Juno Essay - Visual Text

Juno Essay -Visual Text

In the film 'Juno' directed by Jason Reitman an important character in the film was Juno, this character is important because we see a gradual change in her character's attitude toward life, from the rebellious person she was in the beginning to a more mature character in the end.

Upon driving away from the Loring's house after witnessing the collapsed relationship of Mark and Vanessa, Juno pulls over to the side of the road and cries.

She is frustrated with herself because she was warned by Brenda and Bleeker about fraternizing with Mark but she didn't listen to either of them, and Mark developed feelings for her.

More important though Juno's faith in humanity has been damaged, she is disillusioned due to Mark's revelation, that turns her view of life upside down.

Her illusion of the perfect life has come crumbling down around her thus underpinning Juno's own fears about the lasting nature of relationships, formed when her parents split up.

This manifests itself in her reluctance to realise and accept her true feelings towards Bleeker. She is afraid to commit because she doesn't want to end up like her parents. She doesn't want her baby to go through the heartache and trauma she did as a cild.

She then stops crying and has her epiphany, realising that one good parent (Vanessa, and in some ways her own father) will be better for her baby than having two dysfunctional parents (like her mother, and to an extent, herself if she is forced to raise the child).

The high-angle helicopter shot emphasises her isolation in the situation but, also suggests her problems are quite small.

The combination of the lack of music, close-up shot, and the symbolic landscape enable us to focus on the seriousness of the moment, and allows us to see the dawn of her realisation. The set also shows us many things.

The road symbolises the continuation of life, the train symbolises that life goes on past her, the river symbolises that the flow of life never stops, and the boat is shabby and worn out, just like Juno.

An important costume in the film was Juno's red hoodie, it provides a link to the beginning of the film when all her problems began, she received the news she is pregnant, it creates continuity.

In conclusion the film 'Juno' directed by Jason Reitman, showed us how Juno overcame her problems and fears, she grew in herself through her experiences, and we saw a gradual change in her character's attitude towards life, from the rebellious person she was in the beginning to a more mature character in the end.