‘JUNO’ IN REAL LIFE: I am helping a woman, 56, and her daughter 40, with their transitions through a difficult time in their lives due to an event in the mother’s life forty years ago. (She still won’t say how it actually happened: rape or love) but she became pregnant at sixteen and her mother (whose husband left the family of seven kids for a much younger woman with no kids), advised her daughter to give up her child, at sixteen, so she could finish high school and go to college for a degree.

Well,she got the B.A. degree in English. At nineteen though,she had twins, who both graduated with M.A. degrees in business. And, even later she had a son who became a entrepreneur. Successful family!

The mother worked for the government for two decades, became a homeowner, got marrried and divorced more than once and then quit her job hoping to gain the career she dreamed of as an editor and writer. But launching the career has not happened yet because she is still nurturing a larger and larger family as the days go by. The baby she gave up called one day 38-years later and their story unfolds after the adoption.

SYNDROMES…HAVE TO BE ADDRESSED! There is no getting around them. The daughter, I’ll call her Mary,38, was adopted by a minister and his wife and she was abused. The hospital records from her childhood tell the story but even she got a B.A. degree from college. She is permanently disabled physically and she is emotionally disturbed and confused psychologically but this is not a “tragic” story. These people are tough. They have a “real” view of life with a bit of idealism thrown in.

We hoped that Mary would become a writer too (her mother was ready to drop her jog toward her writing career to help her daughter but Mary said no). Mary wants to sulk, she wants the luxury of sulking to see how sympathetic the world is to her plight. But the world around her is demanding that book she needs to write to help others and to help the foster care and adoption systems but Mary wants to sulk. So, she sulks.

But, just know this…after some time has passed, we can see, Mary may work wonders yet because we can see her going through ALL the stages of syndromes from baby to adolescent and maybe she’ll arrive at adulthood in her new life.

Her mother welcomed her with opened arms and was glad to see her. Her mother suffers from: I GAVE MY BABY AWAY BECAUSE THEY TOLD ME IT WAS BEST FOR HER SINCE I WAS SIXTEEN SO OTHER PEOPLE COULD GIVE HER A BETTER LIFE THAN ME…Syndrome. This mother grew up to be highly functional and capable so why didn’t she go looking for her child? That’s why. So, she suffers the syndrome: I WAS NOT GOOD ENOUGH TO BE MY CHILD’S MOTHER.

Now, she is furiously angry, just enraged that the world told her what to do and it was so very wrong. But, what hurts the most is that her child can’t understand why she was given up for adoption no matter how much anyone explains: “IT WAS THE CULTURE!” The culture in America says it is best to give the child up for adoption than to try and raise it and we are now learning that we need to quit saying that and just say: “There are options…make up your own mind…this is your life and your child’s life…what you decide will be your story…everyone has a story…and none of know in advance how our stories will turn out.”

We now know the miraculous deeds of the single parent and we now know that these deeds can begin at sixteen.

AS A CURE…IF THERE IS ONE…we advised Mary to get involved with her seventeen year-old cousin’s pregnancy and childbirth and rearing. She did. The baby was not adopted. The baby was kept. Mary learned that though the seventeen-year-old says she loves her baby, can’t live without her baby she has left the baby and not returned for days. She says she wants to have fun. And so on.

This teen mother will eventually catch on and may make a great mother with Mary’s help, eventually.

In the meantime…they go through all the stages of the syndromes trying to live life and listen to people with ideas about how life should be lived while they are living life as it comes up. (I hope you see the difference there. Some people call it, “with a plan & goal” versus “as is.”

I FIRST MADE THIS POST EARLY THIS YEAR. I wrote updates on the story. Amazon.com may have deleted them. I may have been taking up to much space even though I was making a real controversy and getting people’s attention. But the point is this: JUNO, THE MOVIE needed a contrasting review. And, this is it.

“JUNO”…was well-written and well-performed. There is no question about that. Ellen Page is a star performer here and deserves top awards. You will not forget this movie. The music and the vision of Page with her cute little ponytail is unforgettable. Nothing about this movie is forgettable.

It is so surreal and dreamlike (perfect-world-like) that no one wants to be brought back down to earth with my review: “I AM THE BABY JUNO GAVE AWAY” to a single mother. Juno picked the parents from a penny-saver, visited their home, thought she at 16…had done a good investigation of the potential parents, but then the husband bailed. He didn’t want the gig but the wife remained passionate for the quest so Juno went through with the adoption and went back to her childhood.

NOW LISTEN…I will never-ever tell another female what to do with her body or her pregnancy under dire circumstances and sensibilities. I mean, Nature is natural and natural is cruel sometimes. Natural is abortive sometimes.

It is “ideal” that is surreal, kind, nice, perfect and relentless.

So, am I saying Juno was wrong? No. It is her story and it will be her child’s story. Is there more than one way to do the circumstances that Juno had to deal with? Of course. And, abstinence is one. Sex education is another and there are a lot of ways to do sex education including showing sexual relations on film with childbirth and the child after birth needing to be loved and raised. I’ve taught that and I already know how powerful the right kind of sex education can be in a very gentle but impressive form.

Would abortion have been wrong? No. That would have been JUNO’S choice and story. The movie strongly indicated “the choice” process.

So, I guess you know I am pro-choice. We are free in this country to create our own stories.

I feel strongly though, because of life experience, that: (1)If you give birth that child should have the undeniable right to know something about the circumstances of its conception and birth, and, have the option of meeting the parents or not, and this could be accomplished by video or journal. [JUNO did not want to do that.](2)I feel the child should be told and reminded that they had parents, if they were adopted, or, they had the American foster system that did give them a humane start in life with a huge extended family. (Some very fine people have come out of the foster care system.)

WE HAVE A TENDENCY TO PUT PEOPLE DOWN IN AMERICA…if they don’t have the perfect (ideal) life but we have seen enough now to know we need to stop that. We have the system that can raise people from the bottom and put them on top and they can work their way up to help society flow well.

WE HAVE A VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE TODAY WHOSE TEENAGER IS ‘JUNO.’ Sarah does not believe in pro-choice; she believes in childbirth. Sarah does not believe in sex education; she hopes for the best and feel the child ought to know…without an education. Sarah believes in keeping all children who are born to life. So, her seventeen-year-old daughter is keeping her child and getting “shot-gun” married, some writers are calling it.

I have issues with the strong indication that this may not be the daughter’s choices for her life but her mother’s life-choices. BUT STILL, I stop! Won’t say anymore about it because this is not my life story. It is Sarah’s and her family’s. I made my choices, I gave my advice and point of view to my offspring and I think Sarah has that right as well. I respect another woman’s right to teach her offspring how to live and how to create the story of their lives. I have my story so I feel everyone should have theirs. (Sarah may not agree.)

IN ALL MY SCHOLARLY STUDIES: I find, (1)A second pregnacy is likely; (2)The teen-mother, with proper support, will do well, (3)With the proper support and sacrifice from parents, ANY teenager can keep their child and rise to a highly functional level, and, (4)It is not always the very best idea to enforce marriage in the teen years especially if they are “shot-gun.” That may not be highly functional and it will produce more offspring. And, that seems to make matters worse…the young marriages, unless there is a LOT of proper support.

WHY DID I WRITE ALL OF THIS?

Because teenagers liked JUNO incessantly! I hope to tell them something to help ground them in the true reality that Juno’s child still lives. Therefore, it is a person who needs to be cared for, not just forgotten without consideration. Therefore: JUNO is not as cute a story as we have enjoyed the movie.

THE YOUNG PEOPLE ON THIS WEBPAGE TAUGHT ME SOMETHING TOO.

They taught me that they don’t want to be awakened from a very good dream.

SEE THE MOVIE MORE THAN ONCE AND SEE ALL SIDES OF IT: mother and child, parents/grandparents (who will have to sacrifice); then discuss it, and see the adopting side and see society’s side too but overall, that child’s life should come first…if the child is born.

–Margaret Opine

First off, a disclaimer: I love independent films. The quirkier the better! When a movie like Happy Little Sunshine, or Memento comes out, I get excited because I know it’s going to have a different point of view that appeals to all of my sensisibilities. But, however, I did not like Juno because it sends a clear message to all unwed mothers and fathers that teen pregnancy is something worth laughing about. It is no laughing matter!

First off, I should say that I do believe there was a great script written by Diablo Cody, and there are terrific performances by Ellen Page, Michael Cera, Jennifer Garner, and Jason Batement. It is really a stellar cast, and they really bring the story to life. Also I will say that the soundtrack is top notch and I think the director did an excellent job from beginning to end.

First of all, it’s not very believable that kids that young are going to get that pregnant at their age. Some kids do have children when they’re too young, but this movie is a comedy and should not be based on real life. Also, the main characters all say twisted little cliches that are far really too clever to come from people who are are living in a dumb town. Maybe people from New York talk that way, but come on!

I think, first of all, that this movie would have been better as a drama, because that’s the kind of movies I like most. But if it couldn’t be a drama, then at least it should have been more like real life. I’m not saying they should have made it a documentary (although I think Michael Cera would be very funny in one of those) but maybe they should have. Teenaged pregnancy is a dicey issue for a lot of groups and Juno makes fun of how tough a situation it can be.

All in all, I think this is not a good movie to watch on DVD, but probably better on the big screen. I think better luck next time to the filmmakers, actors, and writer of Juno!!!

I really don’t get how people liked this movie so much, or how it won awards.

This movie was painful to watch. It was one of few movies that I was just waiting for it to be over. When she had the baby I was relieved because that meant it would end soon.

I kept my mouth shut so my girlfriend could enjoy it, but she hated it too.

It was so wrong to advertise Michael Cera as a co-star. He was in this film hardly at all. Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner has much more screentime. Cera was the reason I saw the movie, and his lacking just made it more disappointing. If you like Arrested Development and Superbad, this is NOT the movie for you. (I love Arrested Development, Superbad was ok.)

The soundtrack was also horrible, just like the “art” (or whatever you call it) for the movie intro. It was like Napolean Dynamite, except much worse and whiny. This director needs a good slap on the head, to snap out of this stupid artsy garbage. How can people buy that? Did critics actually think it was artsy in a good way? All it did was make me roll my eyes.

The story and morals of this movie are good. I still found the overall story and message to be solid. Ellen Page, the directing, the music, lack of Michael Cera, art, and dialogue – all terrible. I can’t tell if they tried too hard, or not enough. This was torture to watch. You can’t pay me to see it again.