Great Character: Juno MacGuff (“Juno”)

Juno is an unusual Protagonist, equal parts sass, smarts… and pregnant. The central character in the 2007 movie Juno, written by Diablo Cody [who won an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay], finds herself in a troubling situation:

Faced with an unplanned pregnancy, an offbeat young woman makes an unusual decision regarding her unborn child.

That choice: To have the baby and give up the child for adoption.

How did a seemingly wise-beyond-her-years teenager, who prides herself on being on the cutting edge of all things “cool,” wind up having unprotected sex with her boyfriend Paulie? We’re never quite sure. In an argument, Juno and Paulie reveal this:

Juno MacGuff: What? Cause I got bored and had sex with you and I didn’t want to like marry you?
Paulie Bleeker: Like I’d marry you! You’d be the meanest wife ever, okay? And I know that you weren’t bored that day because there was a lot of stuff on TV, and then ‘The Blair Witch Project’ was coming on Starz and you were like ‘I haven’t seen this since it came out and if so we should watch it’ and then ‘but oh, no, we should just make out instead la la la’.

While her decision to take such a risk with Paulie is never explained, I think it represents the push-pull Juno has with adulthood. She acts like an adult and in fact feels a strong pull toward Mark Loring, the husband in the couple who are set to adopt Juno’s baby. But then she runs around doing childish things like setting up furniture on Paulie’s front lawn, eating Red Vines, and using a hamburger phone.

My take is that Juno is attempting to bypass her adolescence and jump straight to being an adult, however subconsciously she resists that, hence her bifurcated persona. The cause for all this is, I believe, referenced in a quick side of dialogue early on in the movie:

Juno: My dad used to be in the Army, but now he’s just your average HVAC specialist. He and my mom got divorced when I was five. She lives on a Havasu reservation in Arizona with her new husband and three replacement kids. Oh, and she inexplicably mails me a cactus every Valentine’s Day. And I’m like, “Thanks a heap, Coyote Ugly. This cactus-gram stings even worse than your abandonment.”

It’s a quick side, but contains many revelations about Juno’s character:

* Even though the divorce happened when Juno was five, she still refers to her mother’s mate as “her new husband.” That suggests Juno has still never quite accepted what happened with her mother.

* “Three replacement kids”: That suggests Juno feels like she is not and perhaps never was special in the eyes of her mother.

* Cactus: Why that? Is it to symbolize how ‘prickly’ Juno is about what has transpired?

* Abandonment: And this would seem to be the core. Juno feels abandoned by her mother.

All of that suggests a lot of pain. And Juno’s snark-filled verbiage and cocksure persona would seem to be nothing more than a charade masking that pain.

And so why risk getting pregnant? A spur of the moment thing, yes. But also a push to become an adult as quickly as possible [becoming a mother can accomplish that] while rebelling against authority.

Check out the movie trailer:

Note two lines:

* “I don’t really know what kind of girl I am.”

* “Just out dealing with things way beyond my maturity level.”

Juno is a young woman in search of an identity. She jumped from the age of 5 pretty much straight to her perception of adulthood, due to the divorce and “abandonment” by her mother, and missed out on much of her youth. Her pregnancy and ensuing romantic triangle between Mark Loring and Paulie Bleeker force her to deal with her ‘shit’. Which is why the ending works so well. As Juno says in V.O. while biking over to play guitar outside with Paulie:

Juno: As far as boyfriends go, Paulie Bleeker is totally boss. He is the cheese to my macaroni. And, I know that people are supposed to fall in love before they reproduce, but… I guess normalcy isn’t really our style.

Check out the lyrics of the song Juno and Paulie play during the denouement:

Your part time lover and a full time friend,
The monkey on the back is the latest trend,
Don’t see what anyone can see,
In anyone else,
But you

Here is a church and here is a steeple,
We sure are cute for two ugly people,
Don’t see what anyone can see,
In anyone else,
But you

We both have shiny happy fits of rage,
I want more fans, you want more stage,
Don’t see what anyone can see,
In anyone else,
But you

I’m always tryin to keep it real,
Now I’m in love with how you feel,
I don’t see what anyone can see,
In anyone else,
But you

I kiss you on the brain in the shadow of the train,
I kiss you all starry eyed,
My body swings from side to side,
I don’t see what anyone can see,
In anyone else,
But you

The pebbles forgive me,
The trees forgive me,
So why can’t,
You forgive me?
I don’t see what anyone can see,
In anyone else,
But you

Du du du du du du dudu
Du du du du du du dudu
I don’t see what anyone can see,
In anyone else,
But you.

Notice all the contrasting images. Just like Juno, a study in contrasts. And the makings of a great character.

This has been another in a monthly series of notable teenaged characters.

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