Those Nine Months Go By Fast With Juno (2007)

As if we didn’t know, but I sadly must admit; the Indie aesthetic is in. It isn’t because I follow Pitchfork on a leash or because I have my heart in living the thrift store life, I just didn’t think that what the “indie” kids were doing was unified enough to be marketed. Oh boy was I wrong. Juno, directed by Jason Reitman isn’t the first film dressed in the "Indie" aesthetic, but it certainly is the pinnacle of it. There are some that were widely successful, Napoleon Dynamite, Little Miss Sunshine (A terrible, terrible film); and there were some that were not so successful, The Science of Sleep, Eagle Vs. Shark. The latter two I feel were too honest to be popular in an age were being a nerd is romanticized and sold like any other product. So where does Juno stand? Well it’s somewhere in the middle and that’s fine with me. I could accuse it of trying too hard to be witty and clever, but I was laughing with every comment made by the fantastic Ellen Page playing the fiery pregnant teen Juno. I could also say that it throws out obscure, but not so obscure references left and right from B-movie horror to the best “Indie” precursors like Sonic Youth and The Moldy Peaches, but I don’t write for Pitchfork or My Little Ghost Friend (haha I’m kidding VA). What I’m getting at is Juno has enough heart to win over the most cynical hipsters. Michael Cera’s performance as the semi-nerd impregnator Paulie Bleeker really hit home for me and his somewhat muted but important role really sold me on this film as more than just another product in the new Urban Outfitter’s nation. I kind of regret having to reference this film so much to current popular culture; but Juno is too inextricably tied to the mainstreaming of "Indie" to ignore that fact. . Luckily when people watch this film ten years from now and all of "Indie" is old and passé they’ll find that it’s purely warm, witty and genuine.



Links:
Juno on IMDB