Monday, April 21, 2008

Juno & Planning

There's not much that I agree with Sam Staley on, but i thought this post on Planetizen captured some of what I was thinking when I watched the film Juno.
This perception fits the landscape. As Juno is driving to meet Vanessa and Mark, we see her drive through her run-down neighborhood of eclectic single family homes and enter into the wealthier, cookie-cutter sprawl of large, well adorned ones inhabited in St. Cloud, Minnesota.

This sets up a cinematically and artistically visual contrast. It turns out Juno’s family, living in the decidedly less affluent neighborhood (albeit early 20th century sprawl), is far more stable, loving, and grounded than the picture perfect couple in the wealthier contemporary suburb.
From the looks of the neighborhood, Juno probably lived in a Streetcar Suburb.

4 comments:

Jarrett Mullen said...

How funny! I was also thinking pretty much the same thing.

(Spoilers) Don't forget that the Jason Bateman character decided to move into a "downtown loft" following the divorce with his wife.

Pantograph Trolleypole said...

Yes of course! The Loft! I wonder if it was going to be a live-work for his recording business.

rg said...

I think I read somewhere else that in real life, the streetcar suburb that Juno and her family live in is more expensive than the mcmansion neighborhood that Jason Bateman's character lives in. Of course, in the movie, we are led to believe that the latter neighborhood is the much more expensive one, seeing as how it is more in line with "the American Dream."

Chris Bradford said...

Yeah, All About Cities (Vancouver) made the point about Juno's neighborhood being more expensive.