User:Appletastic/Juno (film)

Challenging norms

With Juno’s release date being within the early 2000s, there are a lot of elements of the film that address sex and pregnancy in a way that was stigmatized by the culture of the U.S. at this time. Juan Antonio Tarancons’s, “Juno (Jason Reitman, 2007): A Practical Case Study of Teens, Film and Cultural Studies”  argues that Juno “offers a complex understanding of the disorientation suffered by adolescents during the 1990s”. Not to mention, the film was highly praised by not only critics but the general public. In the words of Tarancon “ pro-life reviewers praised the protagonist’s decision to have the baby, pro-choice factions liked her detached, hipster approach to the whole incident. ”

Not only does Juno address sex itself in a new way, but the theme of sexuality and gender norms are also challenged. As mentioned By David Rudd in his article “Life Doesn’t Give You Bumpers” he mentions that in Juno the male gaze is “disrupted”, and actually, quite the other way around. Throughout the film Juno’s view of males “are prioritized over the more traditional male’s view of females”. The character of Paulie Bleeker “challenges many stereotypical notions of masculinity” (Rudd).