Music in Juno

Jason Reitman's Juno (2007), is such a quirky and uplifting flick that I have enjoyed many times over the years. As I watched it this time I was focusing more on the diegetic elements, those being a part of the total world of the story, and non-diegetic; contributing to the story, but not in the character's world of consciousness. In the beginning they have the sketched credits as Juno walks through the town, to me this is diegetic because that is telling the whole world of the story at the moment, it is just in a different medium than that of real life people. This, in combination with Barry Louis-Polisar’s “All I Want is You,” add a level a whimsy to the story before it even really begins. The use of music as both a diegetic and non-diegetic element contributed to the quirky feel and the meaningful yet lightheartedness of this film.

The use of music as a soundtrack is crucial to any good movie, but in Juno it not only sets the mood and creates a deeper feeling of emotion, it is also a key diegetic part in many of the characters lives. Juno MacGuff (Ellen Page) and Paulie Bleeker (Michael Cera) are tied together by not only her pregnancy, but their past band membership, and their love for music. We don’t actually witness them playing in the band in the plot, but they talk about reuniting after “this whole thing is over.” When Juno meets Mark (Jason Bateman) and Vanessa (Jennifer Gardner) for the first time, she gets a peak at Mark’s old Les Paul guitar sitting in his man cave, they then continue to bond over the guitar and their shared appreciation for old music and his days as a rock star. Just as he shows her his old songs, Vanessa comes up and interrupts them, as her character is one of the few that doesn’t bond to the others through music. But we can infer that she might have been a fan from the past by her old Alice in Chains t-shirt covered in “Custard” and “Cheesecake” yellow as she paints the baby’s nursery later on. Throughout the story music acts as a topic that leads Mark and Juno to bond together, almost in a temptation sort of relationship. They listen to old records by Mott The Hoople, specifically “All the Young Dudes,” and slow dance, which was clearly inappropriate, but I also see it as Mark just trying to reconnect to the music that once made him feel young, doing so through his relationship with Juno. Just as Mark relates to Juno through music, it is also his affinity for music that drives him and Vanessa, and ultimately Juno apart. He writes commercial jingles for a living, but his true desire is becoming that rock star he once was in his younger days, and he can’t seem to let that life go, leading to his realization that he is not ready to be a father or stay married.  Even though music ultimately was the issue between Mark and Vanessa, it was also a very sweet way that Paulie and Juno related to each other, that other characters didn’t seem to share. We never saw Juno and Leah, her best friend, talk about music or bond through it, she seemed to only do that with the main male antagonist, Mark, and protagonist, Paulie. At the end of the movie Juno and Paulie sit together and they begin to sing The Moldy Peaches’ “Anyone Else But You,” while both harmonizing on their respective acoustic guitars. This is the perfect ending in the sense that music has been such a strong theme throughout the movie; driving people apart and pulling others back together.

Not only did director Jason Reitman and screenwriter Diablo Cody employ music well throughout the script and story, the soundtrack reflects the mood and the characters perfectly. The use of music as a non-diegetic element adds another layer, almost another character to the story. While watching, I noticed many songs were sung by female vocalists and many were about relationships and couples, reinforcing Juno’s point of view through the soundtrack. The music chosen also reflected what the actual characters would listen to, it wasn’t a dramatic Hollywood score that would build suspense, it kept the mood light and earnest, but when there was a more serious moment, the absence of this lightness darkened the tone. I also noticed that most of the music had strong acoustic guitar instrumentals, which went along well with the strong presence of guitars in the characters lives. While reading up on the soundtrack details, I discovered that Ellen Page (Juno) helped choose many of the songs, and had the idea for Juno to be a fan of Kimya Dawson of The Moldy Peaches. Kimya sang many of the songs, and the last song at the end, “Anyone Else But You,” was by her band. I thought it was very interesting that they choose the music for the soundtrack based on what the character would listen to, many movies use it as a separate piece, but in Juno it really served to reveal another side of the main protagonist. Even though the soundtrack is a non-diegetic element, it was a strong and important part of the character’s world and greatly added to the story.

If you would like to listen to a couple of the songs I talked about, here are the links:

Barry Louis-Polisar’s “All I Want is You" with opening credits

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20PQBtyfNZY

  Matt the Hoople's "All the Young Dudes."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKvNtAVZyOc

 Kimya Dawson and The Moldy Peaches' "Anyone Else but You"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdpkZLpeIGY

Lastly, Michael Cera and Ellen Page covering "Anyone Else but You"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBDbUVXXp-U

Works Referenced:

"Juno." IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 10 Feb. 2014.
        <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0467406/>.

  Barsam, Richard Meran., and Dave Monahan. "Chapter 4: Elements of Narrative." Looking at Movies: An Introduction to Film. 4th ed. New York: W.W. Norton &, 2010. 2-62. Print.

 Juno. Dir. Jason Reitman. Prod. Lianne Halfon and John Malkovich. By Diablo Cody. Perf. Ellen     Page and Michael Cera. Fox Searchlight Pictures, 2007. DVD.