Juno as A Meaningful Comedy

Aristotle defined dramatic comedies as having a protagonist with average or below average morals whose life goes from bad to good. A movie that fits with Aristotle's definition of a comedy is Juno. The movie Juno, is about a teenage girl confronting an unplanned pregnancy by her classmate Bleeker. With the help of her best friend Leah, Juno finds her unborn child a “perfect” set of parents: an affluent suburban couple, Mark and Vanessa, longing to adopt. Luckily, Juno has the total support of her parents as she faces some tough decision and ultimately figures out where she belongs.

Juno is a meaningful movie because it is different from many other movies portraying teen pregnancy. Juno does not portray Juno as a weak teenage girl who was coaxed into having sex. Instead, Juno is the one who purposely initiates the sexual encounter with Bleeker. Additionally, Juno is not a clueless girl who did not know that sex comes with a risk of pregnancy. Juno was aware that sex could lead to pregnancy so she made sure to take pregnancy tests early on so she would have time to clearly think through any options she might have to face. When Juno discovers she is pregnant, she does not pick fights with her parents or go through a rebel phase instead she calmly tells her parents about her pregnancy and takes responsibility for her actions. Lastly, Mark and Vanessa, the parents to be, worry about the moral mood swings and unreliability presumed in most pregnant teenagers but Juno keeps her word and gives them the baby. 

Thus, Juno shows us that not all pregnant teenagers are helpless. Pregnant teenagers are able to make important decisions concerning their children and their lives. Juno shows that teenagers can have healthy mindsets that allows them to accept the consequences of their actions.