An Introduction to Film

WAYS OF LOOKING AT MOVIES 11

may not be as conscious of is the way their protag-

onist(main character) reinforces our culture’s cel-

ebration of the individual. Her promiscuous,

forceful, and charming persona is familiar because

it displays traits we often associate with Holly-

wood’s dominant view of the (usually male) rogue

hero. Like Sam Spade, the Ringo Kid, Dirty Harry,

and countless other classic American characters,

Juno rejects convention yet ultimately upholds the

very institutions she seemingly scorns. Yes, she’s a

smart-ass who cheats on homework, sleeps with

her best friend, and pukes in her stepmother’s dec-

orative urn, yet in the end she does everything in

her power to create the traditional nuclear family

she never had. So even as the movie seems to call

into question some of contemporary America’s atti-

tudes about family, its appeal to an arguably more

fundamental American value (namely, robust indi-

vidualism) explains in part why, despite its contro-

versial subject matter, Junowas (and is) so popular

with audiences.

Implicit and Explicit Meaning

As we attempt to become more skilled at looking at

movies, we should try to be alert to the cultural val-

ues, shared ideals, and other ideas that lie just

below the surface of the movie we’re looking at.

Being more alert to these things will make us sen-

sitive to, and appreciative of, the many layers of

meaning that any single movie contains. Of course,

all this talk of “layers” and the notion that much of

a movie’s meaning lies below the surface may make

the entire process of looking at movies seem unnec-

essarily complex and intimidating. But you’ll find

that the process of observing, identifying, and

interpreting movie meaning will become consider-

ably less mysterious and complicated once you

grow accustomed to actively looking at movies

rather than just watching them. It might help to

keep in mind that, no matter how many different

layers of meaning there may be in a movie, each

layer is either implicit or explicit.

An implicit meaning, which lies below the sur-

face of a movie’s story and presentation, is closest

to our everyday sense of the word meaning. It is an

association, connection, or inference that a viewer

Cultural invisibility in Juno An unrepentant former

stripper (Diablo Cody) writes a script about an unrepen-

tantly pregnant sixteen year old, her blithely accepting

parents, and the dysfunctional couple to whom she relin-

quishes her newborn child. The resulting film goes on to

become one of the biggest critical and box-office hits of

2007, attracting viewers from virtually every consumer

demographic. How did a movie based on such seemingly

provocative subject matter appeal to such a broad audi-

ence? One reason is that, beneath its veneer of contro-

versy, Junorepeatedly reinforces mainstream, even

conservative, societal attitudes toward pregnancy, family,

and marriage. Although Juno initially decides to abort the

pregnancy, she quickly changes her mind. Her parents may

seem relatively complacent when she confesses her condi-

tion, but they support, protect, and advise her throughout

her pregnancy. When we first meet Mark (Jason Bateman)

and Vanessa (Jennifer Garner), the prosperous young cou-

ple Juno has chosen to adopt her baby, it is with the youth-

ful Mark [1] that we (and Juno) initially sympathize. He

plays guitar and appreciates alternative music and vintage

slasher movies. Vanessa, in comparison, comes off as a

shallow and judgmental yuppie. But ultimately, both the

movie and its protagonist side with the traditional values of

motherhood and responsibility embodied by Vanessa [2],

and reject Mark’s rock-star ambitions as immature and

self-centered.

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