Rated PG-13 for mature thematic material, sexual content and language.
Directed by Jason Reitman (Thank You for Not Smoking)
Starring Ellen Page, Jennifer Garner, Jason Bateman…
This film had me torn from the beginning.
If you’re like me, you went into this film hearing all the hype about what a wonderful film this is, Oscar potential, blah, blah, blah. (Besides… do the words “Oscar potential” mean anything to you? Did you actually see There Will Be Blood? Zzzzzzzzzz) So I admit… I had high expectations.
To summarize my thoughts I’ll have to resort to bullets for this one.
THE GOOD:
- Ellen Page was really a likable character, warts and all. She reminded me of several of my Campus Life kids from back in the day.
- Jennifer Garner was surprisingly good. She wasn’t the typical “Alias” eye candy… she did some real acting here.
- Like so many films this year, the value of life was communicated… even if in an awkward way.
- The characters were very real. Very 2007. Not just a bunch of “actor models” who got the roles… but real people. Very convincing.
THE BAD:- I had heard that this was a good film for teenagers. In one of the first scenes we see a shot of a girls’ legs as her panties are dropped to the floor. Then she climbs on top of a guy. Yes, they didn’t show nudity. Yes, I know that’s what the film was about (a girl getting pregnant). But guess what… I don’t want my kids seeing the action- even just the beginning of it.
- Juno was a fun character, but she was really foul. I have loved plenty of kids like this in my ministry and still do. But in this film, she was almost a role model. Her bad decisions, her lack of tact, and her foul mouth were almost given a stamp of approval. I realize that this is a hard balance to find. I love kids like this. But it doesn’t mean that I want kids to grow up thinking that it is “okay” to grow up acting like that.
- They showed very little consequences of behavior. The film was fun and light, and I think that made the movie enjoyable. But the film didn’t seem to show any of the pain or consequences from the behaviors. Sure, Juno got pregnant. But it was treated like, “no big deal.”
- Similar to the last two bullets, this film contained a lot of immitatable behavior. And being that this is currently the MOST popular rental of the year… wow!
SHOULD KIDS SEE IT?
I think that most kids shouldn’t see it. I might show my older teenagers this film when they are 16 or older (depending on their maturity) if we went to dinner and talked about the film afterwards. I would need to talk through the bullets highlighted above.
But there is no way I’d show this to junior higher or younger. Come on people. How fast do we want our kids to grow up? Yes, I’m a huge advocate of talking with our kids about real life. But we don’t need to shove it down their throats early. Let it come as it comes. And then be open for those conversations.
Conversation Starter
Three Simple Questions (with Answers You May Be Looking for):
- What are some of the messages or themes you observed in this movie?
- How do you suppose we—as serious Christ-followers—should react to this movie?
- How can we move from healthy, Bible-based opinions about this movie to actually living out those opinions?
