One movie getting a lot of buzz this winter is Juno, a new comedy about a wise-cracking teenage girl who deals with a pregnancy. Critics have been quick to praise Ellen Page’s portrayal of the pregnant protagonist with a sarcastic mouth. However, Ann Hulbert writes in an article for Slate about how the film makes a profound statement about family values.
This article made me think back to a whole series of articles this summer that declared that Knocked Up, one of Judd Apatow’s countless comedic hits this year, preached a pro-life agenda. (Here’s one of the numerous articles to cover this topic). I haven’t seen Juno yet and I saw Knocked Up months ago, but I hadn’t even considered the political agenda of the movie.
So what does this mean – am I just clueless to miss something like this? Is our society so detached from the discussion of issues that we have to discuss some of the most pressing political issues (let’s not forget that there’s a presidential election in less than a year) through our entertainment? I’m completely in favor of entertainment with substance, but in some cases this might be too much of a reach.
Regardless, I want to see Juno (among about half a dozen other movies – it’s going to be a busy winter break!) because a lot of the feedback has been positive, I’m a big fan of Michael Cera (a.k.a. George Michael Bluth from Arrested Development), and it kind of reminds me of another small movie that garnered a lot of buzz (and became a personal favorite of mine) – Little Miss Sunshine.
So, if you’ve seen Juno, what do you think? Smart comedy? Poignant satire? Profoundly didactic?
