Juno is a 2007 comedy-drama film directed by Jason Reitman that focuses on the controversial topic of teenage pregnancy. It features a laid-back protagonist who takes a casual approach to her unexpected pregnancy rather than seeing it as traumatic. Throughout the film, she matures and finds an adoptive family for her child. The BBFC granted the film a 12A rating due to its infrequent strong language and brief implied sex scene. This was deemed an appropriate rating for a film dealing with teenage pregnancy.

1. Juno
Juno is a Canadian-American comedy drama, released in 2007 and directed
by Jason Reitman. The narrative focuses on the controversial topic of teenage
pregnancy and deals with this serious subject in a less serious manner by
using sarcastic humour throughout the film. It features a laid back,
independent representation of the protagonist who takes a much more casual
approach when faced with an unexpected pregnancy, instead of considering it
to be a trauma like most teenagers who fall pregnant. Throughout the film we
see a more mature side to Juno as she is faced with the pressures of adult
hood, after going to a clinic to terminate the pregnancy and not being able to
go through with it, she sets her mind on finding the perfect adoptive family for
her child.
Although Juno was submitted to the BBFC with a PG rating, it is
understandable that the BBFC examiners worried that this particular film
would not be suitable for an audience aged 12 and under due to the
infrequent strong language, with the BBFC guidelines stating that the use of
strong language is not permitted at PG, however the use of infrequent strong
language is permitted in films with a 12A rating. Another concern was the
frequent moderate sexual references, along with the one sex scene, however
this was very brief and discreet and the act itself is only implied, which the
BBFC guidelines state is suitable for an audience aged 12A. Taking all of this
into consideration as well as taking into consideration the main theme within
this movie teenage pregnancy, the film was granted a 12A rating which I
agree is a suitable rating for this particular film.
Stuart Hall - Reception Theory - Stuart Hall is a cultural theorist and
sociologist who came up with the reception theory which refers to how us as
an audience react to films, claiming that we all interpret films in different ways
based on a number of contextual factors rather than textual factors. Overall it
suggests that although the producers of a film encode particular messages
and ideologies within the film, our age, gender, historical issues and a number
of factors influence the way the message is decoded by the audience.
Contextual factors include: Elements of the viewers identity, circumstances of
exhibition and social, historical and political issues.
As a result the audience will either have a preferred, negotiated or
oppositional view of the text.
Preferred: Refers to agreeing with the themes and representations, therefore
meeting the producers intentions.
Negotiated: Refers to agreeing with some of the themes and representations
throughout.
Oppositional: Refers to completely disagreeing with the representations and
themes throughout.

2. I myself have a oppositional response to this film, I didn't enjoy the film and
although I liked the idea of a film which deals with teenage pregnancy and the
pressures that come with it, I feel the casual approach to the subject of
teenage pregnancy was unrealistic, a prime example the protagonist parents
casual reaction to her unexpected pregnancy due to the fact that realistically
people tend to judge and consider teenage pregnancy to be irresponsible and
overwhelming.
According to the reception theory, there are a number of contextual factors
which may have influenced the way I decoded this particular film and
therefore resulted in me having an oppositional response. Firstly taking into
consideration my own identity, I can relate to the protagonist in a way due to
the fact that we are both similar ages and both of the same gender, however
the fact that I myself have never experienced teenage pregnancy may have
influenced my response because I can't relate to both the protagonist and the
main theme throughout this film.
Another thing to take into consideration is preconceptions of the movie, before
watching this movie I knew that the movie was a comedy, however I didn't
expect it to deal with teenage pregnancy in such a casual and unrealistic way,
also before watching the film I had been told by friends that it wasn't a good
film. Both of which may have influenced my response, not only because the
storyline wasn't as realistic as I expected it to be but also due to the feedback
from my friends, I already had negative preconceptions and wasn't expecting
to enjoy it.
The circumstances of exhibition are also a factor to take into consideration, I
had to watch the film in a classroom environment in order to create this case
study. I feel that this effected my response to the movie, simply because there
is a huge difference between having to watch a film in a classroom
environment instead of watching it at home or with friends; therefore maybe if
I had watched this film at home or in the cinemas I may have enjoyed it more.
Another thing is social, historical and political issues, in today's society
teenage pregnancy is a regular occurrence and people like myself are more
willing to accept Juno's unexpected pregnancy and identify with her struggles,
however society also tends to judge young mothers by reinforcing the idea
that teenage pregnancy is a problem and that the responsibilities of being a
young mother stops teenagers from living their lives.
In conclusion a number of contextual factors have influenced the way in which
I decode the messages and ideologies encoded within this particular film and
have therefore resulted in me having an oppositional response, if these
contextual factors were different for example if I myself had experienced
teenage pregnancy or the circumstances of exhibition were different, then
maybe my response would be more negotiated or even preferred.

3. I then conducted some research by creating a survey in which I asked their
age, gender, weather they enjoyed the film and weather they had a preferred,
negotiated or oppositional response.
60% of the people who answered the survey were male and 40% female, all
of which were aged between 16-24. Taking into consideration elements of the
viewers identity I would predict that the females would be more likely to have
a preferred of negotiated response due to the fact that they are more likely to
relate to the protagonist and therefore enjoy the movie. Which is exactly what
I found when analysing the results: When asked weather they enjoyed the film
65% answered yes, 90% of which were female with only 10% of people who
answered yes being male. The remaining 35%of people who answered no to
this question were all male, with one male commenting that he couldn't get
into the film because he didn't relate to the plot. These results emphasize the
idea that contextual factors influence a persons response to a film.
I also asked weather they agreed that the BBFC rating of 12A for this film was
suitable, 100% answered yes to this question and commented that certain
content such as the infrequent strong language and sexual references
wouldn't be suitable for a pre teen audience.