Juno Essay

Juno

“Analyse how the beginning AND ending of a text show an important change in a character or individual in a text (or texts) you have studied.”

In the visual text Juno directed by Jason Reitman there are a number of significant changes. One large change is the maturity of the main character Juno (portrayed by Ellen Page). This is shown through several different forms, namely costume, dialogue and the character actions of Juno.

One important change in a character in the film Juno is costume. The main character Juno almost has a set wardrobe or costume set for every day, however this changes as the movie continues and Juno matures. Juno seems to leave the child mindset of wearing the same outfit all the time, or wearing the same shirt 4 days in a row, to changing her clothing. We see this from the beginning to the end of the film and it shows that Juno is maturing; in the first scene Juno is wearing striped shirts, she continues wearing these for a while as they fade out as she matures. This is a visual aid for the audience as Juno moves from childhood into adulthood from the situation she has been placed in, due to her teenage pregnancy.

Another important change is the main character’s dialogue. Juno, the main character in the film uses colloquial language such as text language. This changes and matures throughout the film, as she starts using more formal language. The audience is shown this at the beginning of the film, where Juno uses not only slang or colloquial language but also quite large words such as when she tells her best friend Leah about her pregnancy she says: “I’m telling you I’m pregnant and you’re acting shockingly cavalier.” Words such as cavalier you might not expect to hear from someone like Juno, which just adds to her character and the way the director has portrayed her in the film. This all changes however, when Juno begins her pregnancy and she develops her formal language showing more and more maturity in her later discussions with Mark and Vanessa, especially when she has to make big decisions regarding adoption, which an immature teenager (like Juno at the beginning of the film) would struggle to make without assistance.