When Juno came out in 2007, I was 14 years old. I went to see this in the theaters with a friend and I remember thinking that I liked it, but I mostly took away Juno's quirky one-liners and tried to adapt them in real life, and failed miserably. I had watched it a few times after and always enjoyed it, but never really had any strong feelings towards it other than a "no way do I want to ever be a pregnant teenager" mindset.
I just rewatched Juno for the first time in probably 12 years. Oh My God. Now, I'm 32 and have a child of my own (she's 2). There was so much more that jumped out to me this time around, so much that I missed as a teenager. I think it was really beautifully done, how a teenager's perspective and an adult's perspective were both so truthfully represented in this movie. Juno's character is one of the most original, strong, hilarious, and self-aware that I've ever seen in a film. As a teenager, I thought she was a little "weird", and as an adult, I'd be honored to have a teenager like that involved in my life in just about any way.
As a teenager, I thought that Juno's and Bleeker's relationship was different than most teenage relationships, but that they loved each other. As an adult, I can see that it is a young love that got dangerously close to being violently shoved into adulthood.
I always thought Mark was cool watching the movie when I was younger, and the very first time I saw them start to slow dance, alarm bells would go off in my head and I'd be like "um, what is going on". I always thought that Mark liked Juno and wanted to leave Vanessa to be with her. As an adult, I think Mark was just more envious of Juno's youth and clean slate after the adoption. She just held a figurative mirror up to his face, and he could see that he was going down the wrong path for himself, and then proceeded to handle it like a jackass.
In 2007, I couldn't even imagine telling my parents I was pregnant and having them react like that Juno's dad and stepmom in the movie. And now, being a parent of a daughter no less, I have a goal for that to obviously not happen for her, but to really try and remember this scene from the movie and bring that energy into the room should she come to me and tell me she's pregnant when she's 16. Best reaction I think I could give.
I also had a theory about Juno and her birth mother's relationship. She mentions her mom left when she was young, and got remarried, and started a new family across the country, and mails her a cactus every year on Valentine's Day. When Juno is telling us all of this, she mentions the word "abondonment", and I wonder if that played a roll in her being so willing to give up her baby for adoption. She was so strong-willed, and I don't know that I would have had the strength to do that, even being a teenager. Any other thoughts on that?
Lastly, I was confused as to why Vanessa appeared to have a reaction when Juno told her that she found their ad in the Penny Saver. Did anyone else think Vanessa appeared confused or like wtf?
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