaimsthe babyboyasherown like she’salwayswanted,
but as a single adoptive mother.The filmendswithPaulie andJunosatoutside Paulie’shouseboth
singingandplayingaguitar.
2. Before the filmJunowasreleasedthe directorJasonReitmanwantedtogive the filmaPGcertificate
however,the BBFCrefusedandclaimedbecause of the contentitdeserveda12A certificate instead.
I believethisisbecause there weresexual contentreferences,eventhoughyoucouldnotsee any
sexual scenesthe followingshotsshownimpliedwhatwasgoingon.Anotherlikethiswaswhenthe
camera focusedonPaulie Bleekersrunningshortsastheywere veryshortandwas shownforthe
pleasure of the female targetaudience.
AnotherreasonwhyIbelieve Junowasn’tgivenaPGcertificate wasbecause the filmfeatured
imitable behavioursuchasunprotectedsex ata youngage, teenpregnancy,abortingunborn
childrenandgivingchildrenupforadoption.Thesefollowingeventsare easyfora youngchildto
copy andthinkisthe correct behaviour.
Furthermore,anotherreasonwhyIbelieve Junodeserveda12A certificate isbecause featuredin
the filmwasstrong language eventhoughthe language featuredwasnotdirectbutexpressedher
emotionsitcouldstill have beenseenasimitablebehaviourbecause the childrenwatchingmay
thinkitis correct behaviour.
The last reasonwhyI thinkthe filmJunowasgivena12A certificate insteadof aPG isbecause inone
of the sceneswe see asmall 10 secondclipof a gory,oldhorror movie calledThe WizardOf Gore
whichhas an age restrictionrate of 18. In thisscene we see 16 year oldJunoand mark,a middle
agedman watchingthe film.Thiscouldalsobe seenasimitable behaviourbecause youngchildren
may wantto watch the horror movie whichissuggestedveryscaryasit has such a highage
restrictionandalsoyoungerviewersmaynotlike andbe scaredof the imagesshown.
WhenresearchingIdidn’tfindanysimilarfilmstoJunobythe same directorJasonReitman,
howeverIdidfindsome similarfilmsaroundthe same time asJuno suchas Knockedupwhichis
abouta hardworkingwomanwhofindsoutshe ispregnanttoa lazy partygoer,throughoutthis
romanticcomedywe watch the male charactergrow up and cope withbecomingafather. We also
watch the male protagonisttransforminto agood role model forhisunbornchild.
