Unexpectedly Expecting by Janessa Bullock

Dave Greenwood's Drawing Examples


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Unexpectedly Expecting By Janessa Bullock

We are all faced with the inevitability of making decisions, which is exactly what director Jason Reitman’s film Juno is about.  He draws us in to his vibrantly hysterical and heart-warming comedy-drama about the struggles of young teenagers Juno and Paulie, played by Ellen Page and Michael Cera, who find themselves unexpectedly expecting.  What are two young teenagers to do with news like this?  Juno enthralls your attention with her independent mind and colorful personality.  

Juno is a young and very vibrant teenager who finds herself drinking gallons of Sunny-D to take a urine pregnancy test.  Upon finding out she is expecting she ends up making the decision to give the baby up for adoption.  She is given advice to look in the Penny Saver’s for people who want to adopt a child.  Juno is instantly drawn to a couple’s picture which starts the journey of settling in her decision, finding love, and keeping us laughing at all parts between. 

After the confirmation of a third pregnancy test, Juno accepts the reality that she is pregnant.  The convenience store employee bluntly reminds her while she is shaking her pregnancy stick “That ain’t no Etch-a-Sketch; this is one doodle that can’t be undid home-skillet.”  When Juno tells Bleeker, her quiet spoken baby’s dad, that she is pregnant he solemnly agrees to nip the problem in the bud.  In an attempt to visit an abortion clinic, Juno crosses paths with a schoolmate who informs her that by now the baby has fingernails.  This knowledge seems to be enough for her to change her decision.  In a conversation with her dad, Juno expresses her desire “to know that it’s possible that two people can stay happy together forever.”  

Something everyone can relate to that Juno learns, is that making decisions is inevitable.  We reminisce as she experiences the joys and sorrows of becoming an adult.  In a conversation with her dad, Juno expresses her desire “to know that it’s possible that two people can stay happy together forever.”  This movie grasps the attention of many people because there are so many aspects that we can associate with our personal lives and circumstances – love, betrayal, pregnancy, adolescence, and more.   
One of Reitman’s most successful decisions that complemented his already well done film, was his choice in music for the soundtrack.  Music by Kimya Dawson, Belle and Sebastion, The Kinks, The Moldy Peaches as well as other folk artists, matches the vibrant and independent-minded personality of Juno and her situation.  The many lyrical songs used, were able to narrate and move us in ways which accompanied the remarkable acting. When the movie ended I had to connect myself back to my reality, which I find to be a sign of a motion picture well done.


The journey that Juno takes its viewers on is highly enjoyable – pulling them in to relate to her young love, confusion, and search for an understanding of the world.