The cautionary whale. Using the letter “J” some already know what one of my favorite J things is. See, there is this story of a young girl faced with a lot of adult decisions. This girl is trying to figure out life and while still in high school, she finds herself pregnant. She doesn’t know what to do, despite sometimes acting as if she has figured out life.
She is very blunt and sarcastic in her approach to facing her situation. From her decision on whether or not to have an abortion, how to select adoptive parents if she has the baby, to learning a little bit about love, her story is told in a very realistic manner. I am referring to the movie Juno.
The movie doesn’t glamorize or make teen pregnancy “OK”. Rather, it tells the story of what that really looks like, without pulling any punches. One of the big elements of the story is about showing how kids are often forced to act like grown ups, without having the maturity. The characters are all flawed, but we are all flawed, and that makes them relatable. Regarding “growing up” we see in many of the characters, the idea that the decisions we make after big mistakes are important too, especially since none of us ever stop making mistakes.
Also, I will never look at finger-nails the same way after seeing this movie.
P.S. This movie also had Jennifer Garner in it (another favorite “J”)!
P.P.S. How amazing is the word juxtaposition?
Given my track record, it's probably no surprise that I haven't seen this movie.
ReplyDeleteBut I know who Jennifer Garner is...now...because I just looked her up on Wikipedia...
My favorite J thing is journaling, even though I'm terribly inconsistent with it.
It's interesting to occasionally pull out an old journal and read through it- not primarily to recollect the events that happened, but to see the kind of person I was, and how God has changed me from that point to this. In fact, nowadays I tend to write with my future self in mind, knowing that I'm likely to come back and reread those entries in the years to come.
I like that she chose to keep the baby alive. That's an encouraging message to those who are in similar situations. Juxtaposition is a word worthy of the Fun Words list! And Jennifer Garner must be a guy thing...
ReplyDeleteI would probably be more with Anita on this one. I am not faithful enough, but I love journaling. I too sometimes write to my future self (or even the Lord) and love to read back through what I have written in the past.
I have a beloved sister and several good friends whose names start with "J" but (not to sound overly spiritual and knowing you spoke of Him in the Acceptance one) my favorite "J" would hands-down be Jesus. Jesus is the One who has done more for me and loves me more than anyone else. More and more I am learning life is really all about Him and He's the One Person that I cannot imagine living without. Others may come and go, but He's always there. =)
I know what you mean, Anne, I thought of Him too, but hesitated. It'd be a little odd to lump Jesus in a list that includes Chinese food, deodorant, and the Green Bay Packers. :)
ReplyDeleteHe'd be in another category altogether (kind of like "church" was for the "C" things). Then again, "faith" was part of "F"... But faith is a thing, not a Person, so that's probably why he included it. But Jennifer Garner is a person, not a thing so...
Ugh, never mind! >_<
Anita~ You made me laugh out loud. For real. =)
ReplyDeleteI truly hadn't thought about what other things/people I would be lumping Him in with... I could say, "For all who read this afterwards, I declare I certainly did not mean it out of disrespect, but out of sincere love." But then, boy howdy, doesn't THAT sound pious which I said in the first comment I was trying to avoid... I guess it's my turn to say, "Ugh..." Please people, read between the lines here! =P
That ain't no Etch-A-Sketch. This is one doodle that can't be un-did, Homeskillet.
ReplyDeleteIt was intentional to not use Jesus, just because it was another one of those obvious, yet not-one-of-those-belong-on-this-list things.
ReplyDeleteOne of the best lines in the movie!