I'm watching Juno on HBO. Haven't seen it in a while, and at and hour and ten minutes in, I'm reminded why I don't rewatch this movie as often as I do some of my other favorites.
Jason Bateman's betrayal floors me every time. I suppose it isn't a betrayal the same way 006 betrays James Bond in Goldeneye, or something like that, but it still hits hard. This kid trusts him. Jennifer Garner (whom I loathe, except in this movie) trusts him. He fucks everything up! Enter my over-thought, self important analysis of this movie: Obviously it's about kids, being that it tracks a teenager's pregnancy. But beyond that, it's about grownups who are still kids. Juno, though a minor, is an adult in the freshman-year-biology-class sense of the word. She can reproduce. And yet, she is completely unaware of what a perv Bateman is, despite her stepmom's warning. Bateman himself is also a kid, thirty-something and still dreaming of being Cobain, as Jennifer Garner puts it, rather than wanting a family.
What's worse is Juno will probably find herself in the same situation as Jennifer Garner in ten years. Bleaker is obsessed with "the band", and in true childlike fashion, thinks of pregnancy in terms of being what "moms and teachers" do.
It's this level of douchebaggery that tell me that I really have changed after a year of college.
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1 comment:
Nice breakdown of Juno. I think you nailed it.
Between the animated opening credit and hamburger phone, to the Kimya Dawson/Moldy Peaches soundtrack, this film presents an image of cuteness and innocence.
At its core, however, is an underlining dark side of human fallibility which shatters the illusion making the viewer feel ultimately betrayed.
I'll stick to rewatching similar films like Napoleon Dynamite and Nacho Libre which more cleverly reveal a subversive antagonist by staying true to their protagonists innocent and sincere nature.
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