I finally saw Juno, the much talked about movie involving adoption. My husband laughed at me as I prepared to watch it, grabbing a legal pad and a pen. Nerdy, I know, but I knew there would be little things I’d want to remember later and if I didn’t write them down, I’d forget them. Glad I waited until it came out on DVD as I certainly couldn’t hit pause multiple times in a theater!

Just in case you have not heard anything about the movie, I’ll give you a brief synopsis. In the movie, Juno McGruff is a sixteen year old high school who has sex with her friend Paulie Bleeker. This one time encounter leaves Juno pregnant. Initially, Juno intends to have an abortion but changes her mind once arriving at the abortion clinic. She then comes up with the idea of adoption. She and a friend look through newspaper ads and select a couple who is hoping to adopt. Juno follows through with her adoption plan and places the baby for adoption.

There were parts of the movie where I cringed. I was thinking, “It doesn’t happen like that,” or “So-and-So should do this or say that.” Then there were other parts of the movie where I thought, “Wow, they mentioned that or included this.” I will get more specific on the good and bad parts in the next post.

The bottom line is I really felt like this movie sensationalized adoption. It made adoption look easy and didn’t go into many of the complexities that a birthmother faces and the adoptee’s thoughts and rights were never one mentioned. I know that it is a movie that is meant to be entertaining but it just wasn’t very entertaining to me and the most troubling part of it all is, is that if a young women is out there pregnant and thinking of adoption, this movie may make it seem like placing is a walk in the park, when it is far from anything pleasurable.

Stay tuned for more about Juno in the next post!
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