I am aware that now, after grossing more than $100 million, winning several critics awards, becoming an Oscar favorite and earning the mantle of 2007’s indie darling, it is no longer “cool” to like Juno. I know that, in the world of movie geekery, you’re not supposed to love something unless you find yourself forced to explain that adoration to those not nearly as geeky as you. But since I saw Juno a month before its release date at an advance screening, I hope you’ll give me a little leeway of the “I liked-it-before-it-was-cool” variety.
My Juno love has surpassed all reason and logic – a fact I always announce in disclaimer-like fashion whenever someone discusses recent movies with me. I know this because, in my mind, I know that Juno is not a perfect film. I understand when people tell me that they think it’s good, but not Oscar-worthy. But I have been forced to acknowledge the less critical and more emotional portion of my film nerd brain. This is largely due to the fact that my Juno adoration does not only include how I feel about the film, it also encompasses everything that it, and its rising star of a writer, have come to represent to me.
For those of you that haven’t read a thing about Juno (but are, for some reason, interested enough it to read this post), the movie’s writer, Diablo Cody, hails from Chicago (like me), is a blogger (like me), constantly pimps her geek cred (like me), and published a book detailing her time in the sex industry as a stripper and phone sex operator (not so much like me). Perhaps you noticed a wee bit of a pattern there and if you are especially astute, you might have picked up on why Cody’s and Juno’s success is significant to me.
Much has been made of the people power that the Internet – and more specifically, blogging – has brought to us common folk. But Cody’s story is made of that American Dream flavored stuff that we all get fed when we’re kids…well, maybe without the pole dancing. What began as an innocent public diary of the goings on in Minneapolis’s strip clubs became a book deal that became a screenplay that became a movie nominated for Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay.
And Cody isn’t letting success go to her head, she still communicates to her blog crowd (though it has grown considerably in recent months) via her MySpace account. She’s also scored a gig as a regular back-page columnist at Entertainment Weekly (a gig also owned by Stephen King). In both venues she speaks with the same voice of her older blog posts and in her book. She’s still that adorably geeky Midwestern girl who’s more than happy to discuss her girl parts.
For this geeky Midwestern girl writer that’s long had aspirations of bigger things, Juno is a sign that sometimes people like me can make good on their dreams. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not going to do hustle on down to The Admiral and sign up for amateur night in the hopes of mirroring her path. I’m happy to make my own way. And I certainly don’t assume that because Cody made it, I will too. What is true is that she’s given me reason to hope. And no amount of Juno backlash can take that away from me.
