HOW ridiculous is it that Juno’s been blamed for teen pregnancies?

Posted by heatworld on Wednesday 25 Jun 2008

Filed under: Ellen Page

Juno was one of our favourite films in years (well, until SATC came along, anyway) but now the award-winning movie starring Ellen Page has apparently caused a spate of teen pregnancies in America. One particular high school in Massachusetts has reportedly seen 17 students, all under the age of 16, getting knocked up after they made a pact to have babies together – and it’s been dubbed “The Juno Effect”. However, Jason Bateman, who starred in the movie as the adoptive father of Juno’s baby, says he thinks the whole thing is ridiculous. “I don’t know the specifics, but I can speak about what sort of responsibility entertainment should hold for social behaviour,” he says. “Unfortunately, we’ve had these instances where guys kill people because of what they hear in rock 'n' roll lyrics or some garbage like that. Look, if you’re going to blame a movie or song for your actions, whether they be good or bad, I think you’re looking at the wrong things to influence your life. I think people should look to other areas of their life for lessons and guidance, mainly parents, or teachers, or friends, or whomever. That should probably be where you should point your eyes and ears.” The man’s definitely talking sense, but what do you think? Are some teenagers really so impressionable that they would consciously get pregnant because a fictional character like Juno has apparently made it seem cool…?