'Juno' deemed unrealistic by real birth parents
Categories: Teens & tweens, Adoption, Media, That's Entertainment
My husband and I managed a date this weekend (yay!) and went to see Juno. I'd heard a lot of good things about this movie, which tells the story of a quirky teenage girl who becomes pregnant and decides to give her baby up for adoption. It did not disappoint. I laughed, I cried, and while I left the theater entertained, there was enough substance to the film to have thoughtful discussion over dinner. (And thank goodness, because otherwise we might have had to talk about the kids!)It surprised me a little to find this article in the Chicago Tribune that characterizes the reaction of birth parents to this movie. Many are cautioning that the teen pregnancy comedy paints too rosy a picture of the decision to place a baby up for adoption. "['Juno'] gives the impression that one can hand a baby off to strangers, have a few tears at the time the baby is born, and then the next day get on with your life as if nothing happened. That is of great, great concern to me," says Mirah Riben, a board member at Origins-USA, a national organization for birth mothers.
Other women interviewed called the movie "oversimplified," "insulting," "painful," and "not true to life."
I understand where they are coming from, I really do. The character Juno has a cavalier attitude towards her decision-making in regards to her pregnancy. She walks away from the abortion clinic because she obsesses about the fact that the baby has fingernails. She chooses the adoptive couple out of a newspaper ad. She signs legal paperwork without flinching, and without any apparent involvement of her own lawyer or an adoption agency.
However, the bottom line for me is that Juno is a COMEDY. It's FICTION. If the movie were touted as an accurate portrayal of the heart-wrenching decision to place a child for adoption, it would be a documentary. (It would also be MUCH less popular.)
Anyone else who has seen this movie want to weigh in?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
eugene 3-10-2008 @ 10:24AM
This just in, real galactic rebels criticize "Star Wars" as being an unrealistic portrayle of an intergalactic civil war while Authorities continue to criticize film maker George Lucas for glorifying the actions of what they term as "jedi-o-fascist linked terrorism".
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ninainindia 3-10-2008 @ 10:49AM
I like the film and I know it's a comedy but it still bugged me a little bit how easy it all was. It took away from enjoying the film for me. Because no matter what genre I like the films I watch to be somewhat realistic.
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SKL 3-10-2008 @ 11:10AM
I have not seen the film and I am not sure I want to. Ever since I heard of it, it has bothered me that they would make a "comedy" about such a topic.
As an adoptive parent, there is no way I can take lightly what my daughters' birth mothers went through.
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Fizzygrrl 3-10-2008 @ 11:12AM
I am a mother, and I am also adopted. I saw Juno, and LOVED it. I was so touched by the whole thing. I felt too that it was inaccurate, as I have met my birth mother, who put me up in a totally closed adoption, and let me tell, you, her life was no bowl of cherries after letting me go.
That said, I saw nothing wrong with the movie. At all. It is nice to see a movie about such a serious subject, that people like me can relate so well to. Evey other time you see adoption in films it is tragic, and heart wrenching.
No movie, no matter how lovely is going to change the reality of what adoption is or isn't. Seeing how there is an overwhelming supply of yucky in the world, why is everyone so set on begrudging us a nice solid 90 minutes of enjoyment??
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Tia 3-10-2008 @ 11:21AM
I have not seen the movie. In answering the bigger question: Does Art have a moral obligation to be truthful? I'd have to say no, simply because truth is a multi-faceted thing. However, good art is grounded in reality and should offer insight and new understanding. Art absolutely affects world view and artists have a responsibility to be truthful. I don't believe that making a fictional story more truthful in it's telling necessarily makes it a documentary.
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Holly 3-11-2008 @ 5:49PM
I thought this movie was great! And yes, I have a child of my own. Sure, Juno is a little cavalier about the adoption, but never uncaring or unconcerned. And if this movie had been done any other way, very few people would have wanted to see it. And then, very few people would have had discussions about the value of life and the power of love.
Holly@HollyTriedIt
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Heather 3-11-2008 @ 2:17PM
It is a MOVIE!
What! Star Wars isn't real. there aren't really intergalactic battles going on over head? How dare they lie like that!
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Whitney 3-22-2008 @ 9:31PM
I am a birthparent, and I found JUNO to be hillarious and lighthearted for the most part. I agree that the "touchier" parts of adoption were played out rather lightly, but i do not see why some people take offense to a comedy like this one. Everyone's adoption story is different, and birthparents do take quite an emotional road during the whole process. Some people are complaining about how Juno goes back to her life after the baby is born- and you have to do that. You have to move forward in order to heal. I still think that my birth daughter is the best thing thats ever happened to me!
I saw JUNO 4 times in theatres, and all of my friends wanted me to go see it with them- they all call me the "real life Juno".
No need to take offense. It's a movie, kids. c'mon.
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Lydia 5-02-2008 @ 1:28PM
I saw Juno last night. Teenage pregnancy is a serious issue, and it seems to be portrayed as a speed bump in the main character's life. The plot goes girl gets pregnant, decides to have it, finds passable parents easily, has the kid and still manages to have a happily-ever-after loving relationship waiting for her after all's said and done with the birth father. The birth father's character is barely evolved through the whole thing. He just stand there scratching himself or jogging.
How many teen pregnancies happen like this? How many leave the teen mom as emotionally unfettered at the end?
At least they used the word ABORTION in the movie. In "Knocked Up", it was too un-PC to even let the word enter the dialogue, which was so pandering. I know they are both comedies, but great comedy stems from pain; being able to laugh about life. These movies just want you to laugh but ignore the pain behind the curtain.
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