The movie "Juno" is underwriting a lot of public radio programming here in town, and although I think the movie sounds great, the underwriting copy is getting on my nerves. It says something to the effect of Juno "is about a precocious teen dealing with things way beyond her maturity level."
Is there a word more condescendingly applied to teenagers than "precocious"? Toddlers are precocious; teens are not. And what's this "maturity level" nonsense? The main character--Juno--gets pregnant.
How about a new consumer slogan for the imprint? "Flux: Dealing with things way beyond your maturity level."
Slightly related update: Apparently David Levithan's and Rachel Cohn's excellent Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist (a novel that saved me during horrifically dull jury duty last spring) is going to be a movie (as in, production-is-scheduled going to be a movie, not the-option's-been-sold going to be a movie). Why is this an update? Because the co-star in "Juno," Michael Cera, is apparently going to be Nick. I'm sure precociousness will fucking abound and maturity will be leveled. (Thanks Sara's Hold Shelf!)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
really well said.
Level this!
Thanks for the link!
And, by-the-way, I loved your precociousness rant!
Michael Cera is probably the last person I'd have chosen as Nick. In my imagination, Nick has always been more...manly. And based on looks alone, I'd have swapped the girl playing Tris for the girl playing Norah.
Post a Comment