Hip Lingo

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juno_(soundtrack)

Juno (2007)
Dir. Jason Reitman
Written by Diablo Cody
Starring: Ellen Page, Michael Cera, Jennifer Garner, Jason Bateman


The whole cast is talented and everyone shines in their individual roles. Comparable to His Girl Friday, there is the main triangle of protagonists that shifts, and then the rest is a sort of ensemble cast. Some films main protagonist hog all of the good lines, I like films that can share the good stuff with everyone. Ensemble casts Rule!

Rollo (Rainn Wilson): So what's the prognosis, Fertile Myrtle? Minus or plus?
Juno MacGuff: I don't know. It's not seasoned yet.
[grabs products]
Juno MacGuff: I'll take some of these. Nope... There it is. The little pink plus sign is so unholy.
[shakes pregnancy tester]
Rollo: That ain't no Etch-A-Sketch. This is one doodle that can't be un-did, Homeskillet.

Comedies are sometimes tragedies in disguise with funnier dialogue. This is certainly true of Juno—serious issues are handled in a quirky manner that may seem light-hearted at first but its discourse is teen pregnancy and loss of innocence.

Leah: Yo Yo Yiggady Yo.
Juno MacGuff: I'm at suicide risk.
Leah: Juno?
Juno MacGuff: No, it's Morgan Freeman. Do you have any bones that need collecting?
Leah: Only the one in my pants...
Juno MacGuff: I'm pregnant.
Leah: What? Honest to blog?
Juno MacGuff: Yeah. Yeah, it's Bleekers.
Leah: It's probably just a food baby. Did you have a big lunch?
Juno MacGuff: No, this is not a food baby all right? I've taken like three pregnancy tests, and I'm forshizz up the spout.
Leah: How did you even generate enough pee for three pregnancy tests? That's amazing...
Juno MacGuff: I don't know, I drank like, ten tons of Sunny D... Anyway dude, I'm telling you I'm pregnant and you're acting shockingly cavalier.
Leah: Is this for real? Like, for real for real?
Juno MacGuff: Unfortunately, yes.
Leah: Oh my GOD. Oh shit! Phuket, Thailand!
Juno MacGuff: There we go. That was kind of the emotion that I was searching for on the first take.

Stereotypically there are a lot of “likes” thrown in to Juno’s dialogue. Otherwise her dialogue is atypical, I’m pretty sure teenagers do not typically banter in Junoesque fashion. Juno is the main protagonist in this film and exchanges delightful dialogue with everyone she comes into contact with: her baby daddy, potential adopted parents of her baby, and her parents, even the clerk at the corner store where she gets her pregnancy tests at the beginning of the film. A single screwball couple doesn’t exist there are many with Juno at the center of each one.

How does a film manage to be innocent and irreverent at the same time? Elementary my dear Watson, it’s in the content of the words and the deadpan delivery. You are almost convinced that these people exist in the real world somewhere firing one-liners at each other indefinitely. One reason this film works is because it takes something, teen pregnancy, which is usually milked (no pun intended) for emotional pull, and deals with it humanely and doesn’t resort to histrionic or melodramatic plot lines.

[at Juno's ultrasound]
Leah: Whoa! Check out Baby Big Head. Dude, that thing is freaky lookin'.
Juno MacGuff: Excuse me. I am a sacred vessel, alright? All you've got in your stomach is Taco Bell.

Another is the conspicuous lack of cussing, there are a few well-placed sh%ts, and instead there are some great stand-ins such as:

Bren: When you move out I'm getting two Weimaraners!
Juno MacGuff: WHOA DREAM BIG!
Bren: Oh, go fly a kite!

Juno MacGuff: [dog barking] Geez, Banana! Shut your freakin' gob!

Regarding pace in the movie, it doesn’t seem that fast but it is wordy and filled with references that are indie-specific it is youth culture oriented but not mainstream. There are no references to any social media and as a result also absent is internet-era initialisms like LOL and OMG, Thanks be to God. It is difficult to write about the dichotomous discourses that highlight the age differences and class differences in the film. Juno is often the figure who leaves other characters in the dust with her youthful conversation stylings.

(One of Juno’s interactions with her Dad)
Juno MacGuff: I'm just like losing my faith with humanity.
Mac MacGuff: Can you can narrow that down for me?
Juno MacGuff: I just wonder if like, two people can ever stay together for good.
Mac MacGuff: You mean like couples?
Juno MacGuff: Yeah, like people in love.
Mac MacGuff: Are you having boy troubles? Because I gotta be honest with you; I don't much approve of dating in your condition, 'cause well... that's kind of messed up.
Juno MacGuff: Dad, no!
Mac MacGuff: Well, it's kind of skanky. Isn't that what you girls call it? Skanky? Skeevy?
Juno MacGuff: Please stop.
Mac MacGuff: [persisting] Tore up from the floor up?
Juno MacGuff: That's not what it's about. I just need to know that it's possible that two people can stay happy together forever.
Mac MacGuff: Well, it's not easy, that's for sure. Now, I may not have the best track record in the world, but I have been with your stepmother for 10 years now and I'm proud to say that we're very happy.
[Juno nods]
Mac MacGuff: Look, in my opinion, the best thing you can do is find a person who loves you for exactly what you are. Good mood, bad mood, ugly, pretty, handsome, what have you, the right person is still going to think the sun shines out your ass. That's the kind of person that's worth sticking with.
Juno MacGuff: Yeah. And I think I've found that person.
Mac MacGuff: Yeah sure you have - your old D-A-D! You know I'll always be there to love you and support you no matter what kind of pickle you're in... Obviously.
[nods to her belly]
Juno MacGuff: Dad, I think I'm just going to, like, shove out for a sec, but I won't be home late.
Mac MacGuff: Ok. You were talking about me right?

(One of Juno’s interactions with potential adoptive parents—Mark & Vanessa)
Vanessa Loring: You think you're really going to do this?
Juno MacGuff: Yea, if I could just have the thing and give it to you now, I totally would. But I'm guessing it looks probably like a sea monkey right now and we should let it get a little cuter.
Vanessa Loring: That's great.
Mark Loring: Keep it in the oven.

&

Mac MacGuff: And this, of course, is Juno.
Mark Loring: Like the city in Alaska?
Juno MacGuff: No.
Mark Loring: No? Hon, shall we sit down and get to know one another?
Vanessa Loring: Oh, I thought I would get some drinks. What would anyone like? I have Pellegrino, or Vitamin Water or Orange Juice or...
Juno MacGuff: I'll have a Maker's Mark, please. Up.
Mac MacGuff: She's kidding. Junebug has a wonderful sense of humor. Just one of her many genetic gifts.

Closing thoughts:

This is one of those films that immediately sprang to mind when trying to come up with a list of possible neo-screwball comedies. And I stand strong in saying that yes it is a neo-SC. It has all the ingredients; shifting triadic structures, snappy and smart dialogue, and some romance thrown in as well.