Juno, Alaska

The president in the White House after the first election in which I was old enough to vote was a movie actor. Now there exists the distinct possibility that a real-life movie character might be moving in. Her name is Juno.

"Juno," the movie, tells the story of an unwed, pregnant teenaged girl and her decision to keep her baby and give it up for adoption. The film hit the pop culture radar hard, grossing over $200 million worldwide. Juno, the character, was widely and wildly embraced by a broad spectrum of the politically conscious. Liberals swooned for the irreverent comedy as well as the feel-good Papa Don't Preach/I'm Keeping My Baby storyline. Conservatives loved its anti-choice subtext. Ellen Page was lauded with an Oscar nomination for best actress while "Juno" writer Diablo Cody won for best screenplay.

Juno's complex and sympathetic step-mom is portrayed by Emmy Award-winning Allison Janney. In real life, the mother of the pregnant girl is a hard-right Republican who, according to her political record, would demand that her daughter keep the baby if the father was a serial rapist or her relative. The Oscar-winning morality screenplay has evolved into a fully blown morality reality show.

The simple lesson in both the fictional and non-fictional versions of "Juno, Alaska" is that personal actions can sometimes have unintended, and public, consequences. In the Sarah Palin Show, the latest reality star is having a common reaction. When you turn the cameras on yourself, your everyday actions, for years unnoticed or taken for granted, can become explosive once they hit the airwaves. The collateral damage of that publicity bomb can be your job, your family, your self-perception. On a reality show, you can choose not to do another season. If you're running for Vice President, it is imperative that you give the voting public a clear, unfettered view of your policy positions, your plan of action across a number of domestic and foreign platforms, and yes, your experience.

It's not clear to me that the American public wants to debate Sarah Palin's child-rearing skills and personal decisions about her own pregnancy and maternity leave as a means to determine her competency as a Vice President. But at this point, we haven't been given much else. In the absence of a true forum for debate, people will continue to ravage over whatever information they can get.

The fictional Juno was unambiguous in painting a sweet adoption scenario that transcended the practical matters of teenage moms and dads, portraying a heartfelt and open-ended relationship between her and her also-young, awkward and gentle lover. Without the inconvenience of baby rearing, the film suggests a Hollywood Ending for their unfettered (and undiapered) young romance.

In real life, the expectant father and recently expecting-to-be-a-husband character is Levi Johnston, who lends himself to numerous casting possibilities. Or, is this a script Hollywood would be loath to produce? His MySpace profile reads: "I'm a f---in' redneck who likes to snowboard and ride dirt bikes ... I live to play hockey. I like to go camping and hang out with the boys, do some fishing, shoot some s--- and just f---in' chillin' I guess... Ya f--- with me I'll kick [your ass] ... I don't want kids." For Juno, it all seemed to work out fine in the end. In Alaska, we don't even know the backstory.

Less than a year after "Juno," it seems that liberals are shocked that Juneau might not stay in Alaska. It seems it's a lot easier to cast your vote for a movie with a post-feminist vision of a Hollywood Ending when the dialogue is witty, wry, and scripted. Reality bites.

Ms. Zalaznick is president, Women and Lifestyle Entertainment Networks at NBC Universal

Comments

[Jane]

I do think Palin's way of governing and her way of raising the family are all of a piece, and selfish and power hungry. So we can't talk about it. We can think about it.

[ladyrefined2000]

here I am, a liberal woman who lives in massachsetts, campaigned for Kerry.

But, I also belong to the NRA, I hunt, in northern maine......I have guns.

People are multi-facited, a point lots of liberals dont get.

I always wonder why??

lol.......went to fashion week........a few weeks ago................

[postman606]

I agree with your assertion that people are indeed muti-faceted and that is why I hate the labels. Most people have so-called liberal views about some issues and so-called conservatives views about other issues. What I would like to know is when did the Right-Wing take the word Liberal and turn it into the modern version of calling someone a Communist in the 50's. In a perverse way it is used to devalue any opinion or position a so-called Liberal might hold. Listen to talk radio or Fox News and you see it has become a common tool to misshape any debate. I for one am sick of it.

[orangemom]

I agree! Let's take back the term Liberal and be proud of being tolerant, forward-looking, and smart. Let's be proud political Liberals.

[IrmaCMD]

I'm a bleeding heart liberal and I thought Juno was one of the worst movies of last year. I felt it was false, too Hollywood and way too conservative. I thought the character of Juno was such a creation of Cody's mind as to defy reality. And now, when it is a reality, as in Jamie Lynn Spears or Bristol Palin, guess, another unwanted baby. Sure, these women have the means and support behind them. But what about the thousands of women, girls, that don't have the financial ability or family to take care of a newborn? Where is their help? And this doesn't even begin to touch on the fact that Bristol, supposedly, was given an abstinence only education. Sarah Palin is not a feminist, she's a misogynist. She doesn't want to promote & help women, she wants to keep things patriarchal.

[SeanGardner]

The Sarah Palin Show is indeed a nightmare. Her press interviews are terrible because her sentences run into each other and she is woefully unprepared for each conversation.

In fact, The Sarah Palin Show is even worse than the most terrible reality shows to ever invade popular culture. On The Sarah Palin Show, the star, Gov. Palin, befriends a "witch doctor" from Kenya, attacks community organizing in RED & BLUE STATES, cuts funding for teen mothers, cuts funding for WIC (women, infants, children) recipients, cuts $275,000 from the budget for the Alaska Special Olympics, signs off on documents (as Mayor of Wasila) that authorizes her city to charge rape victims for rape kits, presides over Alaska's piss poor parental leave policy that Palin had every opportunity to rectify, works a total of 85 days in the last 20 months as Govenor of Alaska (as of this moment), believes that abortion should be criminalized and for opposes abortion in cases of rape and incest, and opposes the EQUAL PAY for EQUAL WORK legislation that would empower the very working mothers she claims she represents.

The Sarah Palin Show was NBC's "The Bionic Woman" series last year: started exceptionally strong with a fresh face, but fizzled quickly when the contents of the show didn't live up to the hype, and didn't quite connect with the target audience.

Sarah's show had great promise but will have to cancelled on Nov. 4th.

[SecretPalinExGirlfriend]

Great post. Totally agree. But the city is spelled 'Juneau,' NOT 'Juno,' like the movie. Where is William Styron when you need him?