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>.
