1. Megan Hughes
Juno
The filmJuno,a Canadian-Americancomedydramaaboutasixteenyearoldgirl thatdiscoversshe is
pregnantandafter consideringoptionsdecidestogive herbabyupforadoption,wasoriginally
meantto be givena PG certificate whenitwassubmittedtothe BBFC,however,afterfinding
reasonsto decline thatrequest,itwasreleased in2007 witha 12A certificate.
The four mainreasonsas to whythe filmmakersof Junowere declinedaPG certificate are:
Infrequentuse of stronglanguage,moderate sexual references,one sex scene,casesof imitable
behaviouranda goryscene froman old horrormovie ‘The Wizardof Gore’whichwasrated an 18.
The sexual referenceswere classedascomical and‘moderate’intone andstrength althoughthey
were frequent.Examplesfromthe movie are:talking aboutboners,condoms,men’sballsand
vaginasinwhichmosttake place withinthe sex clinicwhere Junogoeswhenshe isconsidering
abortingherunexpectedchild,soinresult,althoughit’snotconsiderededucational inastrict
manor,the discussions withinthe movie betweenthe twoteenagersof whomone ispregnantdue
to unprotectedsex wasassumedtomitigate anyoffence. Ontermsof the sex scene,the filmbegins
withmaincharacter Juno(EllenPage) staringata reclinerwhile drinkingfromagallonbottle of
Sunny-Djuice,tellingus,"Itall beganwitha chair", whichis explainedwhen we see aflashbackof
Junoand herbestfriend,Paulie Bleeker(MichaelCera),who'ssittingnakedin the chair,waitingfor
Junowhilstshe removesherunderwearandsitsdownonhim…Thisis the extentof the sex scene so
it provesitiswithinthe guidelinesof a12A movie. The sex scene was brief anddiscreetsoitdidn’t
have a brutal impact on a 12 yearold child.
Due to the stronglanguage beingconsidered‘infrequent’,none aggressive andnot directedat
anyone itwas alsoissuedasacceptable fora 12A butnot as a PG. The use of the strong language
appearedtwice inthe movie ‘Juno’,infurtherdetail the word‘f**k’.Itwasfirstusednone violently
whenthe adoptive fatherof the unbornchild,Mark,istryingto act cool infront of Junowhilstin a
gory scene relatedtohorrormovies.The secondandfinal time itwasusedin a matter of shock
whenmaincharacter Junodiscoversshe isgoingintolabour.The BBFCguidelinesshow thatany
active stronglanguage isnevertobe usedina PG but because itisso civil itwasacceptable fora
12A.
BeingdeniedaPG certificate canrelate tocasesof imitable behaviourof whichisshownthroughout
the film.The firstone beingthatthe two charactersthat are havingsex are reasonablyyoung,the
secondone beingthattheyhave unprotectedsex,the thirdone beingteenpregnancy andlastlythat
theytalkabout the choice of abortingthe baby whichmanypeople inthe publicwhoview the film
will have negativeviewsonas theywouldn’twantitto be shownas an acceptable option. Eachof
these signsof imitable behaviouraren’tshowntoencourage people tofollow the same idea,they’re
shownto outline the maturityof Juno’sdecision,however,some parentsof youngchildrenmay
argue otherwise.
On termsof the horrorscene fromthe movie ‘The Wizardof Gore’rated age 18, althoughitwas
extremelygorywith the appearance of all the bloodandguts,it wasa veryweakfocusinthe film
Juno.It appearswhenJunoandMark are bondingastheybothshare love forhorror movies,they
discusshorrordirectorsand the narrativesandgroundworkof itall,thenfollowedbyMark showing
Junothisspecificclip from‘The Wizardof Gore’ whichwas relativelyshortand distancedona small
2. Megan Hughes
TV screenso it wasn’ttoofull onand in resultof this like the otherreasons…Itwasclassedas
acceptable underthe guidelinesof a12A certificate.
Junowas directedbyJasonReitman,writtenbyDiabloCody anddistributedbyFox Searchlight
Pictures.JasonReitmanis very well knownfordirectingJuno;otherfilmshe is well knownforare
‘Up in the Air(2009)’, ‘ThankYou forSmoking (2005)’ whichwere relativelypopularintheirtime.
The main character inthe movie ‘Juno’isobviouslyJunoMacGuff herself playedbyEllenPage
starringas a 16year oldgirl whoaccidentallygetspregnantandisunsure whatto dowithher baby.
JasonReitman (the director) saidhe couldpicture EllenasJunoassoonas he readthe script.
Alongside her,othermaincharactersare:Paulie BleekerplayedbyMichael Cera starringas the
bloodrelatedfathertothe child,VanessaLoringplayedbyJenniferGarner starringasthe adoptive
motherof the child,Mark LoringplayedbyJasonBateman the adoptive fatherof the child,Bren
MacGuff and Mac MacGuff playedbyAllisonJanneyandJ.K.SimmonsstarringasJuno’smotherand
father,alsoLeahplayedbyOliviaThirlbystarringasJuno’sbestfriend. Forthe benefitof the
audience watchingthe movie ‘Juno’,Ithinkontermsof castingit wasspot on withsuitability asall
of the charactersportray themselvesasmellowandsoft,nothingtodisruptingforthe age range of
people viewingthe film.
The overall theme of ‘Juno’the filmisreasonablymature;ithasmanyseriousaspectsbutcan be
consideredplayful andtenderinparts. Despite the criticismfromthe publicmakingfalse accusations
that the filmmakerswere tryingtoadvertise the negative behaviourdiscussed above,the BBFChave
considereditacceptable fora12A certificate leavingitoptional toparents/guardians whetherthey
wanttheirchildrenwhoaren’tyetteenagerstosee the filmornot. Afterbeingpassedinlate 2007,
Junonowhas had Oscar nominations.
