I only just recently saw the movie Juno. I feel like even though it’s a relatively new movie, it’s considered to be something that almost everyone has seen. It contains one of the most highly debated topics today: teen pregnancy. Like many characters from novels that we read in class, the protagonist, Juno, is going through something that is difficult for adolescents to handle. Though not of the same topic, Cameron Post from The Miseducation of Cameron Post is on her own journey of figuring out her sexual identity. Both of these characters are dealing with parts of life that are difficult for adolescents to handle on their own. Besides not going through the same journey, one major difference between Juno and Cameron Post is that Juno has a support system and Cameron doesn’t. This support system helps make Juno’s difficult time a little bit easier than it would have been.
In Juno, Juno MacGuff finds she is pregnant at only 16 years old. She first considers having an abortion and she goes to a clinic. While waiting at the clinic she changes her mind and leaves, without getting an abortion. Since she’s still pregnant and doesn’t want to keep the baby, she decides to give it up for adoption instead and finds a couple from an ad in the newspaper with the help of her friend. Juno then tells her dad and step-mom that she is pregnant and is giving the baby up for adoption. This is one part of teen pregnancy that varies for everyone it impacts. Some parents of teens that are pregnant aren’t supportive at all, instead they’re angry and upset. In Juno’s case, her dad and step-mom were completely supportive. Her step-mom went with her to doctors appointments and her dad accompanied her to the adoptive parents house. Since her parents were so supportive, Juno’s journey through pregnancy and the adoptive process was made a little easier than it would have been without supportive parents. Besides the normal stress of pregnancy and adoption, Juno didn’t worry about too much else because of her support system at home.
In opposition to Juno’s situation, Cameron Post from The Miseducation of Cameron Post knows that she is gay but she’s keeping it from her very religious Aunt Ruth. When Cameron meets Coley Taylor and their relationship progresses beyond friends, Cameron’s secret becomes exposed. Coley told her mom that her and Cameron had sex and that leads to Aunt Ruth finding out. Aunt Ruth invites the pastor to talk to Cameron and then decides to send her to a camp called God’s Promise. Through this camp Cameron did manage to keep her identity and she made friends along the way, but she still wasn’t on good terms with Aunt Ruth. With almost no support from her guardians, her grandma and Aunt Ruth, Cameron wasn’t allowed to feel fully comforting in publicly identifying herself as gay, or even privately identifying as gay. Cameron didn’t really have anyone to talk to about what she was going through because she couldn’t fully confide in her guardians. Cameron’s lack of support system didn’t allow her to feel comfortable as who she was, and it didn’t allow her to express herself in healthy ways.
Both Juno from Juno and Cameron from The Miseducation of Cameron Post had a difficult journey in adolescence. The difference with Juno and Cameron was that Juno had a support system at home and Cameron didn’t. Having a support system to help deal with the complications of adolescence made Juno’s difficulty in adolescence easier than it would have been without a support system. In Cameron’s circumstances, her journey was actually made much harder because her family didn’t support her. Cameron wasn’t comfortable in openly expressing who she was. Since her Aunt Ruth wasn’t supporting her she was more apt to hide parts of her life from her aunt and grandma. In contrast, Juno was able to keep her family involved in her life because of the support they gave her. In having a support system, adolescents are more able to cope with the difficult things they may face during adolescence.
– Aaron Horzempa
Works Cited
“Juno.” Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, 2008.
Danforth, Emily M. The Miseducation of Cameron Post. Balzer Bray, 2018.
Representing Adolescence @ Pitt 
Aaron,
I appreciate you bringing Juno into this, and I completely agree. Adolescence, and life in general, is certainly made easier when you have a strong foundation and support system. I think one of the most upsetting parts of reading Cameron’s story was knowing that things could have been different for her if her parents were still alive. There’s no way to know for certain if things would have been better, but they would have been different. So much of the adolescent experience is determined by what kind of home life you have, and to me that feels frustrating, because for the most part, the type of life you have at home is not something you can easily change.
-Amanda Hokaj
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Hi Aaron,
I love the comparison you made here. I believe that support from close ones during adolescence is essential if normal development is to be achieved. Adolescence is a period of time where individuals are extremely vulnerable and emotional, which makes them sensitive to the events that happen during these years. Fortunately, in Juno the support system for Juno was there and did not try to change who she was, but on the other hand, Cameron had no form of support which made this process harder for her and could affect her greatly in the long run – in a negative way.
– Mack Bloom
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