In her critique of popular culture’s representation of reproductive politics, Heather Latimer openly considers Jason Reitman’s Juno as a modern condemnation of the “a- word” and pro-choice politics. To summarize her final argument, she believes that the director should have included a scene portraying Ellen Page (Juno) “sitting down with a parent or a counsellor and talking through all of her options, cracking jokes along the way, and still deciding on adoption,” for it would have addressed the “politics of [pro]-choice in a more honest manner” (Latimer 223). While I agree that women should receive the proper education to make an informed decision about the fate of their pregnancy, I think Juno’s decision against abortion without influence from teachers or parents illustrated her ultimate agency; Her independent choice. To include a scene which placed an authoritative figure into the decision-making process might have implied that Juno was influenced in her final decision. Agency might have been taken from her.
On a different note, I noticed there was a theme throughout the film where the male characters (Mark, Mr. McGuff, and Paulie) were dissociated, both voluntarily and involuntarily, from Juno’s pregnancy. Paulie Bleaker was completely uninvolved in the adoption process, and was not informed when Juno went into labor. At Juno’s ultrasound, Bren (her stepmother) was present, through her father was not included. Further, while Vanessa tries to encourage Mark to get excited about the arrival of their adopted baby, it ends up dissociating him further. The adoption, as we find out, is not something Mark truly wanted, and was ultimately his wife’s decision. Might these scenes be adhering to constructions surrounding reproductive politics whereby women are required to endure their pregnancy alone? If so, might these be examples of gender discrimination in parenthood?
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