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Josh You Ignorant Slut: Counterpoint On Juno
If this were 1970’s era Saturday Night Live and their Point/Counterpoint segment, Josh Tyler would be the better looking version of Jane Curtin (she was a dog, wasn’t she?) and I would be the less funny representation of Dan Aykroyd. Josh, ably backed-up by Mariana McConnell in a second article, has slapped around the getting-with-child comedy Juno and made his Point. Now is the time for a little Counterpoint.
Obviously, Juno doesn’t need my help in defending her. She’s got a hundred million in the bank, four Oscar nominations, and critical acclaim up the wazoo. She even has a comfy spot in my year-end top 10, at number 5. However, there are some points being brought up by the Juno-backlashers that make me rub my eyes with disbelief. Since I wear contacts, that’s not a particularly comfortable action; so, respond I must. Also, that Ellen Page is not half bad lookin’ and maybe she’ll read this and want to marry me. If not, I’ll settle for a platonic meeting with the excellent J.K. Simmons. I won’t even attempt to explain why someone who has seen the movie should like it if they don’t. If you don’t like something, you don’t like it. I don’t think you’re stupid, or have bad taste, or have been duped. Unfortunately, I’m not getting the same consideration from the Juno haters out there. The naysayers and choose-up-sidesers seem to have narrowed their criticism down to three main threads; all are equally ridiculous and poorly reasoned. The first silly theory can be called Peer Pressure Makes You like Juno against Your Will. There is a related sub-theory I’ve titled If You Like Juno, You’re a Moron. Josh didn’t really take up either of these theories, but he did present evidence culled from message boards on the Internet that it is a sentiment out there. You can see his article for all the examples, but one prime example is this quote from the IMDB.com boards: ”There is no emotional attachment to the characters or story, the script is loud and annoying at some points and yet people remain to be brainwashed. It's like people say it's the "Best movie ever!!" "10/10 film!!" just because every one else says that.” The idea, repeated in other comments about the film I’ve seen in Josh’s article and elsewhere, that the only reason someone would say this film is good is because they’ve been told by someone else that it is good would be laughable if it weren’t so widely held. These people think that I (and others like me) walked into Juno and didn’t really like it but only pretend to like it because complete strangers have written that they liked it. People actually believe that! Not just one 8 year-old, but lots of people. I went to see Juno based on a trailer that came out well before the film had been released, but that doesn’t make much difference to the commenters. My enjoyment of the movie is all based on the fact that Roger Ebert loved it. To see my opinion of Roger Ebert’s opinion, go here. It’s just stupid. Forget that it didn’t happen in my particular case, but what about the millions of other people who have seen Juno and liked it? Apparently, every single person is just reacting to the opinions of a few Svengali-like critics. It’s hypnotism on a grand scale! Or, maybe, people just liked the movie. It does happen. I guess the alternative is to not go see films that are rated well or recommended by others. Sadly, that would have caused me to miss Once and The King of Kong (both movies I went to based on high critical acclaim) and The Lookout (I went solely on Josh’s high praise.) The sub theory is that if you like Juno, you might not be brainwashed, you’re just pathetically stupid. Again, this is held by a wide range of people who seem to equate what movies they like to intelligence. Of course, to be considered smart, you have to like what the commenter likes. If you like something the commenter doesn’t like, you’re an idiot; a fool; a lemming, walking zombie-like to the multi-plex to follow the latest trend. Let’s look at Juno in the light of another movie on my year-end top 10 list, Ratatouille. Pixar’s latest was rated highly by both critic’s and pulled in tons of ticket dollars. If I went and liked it, which I did, does that make me a moron? Why not? Well, because the people deriding Juno liked Ratatouille. If you like what I like, you’re smart; if you like what I don’t like, you’re stupid. Makes sense. The real kicker is that in addition to liking “you’re stupid if you like this” movies like Juno, I (and other Juno fans like me) also liked “you’re smart if you like this” movies like No Country for Old Men, Once, The King of Kong, and Knocked Up. Oh man, where do we fall on the intelligence scale now? How many “good” movies do I have to like to be considered smart. What a crock of shit. The second dumb theory that is being bandied about is Juno isn’t Good Because it isn’t Realistic Enough. The dialogue especially is considered very un-realistic. I agree, for the most part, with the idea that what Juno says probably doesn’t flow trippingly off the tongue of most high school girls. I guess my response to this is… so? My favorite movie of all time is The Godfather. I’m not sure all mafia dons talk like Marlon Brando and Al Pacino. In fact, I’m sure they don’t. Their dialogue is unrealistic. Does that make The Godfather a bad movie, or overrated. Hardly. Raise your hands; who works in an office setting? Ok, that makes me and several others. Now, how many hear the dialogue of The Office every day. Oh wait, nobody does. It doesn’t happen. Sure, someone might make the odd funny comment or two, but the patter between Jim, Pam, Kelly, Michael, Dwight, Creed and the rest is hardly “realistic.” So, does that mean that the show actually sucks and I’m just not aware of it? That would be crazy talk, wouldn’t it? Even though the dialogue isn’t generally realistic on The Office, it is funny. Same thing for Juno. Also, the characters themselves are very realistic. Jennifer Garner’s desire to be a mother, Jason Bateman’s fear at losing his youth, Juno’s parents when they hear she is pregnant, and Juno and Bleeker’s relationship are all emotionally realistic, if not verbally true. The final knock on Juno is that Critic’s and Awards Love it, But Real People Don’t. This is Josh’s theory and it’s total bullshit. He says, “critics may be rubbing themselves all over it, awards voters may be humping it, but the people who actually buy the tickets seem to have come to a pretty solid consensus on Juno, and that consensus is “eh”. First off, one of the quotes he uses to support that contention is mine. I wrote it on the CinemaBlend message board in a discussion about the dialogue. I still put the movie in my top 10, so clearly as a paying public person (yes, I bought my own ticket for Juno and almost everything else I saw in 2007), my reaction was more than “eh.” In fact, many of the comments Josh uses say that the person liked Juno and thought that it was good. This is also better than “eh.” To be fair, others did have the “eh” response, but to apply that to the playing public on the whole is stretching it more than a bit. The idea that the paying public didn’t think so much of Juno is also refuted by comments like those made by our friend the brainwashing spotter, above. He says that “everyone” is saying Juno’s great but they are just brainwashed into liking it. How did we go from “everyone” saying it’s great to “everyone” saying it’s “eh.” Everyone is doing a lot, aren’t they? We are a pretty damn busy (and inconsistent) bunch. In reality, Juno is a favorite of critics, award givers, and the public. Not “everyone” in the public, obviously, but not a small portion either. That doesn’t mean it’s Citizen Kane, just that people like it more than an anemic “it was ok.” On IMDB, the movie shows up as number 130 in the top 250. I’m not saying that makes it a good movie, just that people (not just critics) seem to like it. Have you seen Juno? If you have and you don’t like it, that’s great. Enjoy Atonement or There Will Be Blood and don’t forget Semi-Pro is just around the corner. If you have seen it and you like it, hold your head up high. People hate success and the knives are coming out to make you feel stupid. Screw them. Their arguments don’t hold water. RELATED: oscar, awards, counterpoint, editorial, rant, juno
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February 9th, 2008 at 15:21
That was a really good read.
I haven't seen Juno, but people make stupid reasons why other movies suck, and I don't understand. Fair enough if they don't like it, but don't try to force the opinion on everyone else.
Recently I saw Cloverfield and loved it. I came home and looked at the IMDB message boards for it, and found a fair few topics on why it was bad. One I remember vividly is that "Beth's dad's apartment would cost about $5 million." And that was the end of the point. Where is the validity? Beth's dad could be the president for all we know. It just pisses me off that people feel the need to try and convince people that a movie is bad.
So yeh, well done, this is a real good argument.