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Not Everyone is Spineless, Juno

The other night I watched a "comedy" called "Juno", about a pregnant teenager who seeks a couple to adopt her child. At least it was billed as a comedy. But I had a hard time finding things to laugh at in it. Instead, I watched, appalled.

I'm not around teenagers a whole lot so I don't know if Juno's attitude is typical or just a Hollywood exaggeration. But if not, God help us and God help them.

Juno is a self-centered, know-it-all, teen who is incredibly rude to all of the spineless adults around her. And I do mean spineless. I kept thinking throughout the movie, "Honey, you have a LOT to learn." Because someday she might run into someone who is NOT spineless and who is NOT impressed with her act, and that someone might just be in a position to help or hinder her. She's in no position to dictate terms to anyone, yet she does just that to the couple she has "chosen" to adopt her baby. On her first visit to their home, she goes into their bathroom and snoops into the wife's cosmetics while her parents, the adoption lawyer and the couple are downstairs. I'm sorry, but if I were Veronica and Mark (the couple) and she came down wearing MY perfume, negotiations would be OVER at that point. Juno's whole attitude towards her pregnancy and the adoption is such that I wouldn't touch such a deal with a twenty-foot pole. Let her be some other couple's hassle.

What Juno does not realize is she is her own worst enemy. It's really too bad that the movie didn't show her getting repeatedly rejected by prospective adoptive couples who don't want to put up with the legal risks someone with her attitude conveys. No one ever tells her no, or slams the door in her face. Instead they all bow down to her. Well, it doesn't happen that way.

Not only are there thousands of unwritten social rules out there, the people who have "inside knowledge" are often equally invisible. If you are not open to opportunities--if you are like Juno and know it all already--then you may miss out on things without ever knowing why. Take the theater for example. I think the theater is a great opportunity for kids. Especially when the schools are cutting funding for the arts. But many directors don't want to work with kids anymore--and the number one reason is "disrespect." You see, the theater is voluntary; and if the directors decide, hey, we don't want to direct children and young people's plays anymore, who loses out? And so another opportunity is quietly lost. It's not talked about (except among ourselves), it's not announced to the public, it's just--well if you weren't aware in the first place you aren't going to miss it. And it's sad.

A few Sundays back the pastor of my new church stunned everyone when she said that she might be leaving. While she was on sabbatical she received an unsolicited offer for a position she'd always dreamed of. She wasn't looking, she was happy at her current position--but they were, and her name came up as a possible candidate. Now how often does that happen? To get an offer out of the blue? It doesn't happen very often. But she's well-known in Unitarian circles and so it wasn't all that surprising. Most people go their whole lives without being sought out for something. And someone like Juno will definitely miss out because she may know it all but she isn't in the know. She's rapidly burning bridges right and left and no one in that movie cares enough or has enough guts to tell her so.

Juno isn't a comedy, it's a tragedy.

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Spinning Compass
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