I Guess Jim DeRogatis Won't Be at Amoeba on Friday
Although critics have raved about Juno, including myself, I have occasionally heard that it made a few people gag, and I've definitely heard mixed responses to the decidedly twee soundtrack. (I love that word. Twee! ...Not related, sorry.) Chicago Sun-Times critic Jim DeRogatis's rant about both the movie and the soundtrack is already making the blog rounds and iliciting quite a few responses.
Working an odd angle for a screenplay written by a tatted-up former stripper, DeRogatis calls the movie pro-life and "anti-rock", apparently just because Juno keeps her child, (hey, being pro-choice doesn't make abortion easy!), insults Sonic Youth and humiliates Jason Bateman's character - a 30-something quietly having a mid-life crisis and planning to abandon his wife and future child. The use of the word actually in the sentence "Juno actually mocks the would-be adoptive father, Mark Loring (Jason Bateman), for championing the Melvins and Sonic Youth", speaks volumes about DeRogatis's own musical tastes, which really shouldn't have anything to do with a movie review. Pointing out the lack of respect for these bands is pretty ironic as well, considering he calls the tone of the movie, disparagingly, "sarcastic-hipster". Hmm. We can debate about the word hipster till kingdom come, but I think most of us would agree, they like Sonic Youth.
It's odd how personally offended the critic seems by Bateman's character, in fact. This part is spectacularly bitter:
"His stunted growth is illustrated by the fact that he’s nostalgic for that passe and played-out alternative rock, and he regrets quitting his touring underground band to write commercial jingles. Silly old Gen X’er; doesn’t he know Generation Y has rejected the very notion of “selling out” in the mad rush to buy iPhones, Uggs and Wii consoles?"
DeRogatis's suggestion that Loring makes a better rebellious character than Juno is absurd, since a) Rebellion isn't exactly a major theme in the movie, and b) Why should we root for a 30-something who is more rebellious and less responsible than a 16-year-old? Isn't that kinda, you know, sad? And regardless, the treatment of Loring is actually a bit more delicate than DeRogatis makes out - you don't hate the guy in the end, especially since his own needs really have become second to his wife's desire for a child. He certainly doesn't get punished for his actions either.
I will agree with DeRogatis however, that it's hard to imagine how a character as quick-witted and intelligent as Juno would forget to use a condom, and yes, it's odd that she claims to love The Stooges yet "rocks a Harmony" acoustic and sings folk songs with Michael Cera, but these were my only issues with the movie, and they aren't serious. DeRogatis also claims that Juno's dialogue is unconvincing for a teen, and cites MTV's Daria as a better example, but I call bullsh*t on that one. I was a huge fan of Daria in high school, mostly because she was so much more clever and funny than anyone I knew at that age, just like Juno. Example Daria conversation:
Jane - "Did we just see a U.F.O.?"
Daria - "You're getting paranoid. It's probably just an informal get-together of local stalkers. You know, hang out, swap stories, try out each other's skeleton keys."
Anyway, DeRogatis also rails on the movie's soundtrack, calling it "saccharine" and even "intentionally primitive and infantile". By now most people recognize the name Kimya Dawson, and the name of her former band The Moldy Peaches, from the success of the movie and the cute closing song "Anyone Else But You" (video clip of Cera and Ellen Page singing). Friday, you can see Kimya Dawson perform at Amoeba Music at 7pm, and form your own opinion, or watch the live webcast here.
Image via Amoeba.com
