Screenplay within Juno

Women in Hollywood are underrepresented in many parts of the entertainment industry. One of those parts includes screenwriting. This means that it is harder to come by a movie that accurately depicts the work of a woman. To just put it into perspective, I found a stunning statistic taken from the "Women's Media Center" stating that in 2012, "women comprised only 18 percent of key behind -the-scenes roles in films -- a figure that has risen a mere 1 percent since 1998." When I saw how little women play a role in the making of a movie it was heartbreaking. How does Juno fit in?  "Juno" is not like most movies. A woman named Diablo Cody wrote it.

            Diablo Cody is one of the few women screenwriters that has made an impact in the industry. Screenwriting is not an easy role to pursue.  The screenwriter is "responsible for coming up with the story, either from scratch or by adapting another source.... (Barsam and Monahan [Page 136]). The screenwriter not only has to create the narrative structure but develop every prominent character throughout the movie. (Not to mention the fact that in the case of Diablo Cody, she had to write a screenplay that would appeal to the director, actors, and most importantly the viewers.) The screenplay is what makes a movie; you could say it is the foundation of the movie itself.  In other words, a good movie has never come out of a bad screenplay.

            On that note, Diablo Cody did an amazing job on the screenplay with "Juno". The dialogue was fun and quirky; the characters strong and witty. Juno, the protagonist, has a smooth transformation from beginning to end. She starts off as hard and alienating in the beginning, but as the movie progresses the audience is able to see Juno in a new light, one of strength and maturity. Another prominent theme within Cody's writing is her sardonic spirit. Juno, though facing an unwanted pregnancy, is still cracking sarcastic comments as if they were breathing exercises. These sarcastic lines are what really drew me to enjoy this movie. Cody was able to easily blend together the humor and seriousness of the protagonist’s situation to produce a heartfelt comedy. I was able to relate to Juno’s sarcasm.  Here is one of my favorite lines: "I'm just gonna go ahead an nip this thing in the bud. Cuz you know, they say pregnancy often leads to, you know... an infant." To put it simply, Juno is successful due to the screenplay.  A screenplay written by a woman. 

            In my opinion, the screenplay is the most important aspect of any movie. If it wasn’t for the quirkiness and development of the characters in Juno, the film would not have succeeded as much as it did. Diablo Cody’s writing flows naturally through the movie and the natural progression of the characters allows the audience to relate well to them. I guess what I am trying to say is by its’ end we've gotten to know these characters so well that they feel like family. Cody’s script was brilliant for it balanced heart-tugging moments, comedy, sarcasm, and so on, and yet keeps the movie from being too dark or too cute. She nailed it.       

            On a side note, while doing research on the lack of female screenwriters, I found that Will Ferrell is starting a new production company. To be specific, Will Ferrell is launching a new female focused film and TV production company. The new company, "will work with established and emerging female voices to develop content" (Siegel). I find this really neat; Will Ferrell is forming a new female-driven division. It's progress within the industry, finally.

Works Cited

Barsam, Richard, and Dave Monahan. Looking at Movies. 4th ed. New York: W.W. Norton, 2013. Print.

Brotter, Cody. "The Significance Of The Screenplay." Student Pulse. N.p., 2010. Web. 12 Feb. 2014. <http://www.studentpulse.com/articles/172/the-significance-of-the-screenplay>.

Juno. Dir. Jason Reitman. 2007. Fox Searchlight, 2008. DVD.

Scott, A. O. "Juno (2007)." The New York Times: Movies. New York Times, 5 Dec. 2007. Web. 12 Feb. 2014. <http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/05/movies/05juno.html>.

Siegel, Tatiana. "Will Ferrell Launches Female-Focused Film and TV Production Company." The Hollywood Reporter. Hollywood Reporter, 12 Feb. 2014. Web. 12 Feb. 2014. <http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/will-ferrell-launches-female-focused-679716>.

Zeilinger, Julie. "Sexism in Hollywood: Female Screenwriters Far Less Likely to Sell Speculative Screenplays than Men." Huffington Post: Women. Huffington Post, 24 June 2013. Web. 12 Feb. 2014. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/24/sexism-in-hollywood-female-spec-screenwriters_n_3491022.html>.